Looking for Sabadilla?

One reader looking for sabadilla and having no luck finding it. Sabadilla was very popular maybe 40 or 50 years ago as a "natural" pest control product. You can read more about other natural products including sabadilla by clicking here. Since that time other products (insecticidal soaps, Neem, spinosad products, pyrethrum, Bt and others) have grown in popularity. At one time sabadilla could not be found for sale in the US. It is back and growing in popularity. 

 It might have some potential against the leaf footed plant bug since it has been very effective in the past on squash bugs. But like any label for an insecticide, the crop you are spraying MUST be on the label in some way (even if it says vegetables or fruit trees!) and preferably the insect you are trying to kill as well.

Leaf footed plant bug

 

Squash bug on the underside of a squash leaf. About the same size as the leaf footed plant bug.

Q. I have a small amount of sabadilla dust leftover from about 30 years ago. It was the only thing I found that was very effective on squash bugs. I am having trouble finding it. Do you know where I can get more?

A. Sabadilla was made from the ground seeds of the sabadilla plant (S. officinalle). Sabadilla was not available in the US for a couple of decades but it is back. I remember it from my past but I had never used it. Now it is sold mostly for homeopathic treatments for allergies and runny nose. 

I did find one source (I think it might be the only one) online here available from MGK as a "USDA organic" insecticide. It is now a wettable powder (WP) and not a dust (D) anymore (dusts for the most part went by-by years ago and now you can find a few available to homeowners) so it must be mixed with water and applied as a suspension (some sort of agitation of the WP solution is required to apply it evenly). Suspension can sometimes be achieved if you stop and shake a hand sprayer regularly (keep the solution in motion) when you apply it.

Remember, "dose makes the poison" so anything considered "natural" or organic can be lethal if used the wrong way. I figure that if something can kill bugs, then it can kill me. That's true of anything including soapy water and table salt! So use any so-called "natural" or organic product with the same caution you would use with anything that can kill. Wash your clothes and take a shower right after you apply it. That is true of your dust product as well. And wear gloves at least! Always apply insecticides on a still, warm day.