Organic and Natural Pest Control Solutions
It’s that time of year when the pests are out in full force in the garden. Not only are a lot of bad bugs gross looking (aphids…blech!) they’re obviously not good for your plants.
Photo by aroid
Here are some solutions I’ve found that don’t require spraying your plants with chemicals (not exactly an appetizing thought if you’re growing edibles!):
- Ladybugs: These guys are amazing. They love chowing down on aphids and scale insects and they look pretty while doing it. Some ladybugs can eat more than 5,000 aphids in their lifetime! You can purchase little containers of live ladybugs at garden centers and farmers markets. If you can, try to buy them as late in the day as possible. When you get them home, put their container in the fridge to slow them down. At dusk, release a third of the ladybugs into your garden, spreading them around plants infested with insects ladybugs like to eat. Put the remaining ladybugs back in to your fridge. Do the same thing for the next two days. Releasing them in stages, at night, after having been refrigerated will help keep the lady bugs in your garden. After releasing the ladybugs, don’t use pesticides, even organic ones, as you’ll risk killing off your ladybugs in the process.
- DIY Bug Spray: Mary, of Two Green Thumbs Up! recommends blending together 2 garlic bulbs, 1 onion, 1 tbsp. of cayenne pepper and 1 quart of water. After allowing the mixture to steep for one hour, strain and add 1 tbsp. of liquid soap before putting it in a spray bottle and using it as a general bug spray. She has other bug-specific recipes, so be sure to check out the link above.
- Neem Oil: An oldie but goodie. Neem oil works by discouraging insects from eating, not by directly killing them, and it is totally safe to use on edibles. Mix 1 tsp per quart of water plus 1/4 tsp of liquid dish soap. Spray the neem oil mixture directly on leaves or water it in. If you are spraying it on, do so liberally on both the top and undersides of leaves. Reapply the neem oil mixture every 2-4 weeks as needed.
- Espoma Earth-Tone: Espoma is a company that only makes organic and natural gardening products. Their pest control spray is called Earth-Tone and can be purchased at garden centers and even some drug stores. It’s good for aphids, beetles, caterpillars, ants, mealybugs, mites, leafhoppers, scale, thrips, fungus gnats, whitefly, adelgids, plant bugs, sawfly larvae, psyllids, spittlebugs, and phylloxera. Best of all, it’s safe to use on fruits and vegetables.
What are your best organic or natural pest control tips?
July 16, 2008 | Filed Under Pests
Comments
5 Responses to “Organic and Natural Pest Control Solutions”
Leave a Reply
-
Gardening Bookshelf
- You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail
- Bountiful Container by McGee & Stuckey
- The Complete Container Garden by David Joyce
- Gardening in Containers
- Eat More Dirt by Ellen Sandbeck
- The New Vegetarian Grill by Andrea Chesman
-
Best of Life on the Balcony
- Attracting Bees to Your Garden
- How to Design a Beautiful Container Garden
- Creating Privacy on Your Balcony, Part 1
- Creating Privacy on Your Balcony, Part 2
- Container Garden Ideas for a Shady Balcony
- For Beginners: Best Fruits and Vegetables To Grow
- 10 Dirt Cheap Ways to Have a Gorgeous Balcony
-
-
Blogroll
- 2GreenThumbsUp!
- Am I Bugging You Yet?
- Apartment Therapy: LA
- Buddy Garden
- Calendula & Concrete
- Container Gardening in the Desert
- Flat Bottom Flowers
- Fresh Dirt
- Garden Girl
- Home Butterfly Garden
- Homebody
- Landscape Juice
- Life with the Shibaguyz
- Muddy Boot Dreams
- Simply Home Remedies
- The Balcony Garden
- The Veg’able Patch
- Urban Garden Casual
- You Grow Girl
- Zanthan Gardens
If you liked what you found here...
Subscribe (It's FREE!)
great sugggestions…LOL! I wrote about this today too, GMTA
Great minds…When making your own bug spray, it seems that both your recipe and Mary’s (that I linked to above) rely on onions and something spicy hot to keep the bugs away.
[...] week I posted about posted about organic and natural pest control methods; everything from ladybugs to homemade bug spray. But I didn’t discuss one safe and natural [...]
[...] Gardening Inspiration is All Around Us [...]
[...] for pests as a vase full of half eaten blooms probably isn’t what you’re aiming for. Spray with an insecticidal soap at the first sign of bugs, or invest in lady bugs and praying mantis, which can be purchased at your local garden [...]