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Kinky little cow

@elilla @michaela_p In a way, it's less dangerous for the environment because paraffin [edit : i studied paraffin and not other oil and i didn't consider what other mineral oils they have mixed with it] don't really create much of a risk compared to more traditional products to kill bugs. On the other side though, I doubt you wanna kill the bugs you took time to have come to your garden. And also in terms of where it comes from, Total Energies was the company asking me to study this product for them so yeah, there's that too (basically they wanted to find use for some of their oil refinement byproducts).

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Kinky little cow

@elilla @michaela_p So it's not such an awful product in terms of dangerosity for your plants if not in direct sunlight, and it's mostly harmful to bugs it's sprayed on and who could come in contact with it soon after. It cannot help them be healthier by bringing them anything they might need though.

elilla&, tactical travesti

@Morrigane @michaela_p it's not advertised as a bug killer though, it's advertised as a leaf shiner that will make them healthy and dust-free. this statement is a lie. using this thing on your plants will have no effect if you're lucky, and damage them if you aren't.

and in any case killing bugs is bad for plants, especially because it will also kill bacteria and fungi and protozoa and microarthropods (it has propan-2-ol in it), including all symbionts which are an integral part of the phytosphere and, indirectly over time, also the rhizosphere as a lateral casualty. periodically spraying your plants with disinfectant means periodically nuking the microbial ecosystem into near zero, opening space for harmful colonisation by whatever bacteria finds itself alone now that all the predators and competitors for nutrients are dead.

even if this isn't as dangerous a biocide as neonics, I can't imagine having clogging oil dripping down tiny living beings and accumulating can have any positive impacts in microbiology.

@Morrigane @michaela_p it's not advertised as a bug killer though, it's advertised as a leaf shiner that will make them healthy and dust-free. this statement is a lie. using this thing on your plants will have no effect if you're lucky, and damage them if you aren't.

and in any case killing bugs is bad for plants, especially because it will also kill bacteria and fungi and protozoa and microarthropods (it has propan-2-ol in it), including all symbionts which are an integral part of the phytosphere...

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