We have a greenhouse that was over-run with white flies, aphids, and black flies. A friend suggested spraying everything with a "tea" made from tobacco. We tried it and it didn't work. Now, We've pulled everything out of the greenhouse and it's killing us to just throw it all away, when we have 13 hungry chickens. But, we don't want to poison the chickens either or give them something toxic. I know tobacco leaves have historically been used to keep mites out of coops and nests. But, I assume the chickens weren't eating the leaves. Would the greens be safe to feed to our flock, with two applications of tobacco spray? And, if we soaked the greens in water and rinsed it well, would the answer be different? We appreciate any input!! Thank you!
I heard tobacco is poisonous for chickens. If you smoke, your hands should be washed before handling chickens food. Small amounts of tobacco can make them sick.
I wouldn't use anything sprayed with tobacco anywhere except the burn pile. Unless you grew the tobacco yourself even the compost pile would be very iffy. Commercial tobacco is so laced with carcinogens that unless you are a chemist and know the breakdown requirements for each carcinogen you could be poisoning your compost pile. Safer to just not use commercial tobacco anywhere. Don't feed the killers. "Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. Nicotine is highly addictive."
Agreed, nicotine is very poisonous in it's concentrated form even before it is made into anything or has had additives introduced. Shame I know but toss it in the bin, and no more tobacco teas it can easily be absorbed into your skin as well and tobacco poisoning makes being drunk seem like a pleasant dream.