Keep away pesky garden visitors with a simple, inexpensive, homemade, nontoxic—spray!
WATER
Turn your hose nozzle to a fine spray and blast the pests off the leaves, making sure to hit all of the plant’s body, too. For outdoor plants, knocking most of the pests off will often allow beneficial insects to move in and keep the remaining population in check.
SOAP SPRAY
If water does not work, add soap. The acid in the soap will kill the insects away.
Recipe:
Put 1 teaspoon natural dish soap or liquid soap, into a one-quart spray bottle and top it off with water. Spray on your plants with insects on them, remembering the undersides of leaves and stems. Repeat whenever live insects are present.
GARLIC HOT PEPPER
Recipe:
- 1 small bulb garlic (about 6 cloves)
- 1 small hot pepper or 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon natural dish soap or liquid castile soap
Chop the garlic and pepper and put them in a blender with about a cup of water and puree until smooth. Let it steep for at least an hour. Strain it through a coffee filter to remove the solid bits. Pour the resulting garlic-pepper juice into a one-quart spray bottle, add the soap, and top off with water.
Source: rodalesorganiclife.com