Cheap Organic Pest Control
Environmentally Friendly Insect and Disease Management
We do not have to reach for a shop bought spray to fight insect pests. Organic homemade remedies can be effective in overcoming fungal problems, root rot, mites, aphids,
In a program of Integrated Pest management (IPM), it is sometimes necessary to use sprays or dusts to reduce or prevent the occurrence of pests or diseases. Many of these can be made cheaply at home.
Not all of these work all the time and may need some experimentation. They do however provide an alternative to bought-in insecticides and pesticides.
Generally, sprays are made as a concentrate and then strained – so that they can be used in a sprayer – diluted with water and some soap added so that the spray is will both spread over the leaf (not bead) and adhere to the plant. Pure soap flakes if available are suitable otherwise just scrape bar laundry soap into the mix. Clay can be used in place of soap if need be.
Products work in different ways, some poison the insect, some are deterrents because of their smell or taste, some dry the insect out on contact.
The best homemade insecticide is your fingers! Bugs can be caught and swished (yuck), moths and butterflies can be swatted and scales chipped of with your fingernail.
Home Made Spays.
Pure soap when mixed with water is as a natural insecticide for the control of some sap-sucking insect pests, including aphids and mealy bugs. It is a contact insecticide and works by breaking down the insect’s exoskeleton, causing it to dehydrate and die
Clay can suffocate scales, mites and thrips.
Bug Juice.
Biodynamic books suggest a homeopathic approach is to use the target pest against itself.
This useful product is a mixture made by catching a number of the target pest pounding them into a mess and then mixing this with water. It appears that this discourages the pest species very quickly. It may be that it encourages species-specific disease. Equal parts of the mash is mixed with water and then strained and then diluted greatly: a teaspoon in a bucket of water.
Jenny Gilbertson reports in Chook Wisdom (P780 Earth Garden Books, Aust) that such a mixture cured her fowls of Stickfast fleas.
Rhubarb
A spray may be made from soaking the poisonous leaves of Rhubarb. It is not known how long the poison lasts and so should never be used on food plants.
A kilogram of leaves to 3 Litres of water for thirty minutes, to this is added 15 grams of pure soap flakes. The mix is then diluted 1:1 for use.
Garlic spray.
Garlic can be useful in controlling caterpillars and aphids. It is sometimes planted under fruit trees as a specific against curly leaf and black spot.
The Queensland Department of Primary Industry gives the following recipe
Soak 1 bulb of finely chopped garlic in paraffin for 3 day. Dissolve 2 cups of soap flakes in 1 L of water and add to the garlic mixture. Stand the mixture for a further 2 days and then strain the mixture through pantihose. Dilute 1/2 a cup of the garlic concentrate with 4 L of water before application. ( L. Mulcrone, Information Officer, Rockhampton.)
Chilli Spray
Chilli spray may be useful for the control of chewing insects and aphids when sprayed directly onto the insect. It may also be used to deter feeding predators.
Chilli Spray Recipe
Blend 40 fresh chilli peppers in 1 L of water. Add 5 g of pure soap flakes to the blended chilli mixture. Apply as required undiluted.
Elder Spray.
People once wore elder leaves on their hats to keep away flies. A spray can be made by boiling up 500 gm of leaves with 1 litre of water. This is strained then diluted and sprayed.
Pepper.
Pepper can be dusted on to caterpillars.
Sugar or Molasses
These can be used against nematodes. The sugar is mixed 1 kilogram to 5 litres of water (2 pounds to 1 gallon), the molasses is diluted to a weak tea
A spray of molasses made by mixing a little molasses in a litre of water and adding soap may deter grasshoppers and caterpillars. Molasses is effective when applied to the soil to control nematodes. 40 gm of molasses per litre of water.
Oil.
White oil is available commercially but in can be made at home. Use any vegetable oil
Mix 1 tbsp of liquid soap with 1 cup of vegetable oil. Dilute as required using 1-2.5 tsp of the mixture to 1 cup of water.
Mix 1 part by volume of liquid soap with 5 parts vegetable oil. Dilute this in 20 parts of water.
Caveat
Not all of the above are effective in every garden or on every occasion. They are not as quick acting as conventional chemical pesticides can be - however they are worth persevering with especially when used as a preventative measure.
