New Researcher in Permaculture Startup

Hello,

My name Is Farid Chbeir, a third-year undergrad agriculture student at The American University of Beirut, I'm an intern at a Permaculture design Company called GreenPeas in my home country Lebanon. We are the first company of our kind in the fertile crescent area and our mission is to spread permaculture in the area where agriculture was born as well as all of the MENA region.  I am tasked with everything to do with plant pathology and diseases and finding control methods within the scope and philosophy of permaculture I've been at it for a month and a half, and collected a lot of data but it's been a week since I hit a block and can't seem to find new mixtures and remedies. can anybody help?

and please feel free to visit our LinkedIn and website to see what we're doing

https://www.greenpeaslb.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/greenpeaslb/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_companies%3BW4UwLH6GTOOfboBlJoYHRA%3D%3D

Hi, nice idea!

Farid Chbeir wrote:I hit a block and can't seem to find new mixtures and remedies. can anybody help?

What exactly are you looking for?

Farid said, I am tasked with everything to do with plant pathology and diseases and finding control methods within the scope and philosophy of permaculture

This sounds interesting.

What have you tried that works?

Here are some sources that seem to work:

For disease these: baking soda, milk, Neem oil, chamomile tea, Apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, garlic, and sulfur.

For pests: soap, vinegar

Hi Farid, Welcome to Pemies!
It's easier for us to help if you have a specific pest to deal with. If you are just looking for more general advice you could try looking in our organic forum where husbandry techniques for pest avoidance both general and specific are discussed.
Otherwise I can only suggest that healthy and diverse plantings are less likely to succomb to pests and diseases. So concentrating on soil health and having diversity both within and between crop and animal varieties will be a good start.

Nancy Reading wrote:Hi Farid, Welcome to Pemies!
It's easier for us to help if you have a specific pest to deal with. If you are just looking for more general advice you could try looking in our organic forum where husbandry techniques for pest avoidance both general and specific are discussed.
Otherwise I can only suggest that healthy and diverse plantings are less likely to succomb to pests and diseases. So concentrating on soil health and having diversity both within and between crop and animal varieties will be a good start.

