Showing posts with label home made pesticides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home made pesticides. Show all posts

Sunday 11 June 2017

Natural Pesticides.

Alcohol Spray:
This spray really is great for houseplants. This especially works on mealy bugs.
1/2 cup of alcohol
2-3 tablespoons of dry laundry soap
1 quart of warm water
Mix all ingredients and spray immediately.
This solution must be made fresh for each use

Ammonia Spray:
Mix one-part household ammonia with seven parts water.

Basic Sprays:
Basic Pepper Spray - Blend 1/2 cup of hot peppers with 2 cups of water.
Strain and spray.
Basic Soap Spray - Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap with 1 gallon of water and spray.

Bug Juice:
1/2 cup of specific species
Mash 1/2 cup of bugs then add two cups of water and strain.
Mix 1/4 cup of this "bug juice" with 2 cups of water and a few drops of soap and spray.
*Beware: Do NOT use flies, ticks, fleas, or mosquitoes in this solution!
These insects carry many communicable human diseases!

Garlic Spray:
This spray is effective against aphids, cabbage loopers, grasshoppers, June bugs, leafhoppers, mites, squash bugs, slugs and whiteflies.
3 oz. minced garlic
1 oz. mineral oil
1 tsp. fish emulsion
16 oz. water
1 Tbsp. castile soap
Combine garlic and oil.
Let soak for 24 hours; strain.
Next, mix fish emulsion with water and castile soap.
Slowly combine the garlic mixture with the fish emulsion mixture.
Keep in a sealed glass container.
This mixture will keep for several months.
To use, mix 2 Tbsp. garlic oil mixture to 1 pint water and spray.

Horseradish Repellant:
This spray is effective on aphids, blister beetles, caterpillars, Colorado beetles, whiteflies and soft-bodied insects.
3 quarts boiling water
2 cups cayenne peppers
1 inch piece horseradish root, chopped
2 cups packed scented geranium leaves, any type, optional
Combine ingredients and let set for 1 hour, cool, strain, and spray.
Note: this can be made without the scented geranium leaves if you don't have them to spare.

Lime Spray:
This spray is effective on cucumber beetles, mites and general purpose.
1 ounce of hydrated lime
32 ounces of water
1 teaspoon of castile soap
Mix hydrated lime with water.
Add soap to act as a sticking agent and insecticide.
This creates an effective spray agains many insects, especially spidermites.
Use up to twice a week.
Note: Lime can cause serious harm to plants if you use too much, so always spray a test plant first and watch it for a few days, to
check for any adverse effects on plants.

Oil Spray:
This spray works well on Aphids, mealy bugs, mites, scales, and thrips.
1 Tbsp. liquid dish soap
1 cup vegetable oil (peanut, canola, safflower, corn, soybean, or sunflower)
Mix oil and soap.
To use mixture, add 1-2 tsp. of the oil and soap mixture to one cup water, and apply to plants.

Orange Peel Spray:
This spray works well on soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and as an ant repellant.
2 cups boiling water
Peelings of on orange
A few drops castile soap
Pour boiling water over orange peels.
Allow to set for 24 hours.
Strain into a glass jar.
Add soap and spray.

Peppermint Soap Spray:
Gnats sometimes swarm on plants, usually indoor varieties.
Try this natural solution, but if the problem persists change the soil in the container.
To 1 quart of boiling water add:
1/2 Tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap
Now fill a spray bottle with the mixture.
While the mixture is still hot, spray it on the plant, soil and gnats!

Red Hot Pepper Spray:
This spray works well on many different types of pests.
2 handfuls fresh red cayenne peppers
1/2 gallon water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Dash of liquid soap
Combine ingredients, and let soak for 2 days.
Apply to plants.

Pepper-Garlic Spray:
This will repel many insects including whiteflies, apids, spidermites and caterpillars.
1 teaspoon of hot pepper or tobasco sauce
4 cloves of garlic
Quart of water
Combine one teaspoon of hot pepper or tobasco sauce, 4 cloves of garlic and a quart of water. Blend well in a blender and strain,
with cheesecloth or nylon mesh before placing in your sprayer.

Salt Spray:
This solution is used for cabbageworms and spider mites.
2 tablespoons of salt
1 gallon of water
Mix and spray.

Soap Spray:
This solution is used for aphids, mealy bugs, mites, scales, and
thrips.
3 Tbsp. liquid soap
1 gallon water
Mix ingredients and spray on plants weekly.
Note: Buy a liquid soap and not a detergent. Health food stores
have liquid soaps, such as Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Soaps.

