Being that my family and I do large scale gardens, we go through many different types of chemical products just to pull out a bigger crop than the bugs do.  Sevin Dust has been a brand that has always been in use in our gardens and orchards because it is simply effective at ridding the gardens of boring bugs and leaf eating insects.  I sometimes buy a bigger sized bag, but most of the time I buy 5 pound bags of Sevin 5 Dust Bug Killer at my local Ace Hardware for nearly $6, which I find very reasonable.

Sevin 5 Dust Bug Killer is ready to use, and there is no mixing it with anything else.  It comes as finely ground powder and kills up to 65 different kinds of buggy insects that can feed on and ruin your vegetables and fruit plants. Sevin 5 is also used on ornamental plants to protect their leaves, on your lawn, and even on your pets as a flea and tick preventative. So, it’s fairly versatile which is not the case with many insecticides out there.  It is recommended that Sevin 5 be applied no more than once a week.

Sevin 5 Dust is easy to apply to your plants.  Since this is a poison, I always wear rubber gloves and since it is fine powder, a face mask.  It’s best to pick a day where the wind isn’t blowing very hard because you don’t want to get this in your nose, mouth, or eyes.  Other safety suggestions on the bag are to wear long sleeves and pants.  (It’s not supposed to touch your skin….which is odd since it’s okay to go on your beloved dog or kitty.)  I don’t bother with the long sleeves or pants though.  Anyhow, to apply to your plants, you just grab a handful and sprinkle it over them. (Throwing it wastes it).  It will then leave a powder over their leaves which will protect them from insects, and kill the ones that may already be on them.

Using This in Your Garden

I use this on a variety of fruits and vegetable plants.  In the veggie patch, I will sprinkle this on squash plants, bell pepper, tomatoes, and any other plant that shows sign of insects eating the leaves on them.  I don’t like to put it on the actual vegetable though, even though it’s inevitable that they will get the Sevin Dust on them.  I also use this on both peach trees and plums; otherwise I get worm rot in them.  We get a good bit of rain here which does wash away a bit of the Sevin dust from the leaves, but after it dries, the leaves still have a lot of a white film still on it and they’re still protected.  (Obviously, you will want to thoroughly was your harvest with soap & water after using Sevin dust)

Sevin 5 Dust is also great for flowering bushes like roses.  While my roses don’t suffer much, the leaves on them get eaten up by several bugs, including beetles.  I’m pretty liberal with the amount of Sevin dust I put on them and it never harms my roses at all. But, Sevin 5 Dust works almost instantly, and I’ve watched it kill insects after dusting the leaves.


Using This on Your Lawn

Since Sevin 5 Dust will kill ants, ticks, and fleas, it’s also great for sprinkling around the lawn.  I use various lawn products already, but I have put Sevin dust on an ant bed.  After a good soaking with a hose and a few days for the poison to seep into their little tunnels and get the majority of the ants, the beds have no more activity.  This product is harmful to aquatic environments, bees, and estuarine invertebrates, as stated on the bag. 

For Use on Pets

Sevin 5 Dust can be applied to the coats of your cats and dogs, but I just haven’t had the desire to do it myself.  With the cats especially, I am afraid they’ll lick it, and I already put chemicals on them for flea control already.  But, for those who want to try it, all you have to do is apply the powder to their coat, avoiding their eyes and nose.  It would probably be a good idea afterwards to brush them so any loose powder will shake off.  It is supposed to kill their insects instantly, but I have no idea to the effectiveness of this since, as I said, I have never tried it.


Final Thoughts

Sevin 5 Dust is supposed to be applied after you see insect damage and so I usually wait until I see that leaves have been slightly eaten.  Sevin 5 is not 100% effective for my garden, but to be fair, nothing is.  It is still a vast difference I get with using this product than if I used nothing at all.  If I left them alone, I would lose at least 50% of my crops to insects that bore into the vegetables and fruit themselves.  But, with Sevin Dust (which is used alone on the peach trees) I still have over 80% of crop with no damage whatsoever, even with plants that have been damaged before I started applying it.  To me, that’s really impressive, especially when you factor in elements such as rain that wash some of the Sevin dust away

It’s not that expensive, it’s very easy to apply, and ….it works.  .The active ingredient is Carbaryl (5%), and the remaining 95% is made up of Inert Ingredients.  If your garden is getting hammered with little insects that take a hunk of your crops, I would definitely recommend Sevin 5 Dust to take care of the problem.  It’s a brand my family has always relied on.

Recommended: Yes