Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I use this product primarily to keep aphids off my broccoli, cabbage, onions, kale, and plum tree. So far, I've had a lot of good success with it and it hasn't damaged my plants like some other products that I've used in the past. There's a couple of tricks to this product. First, most of the pests congregate on the bottom-side of leaves so you need to have a strategy to access and spray the bottom-side. Spraying the topside of the leaves is a waste of time and won't do anything for you. My method of getting to the underside of the leaves without being a contortionist is to use a pump sprayer that has a wand with an angled tip. Second, don't be cheap. Once you access the underside of the leaves, give them a good spray and make sure all critters are fully soaked. Ever notice how your hands feel dry if you wash them often with soap? That's exactly how this product works...it "dries out" the critters. That's why it's so important to make sure the critters are fully soaked. As an added bonus, I've realized that this product can also kill soft bodied caterpillars that also love to chew on most plant leaves. I've successfully used this product on my apple and cherry trees to get rid of caterpillars; the only trick is that you have to catch the critters in the act. That said, if you have a heavy caterpillar infestation, you're better off using BT instead of this product. Safer Brands offers a BT formula that I use and is very effective if you have lots of caterpillars around. Buying the concentrate is the way to go from a $$ perspective. It's not that hard to make a spray solution. I use 2-4 tbsp of the product in a 1 gallon pump bottle and then fill it up to the top with water. Shake well and you're ready to go. A funnel is not necessary but certainly makes it easier to fill the bottle without getting the concentrate or water everywhere. Depending on the level of infestation you have, you can adjust the concentration up or down by adding a few more or a few less tbsp of the concentrate. I recommend starting at a lower concentration (i.e. 2 tbsp/gallon of water) and working your way up based on an assessment of how effective the previous spraying was. Always spray in early morning or late afternoon when the temperatures are cool and the plants aren't getting direct sunlight. Otherwise, you risk burning the leaves. Now some final thoughts. If you find yourself using this product every week to keep critters under control, you should really examine your cultural practices. In a healthy garden, the plants should be able to ward off most infestations and there should always be predators (i.e. good bugs like spiders and lady beetles) roaming around that are munching on the bad bugs. I use this product no more than half a dozen times a season, when extraordinary circumstances (i.e. a heat wave) lead to an explosion of aphids and Mother Nature isn't able to keep up. Recent update: I had an ant infestation this year unlike anything I've seen before. There was a 200 feet trail of ants along my fence line and there were thousands of them going back and forth. Ants are known to shepherd aphids so getting rid of them was a priority. I used poison granules leftover from a previous application and all the ants did was shift their route by about a foot. I tried cinnamon. I tried corn meal. I tried boric acid. I tried vinegar. Nothing was working. I finally told my wife that I was going to pick up a can of Raid on the way home from work. But then I wondered if insecticidal soap would get rid of the ants since they don't have a shell and are considered a soft bodied insect. So I made a super concentrated solution (2 Tbsp w/32 oz water) and sprayed the ants along the path. To my amazement, the ants died on contact. This stuff worked as good as Raid!