Spearmint-Hot Pepper-Horseradish Spray:
This works on many different kinds of bugs- too many to list!
1/2 cup of red peppers (hot)
water (read below)
1/2 cup of fresh spearmint
1/2 cup horseradish (root and leaves)
2 tablespoons of liquid detergent
1/2 cup green onion tops
Mix all of the spearmint leaves, horseradish, onion tops and peppers together with enough water to cover everything.
Strain the solution.
After mixing all of these, add a half-gallon of water and add the detergent also.
To use this solution, mix 1/2 gallon of this solution with 1/2 gallon of water.
You can use this to spray almost any plant safely.
Store this mixture for a few days in a cool environment.

Tobacco or Nicotine Spray:
This mixture is great for combating many different types of bugs; especially caterpillars, aphids, and many types of worms.
1 cup of tobacco
1 gallon of water
3 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
Mix tobacco and water in container.
Allow mixture to set for approximately 24 hours, then check the color.
It should be the color of weak tea.
If it is too light, allow to sit longer, if it is too dark, dilute with more water.
Add the liquid soap to the mixture, and spray on plants.

Warning: Don't use this solution on peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, or any other member of the solanaceous family.
Tobacco chemicals can kill these types of plants!

- DIY Natural Insecticides | Permaculture magazine:

- Get Rid of Pests with Garlic | Permaculture magazine:

Thursday 23 March 2017

The war on slugs starts at home.

The war on slugs starts at home - Telegraph:
The mail-order sachets of nematodes infected with deadly mollusc-killing bacteria temporarily raise the proportion of nematodes and brings down the slug population. I’ve been an advocate for years.
However, there is also an allotment-owner’s trick for making your own slug-killing nematode potion, using nothing more than
a bucket,
some weeds,
tap water and
the slugs from your own garden.
If you are already used to killing slugs by drowning them in a bucket, you’ll find this method right up your street.
How to make your own slug killer
In any average garden some slugs will be carrying bacterial diseases or be infected by nematodes, but their low density means that they won’t devastate the rest of the population.
But, catch and confine the slugs and, if the disease or nematodes are present, you can concentrate these micro-predators and harness their natural slug-killing power.
Collect as many slugs as you can find in a jar that has a few small air holes punched in the lid with a hammer and nail – and a few weed leaves for them to eat.
The best time to hunt for slugs is after dark.
In the gloom, slugs become quite brazen and eat on top of leaves as opposed to holing up in cool, dark and damp places as by day.
If stumbling around with a torch is a bridge too far, look for slugs during the day in the drainage holes of pots, beneath stones and hunkered in long grass.
If they evade your efforts, set traps.
A classic that works brilliantly for hard-to-find small ground-dwelling slugs is to place the scooped out half-shells of grapefruits near the crowns of vulnerable plants.
Come dawn, the slugs make for the damp yellow domes, as they love to chew the pith inside.
Slugs also make a beeline for cardboard.
Lay a sheet on the ground among long grass.
Check your traps daily and gather your slimy harvest into a jar.
Once you have caught around 10 to 20 slugs – the more you have the better it works – decant them into a bucket with an inch or so of water in the bottom for humidity and a few more handfuls of leaves to make an edible floating island for your catch.
With the slugs safely inside, place a concrete slab (or any firm cover) over the top to seal them in.
The bucket is the perfect environment for the nematodes and bacteria to breed.
Nematodes spread in water, so check regularly, giving the slugs a stir with a stick.
The idea isn’t to drown them but to keep them moist so the nematodes can hunt them out.
Top tip: This is cheating a bit, but you can use a bought pack of nematodes to “seed” the brew.
Tap about a teaspoon of powder into the bucket to help it along.
After a fortnight a high level of nematodes will have built up inside the bucket and the slugs will have died from infection.
Now, you can dilute the brew: fill the bucket to the top from the tap and decant into a watering can fitted with a rose.
Prevent the weed and slug mixture from falling into the can with a filter of chicken wire folded over the can so it stays put while you pour.
Water the sieved brew around vulnerable plants – the raised nematode population will seek out resident ground-dwelling slugs and see them off.
Like the shop-bought version, this slug killer gives up to six weeks of protection.
Save the contents of the chicken wire sieve (uurrgh!) to start off your next nematode brew.

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Tuesday 23 June 2015

chemical free home made pesticides

rhubarb leaves can be used either as a cure or prevention for blight (I'm not sure which) he said to soak the leaves in water and then dilute 20:1, but he didn't say whether to spray before the blight strikes or when it is present, is this an old wives tale, or has anyone else tried it or even heard of it?

How to Make Homemade Insecticidal Soap for Plants.

How to Make Homemade Insecticidal Soap for Plants | Today's Homeowner:

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