Here's a list of the diseases I'm researching

Allium Leaf Miner Phytomyza gymnostoma
Alternaria leaf spot Alternaria spp.
Anthracnose Colletotrichum lindemuthianum
Aphids Various Aphid species
Armyworms Spodoptera spp.
Ascochyta Blight Ascochyta rabiei
Bacterial Leaf Spot Pseudomonas syringae pv. coriandricola
Bacterial Spot Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria
Bacterial Wilt Erwinia tracheiphila
Basil Leaf Spot Pseudomonas cichorii
Bean Leaf Beetle Cerotoma trifurcata
Bean Rust Uromyces appendiculatus
Beet Armyworm Spodoptera exigua
Beet Leafhopper Circulifer tenellus
Black Bean Aphid Aphis fabae
Black root rot Chalara elegans (syn. Thielaviopsis basicola)
Black Rot Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris
Blackleg Leptosphaeria maculans
Blossom End Rot Physiological
Botrytis (Grey Mold) Botrytis cinerea
Broad Bean Weevil Bruchus rufimanus
Cabbage Looper Trichoplusia ni
Cabbage Root Fly Delia radicum
Cabbage Worms Pieris rapae, Trichoplusia ni
Carrot Rust Fly Psila rosae
Carrot Weevil Listronotus oregonensis
Cercospora Leaf Blight Cercospora carotae
Cercospora Leaf Spot Cercospora spp.
Charcoal Rot Macrophomina phaseolina
Chickpea Pod Borer Helicoverpa armigera
Chocolate Spot Botrytis fabae
Clubroot Plasmodiophora brassicae
Colorado Potato Beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Common Bacterial Blight Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli
Corn Borer Ostrinia nubilalis and others
Corn Earworm Helicoverpa zea
Corn Smut Ustilago maydis
Cucumber Beetles Diabrotica undecimpunctata, Acalymma vittatum
Cucumber Mosaic Virus Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV)
Cutworms Various Noctuidae species
Damping-off Various soilborne fungi
Diamondback Moth Plutella xylostella
Downy mildew Peronospora farinosa
Eggplant Fruit Borer Leucinodes orbonalis
Fava Bean Gall Mite Aceria fabae
Flea Beetles Various species in the family Chrysomelidae
Fusarium Wilt Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri
Gummy Stem Blight Didymella bryoniae
Head Smut Sporisorium reilianum
Hornworms Manduca spp.
Japanese Beetles Popillia japonica
Johnson Grass Mosaic Johnson grass mosaic virus
Late Blight Phytophthora infestans
Lavender Shab Phoma lavandula
Leaf and pod spot Ascochyta pisi
Leaf Blight Exserohilum turcicum
Leaf Miners Various species
Leaf Spot Cercospora spp.
Leafhoppers Various Leafhopper species
Leek Moth Acrolepiopsis assectella
Leek Rust Puccinia allii
Lentil Rust Uromyces viciae-fabae
Lettuce Mosaic Virus Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV)
Lygus Bugs Lygus spp.
Mealybugs Pseudococcidae family
Melon Fruit Fly Bactrocera cucurbitae
Mexican Bean Beetle Epilachna varivestis
Mint Beetle Chrysolina herbacea
Mint Rust Puccinia menthae
Mint Weevil Cionus spp.
Mustard aphid Lipaphis erysimi
Nematodes Various Nematode species
Northern Corn Leaf Blight Exserohilum turcicum
Onion Thrips Thrips tabaci
Parsley Leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis
Pea and Bean Weevil Sitona lineatus
Pea moth Cydia nigricana
Pea weevil Bruchus pisorum
Pepper Mosaic Virus Various Mosaic Viruses
Potato Cyst Nematode Globodera rostochiensis, G. pallida
Potato Scab Streptomyces scabies
Powdery mildew Erysiphe polygoni
Radish mosaic virus Radish mosaic virus
Root maggots Delia radicum
Root Rot Pythium spp., Rhizoctonia spp.
Root-knot Nematodes Meloidogyne spp.
Rootworms Diabrotica spp.
Rust Puccinia sorghi and others
Septoria Leaf Spot Septoria petroselini
Snails and Slugs Gastropods
Sorghum Midge Stenodiplosis sorghicola
Sorghum Rust Puccinia purpurea
Spider Mites Tetranychus spp.
Squash Bug Anasa tristis
Squash Mosaic Virus Squash Mosaic Virus (SqMV)
Squash Vine Borer Melittia cucurbitae
Thrips Various Thrips species
Tobacco Mosaic Virus Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV)
Tomato Mosaic Virus Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV)
Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)
Turnip Mosaic Virus Turnip Mosaic Virus (TuMV)
Tuta absoluta (Tomato Leaf Miner) Tuta absoluta
Verticillium Wilt Verticillium dahliae
Watermelon Mosaic Virus Watermelon Mosaic Virus (WMV)
White Rot Sclerotium cepivorum
White rust Albugo candida
Whiteflies Various Whitefly species
Wireworms Various species of click beetles
Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus

Anne Miller wrote:

Farid said, I am tasked with everything to do with plant pathology and diseases and finding control methods within the scope and philosophy of permaculture

This sounds interesting.

What have you tried that works?

Here are some sources that seem to work:

For disease these: baking soda, milk, Neem oil, chamomile tea, Apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, garlic, and sulfur.

For pests: soap, vinegar

Here's what I have now but I'm looking for more

Farid Chbeir wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:

Farid said, I am tasked with everything to do with plant pathology and diseases and finding control methods within the scope and philosophy of permaculture

This sounds interesting.

What have you tried that works?

Here are some sources that seem to work:

For disease these: baking soda, milk, Neem oil, chamomile tea, Apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, garlic, and sulfur.

For pests: soap, vinegar

Here's what I have now but I'm looking for more

I would be happy to exchange my findings with new findings if possible

As a general rule, look into extracts from the tough, aromatic native weeds. If it's noxious and hard to kill in it's native environment, it may have what you are looking for. Preferably plants that already grow abundantly in the countries you are studying.

Tobacco is one commonly used for natural insecticides.

Other areas to explore are yeasts, bacteria and fungi of the soil that support plant growth. Some actively repress disease-causing insects and microorganisms. Recently I have read several papers from Indian and Mexican researchers on this topic.

Another avenue is to look at ancient or pre-modern farming practices with a new eye. How did farmers deal with diseases and insects before modern chemical ag? Pre-modern Arabic, Greek and Roman writings covered many topics including health and agriculture.

I personally wouldn't view Corn Smut as a disease but that is because I enjoy my tacos with it!

Are you looking for things to deal with existing diseases or also as preventatives?

I still am fascinated with the interaction of chitin with plant roots as a means to 'jumpstart' the plant's natural immune system. I do not have a deep level understanding of it yet.