Advantages of botanicals
- Rapid degradation
- Botanicals degrade rapidly in sunlight, air, and moisture and are readily broken down by detoxification enzymes.
- Less persistence in environment and reduced risks to non-target organisms.
- Many botanicals may be applied to food crops shortly before harvest without leaving excessive residues.
- Rapid action
- Botanicals act very quickly to stop feeding by pest insects.
- Although they may not cause death for hours or days, they often cause immediate paralysis /cessation of feeding.
- Low mammalian toxicity
- Most botanicals have low to moderate mammalian toxicity.
- Selectivity.
- Although most botanicals have broad spectrum activity in standard laboratory tests, in field their rapid degradation and action of some as stomach poisons make them more selective in some instances for plant-feeding pest insects and less harmful to beneficial insects.
- Low toxicity to plants
- Most botanicals are not phytotoxic (toxic to plants).
- Nicotine sulfate, however, may be toxic to some ornamentals.