Hey everyone! I've got a background in Psychopharmacology, so I know a fair bit about substances, but I'm not as familiar with their applications in the plant world. I remembered that nicotine was once used as a pesticide back in school, and I'm curious: how effective is it really as a pest control method?
2 Answers
Nicotine can definitely work as a pesticide since it's toxic to various creatures—including humans! Nowadays, we use neonicotinoids, which are similar to nicotine but more targeted and less harmful to humans and mammals. If you’re thinking about using leftovers from cigarettes, I'd recommend just going for a proper pesticide; you don’t want to end up poisoning more than just pests!
Nicotine acts as a neurotoxin and can be deadly at higher doses for pretty much all animals. The difference is that insects can succumb to it at lower doses, which may not affect mammals in the same way.
I get that, but I'm more interested in how nicotine stacks up against store-bought pesticides.
Haha I don’t smoke either! Didn’t know modern pesticides were so closely related to nicotine. I’ve read that the old pesticide mixtures were diluted quite a bit—like 1-2C concentrations, which made them safe enough for human contact.