Homemade Insecticide
Your yard is your domain, and your children’s domain. Using natural and homemade non-toxic pesticides in your organic garden will keep your family and the environment safe. Many of the homemade pest repellent mixtures can be very effective against garden pests. Strong hot tastes or smelly odors are common characteristics of most home-brewed pest repellents. Most sprays are just repellent plants(plants that repel insects while growing) blended with water and strained through cheesecloth or nylon mesh, leaving a basic repellent tea. The tea is then diluted in water to concoct a spray. The sprays are not usually cooked due to the fact that heat generally destroys the active ingredients. Instead the repellent plant is dried and minced, and allowed to soak in mineral oil for a couple of days. This is then added to water including a little detergent or soap to suspend the oil on top the water, and a teaspoon of alcohol per quart to help dissolve the soap.
Nicotine can be a very effective method of pest control as well. It is naturally derived, however, it is not usually used in organic gardens due to its toxicity. Nicotine can be deadly to most insects and humans, when swallowed in concentrate. This poisonous compound, affects the neuromuscular system causing insects to go into convulsions and die. Sometimes you can see it sold commercially, mixed with sulfur. One commonly used product is Black Flag’s Nicotine Sulfate.
Nicotine sulfate(tobacco/water tea combined with sulfur) is excellent for use on all plants except members of the nightshade family(potatoes, eggplants, peppers, tomatoes). To make your own tobacco spray: simply combine 1/2 ounce of tobacco per quart of water, soak for one day at room temperature and strain the resultant tea. Nicotine sprays are useful on all insects, but are usually used for aphids. It is not recommended to use nicotine sulfate on plants you intend to use for consumption.
Horticultural oils are a non-poisonous, safe, and non-polluting insecticides. They are usually used to kill slow moving, immobile sucking insects by suffocating them with a thin layer of oily film. These types of insecticides are usually produced by manufacturers and not concocted by gardeners themselves. Horticultural oil spray can be useful against many bugs including aphids, scales, thrips, spidermites, whiteflies and mealybugs.
Pyrethrum is the last insecticide I will discuss, and is by far the most effective ,and most used of the insecticides. It is extracted from the flowers of the pyrethrum chrysanthemum. Seeing as how the main ingredient in pyrethrum comes from Africa, it is hard to make at home and can be found commercially sold at retail nurseries(there are many types available so I will not mention any brand names). Being an insecticide with a wide array of uses, pyrethrum is very toxic to most insects, even those that are beneficial. When applied as a spray it can also be useful against flying insects. If the insect doesn’t receive a large enough quantity, it may revive, so pyrethrum is usually combined with rotenone or ryania to ensure effectiveness. Pyrethrum should be used to spot spray only heavily infested plants. It is non-toxic to animals and humans, and is very effective when applied to your garden manually.
1) Mix homemade garden sprays using water and plants (or dried powders) from the garden such as hot peppers, onions and garlic. Add a drop of dish detergent to help the solution stick and store in a spray bottle to apply to infested vegetables or flowers.
2) Capture a handful of the problem insects, drop them in a blender and hit the mix button. Pour the paste into a shallow dish and place where the problem insects are located. Ground-up insects will repel their own kind.
3) Use companion planting techniques and plant garlic bulbs around the roses and fruit trees. The garlic will repel Japanese beetles and aphids.
4) Sprinkle diatomaceous earth in areas where slugs or snails are a problem. The microscopic sharp spikes of this material pierce the skins of these soft-bodied pests and they die.
5) Visit the pantry for some homemade pesticides that are commonly available. Sprinkle flour or powdered sugar on cabbageworms and table salt on slugs and snails.
6) Paint a mixture of cooking oil and soapy water on the bark of infested fruit trees to smother the eggs of problem insects.
7) Mix a quarter pound of cedar chips with one gallon of water and let sit for two hours. Use the spray on beetles.
Grow a mosquito plant, pennyroyal or eucalyptus in the garden to repel insects. Make a tincture of pennyroyal and apply to repel annoying black flies and gnats.
9) Add a quarter pound of animal glue to a gallon of warm water and spray on trees and bushes to trap insects.
10) Use household borax in dry form or mix with water to repel ants in and around the house. The ants will eat the sweet material and carry it back to their homes where they die.
11) Make a trap for slugs by placing an almost empty can of beer on its side in the garden. Slugs and snails will go into the can to drink the fermented liquid and not come out.
12) Place a yellow pan with soapy water out in the garden to attract aphids and beetles. They are attracted to their favorite color and the soapy water suffocates them.
13) Create a toxic infusion of rhubarb leaves or tobacco leaves in water to spray in the garden or on flowers. This homemade pesticide is also toxic to humans so handle with care. Avoid spraying on tomatoes.
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