Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease ... - Cornell University

AVAILABILITY AND SOURCES:
Available through several mail order suppliers.
EFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT:
The active ingredient is a salt of two ions that are very common in nature. It is non-flammable
and not considered to be a carcinogen. Neither the active ingredient nor its decomposition
products (potassium ions, bicarbonate or carbonate ions, water, or carbon dioxide) have
chronic toxic effects. The effects of the inert ingredients are unknown, but in order to meet
NOP requirements, approved formulations must be on the EPA’s August, 2004 list 4, “Inerts of
Minimal Concern.”
EFFECT ON HUMAN HEALTH:
The oral LD50 of Kaligreen is 3358 mg/kg for rats (Kaligreen MSDS); that of Milstop is 2700
(Milstop MSDS). The Federal EPA ruled (as of December, 1996) that sodium and potassium
bicarbonates are exempt from residue tolerances. The decision facilitated the development and
release of commercial bicarbonate products for horticultural use (Kuepper et al. 2001). Sodium
bicarbonate has been a component of many foods, and widely consumed over hundreds of
years.
EFFICACY:
A summary of field trials compares the efficacy of bicarbonate use on vegetables and fruit commonly
grown in the Northeast. These university-based trials typically test products with untreated
buffer rows and other conditions that create unusually severe pest pressure. The level
of pest control is likely to be higher on completely sprayed fields in which a good program of
cultural controls has been implemented. Furthermore, many of these trials were implemented
without adding oil or other adjuvants to the spray mixture, which might improve efficacy.
In the figures below, “good control” means statistically significant reductions in either disease
severity or damage of 75% or more, compared to an untreated control. “Fair control” includes
those with significant reductions of 50-74%, and any non-significant reductions of over 50%.
The “poor control” group includes any results with less than 50% reduction.
Bicarbonate Products: Powdery Mildew Efficacy
7
6
Good Fair Poor
Number of Trials
5
4
3
2
1
0
Apple
Blueberry
Cherry
Grape
Le8uce
Muskmelon
Peach
Pumpkin
Strawberry
Crop
Figure 1. Efficacy of bicarbonates against powdery mildew in different crops.
118 Organic Resource Guide