To make natural pesticides at home, you must know about the plants that contain pesticide properties. Here are some plants used as natural pesticides.
Plants with natural pesticides properties
| Pest | Control (or deterrent) method or approach |
| Whiteflies | Neem oil, ginger, garlic, combination spray, early detection, try blasting plants with water or using a strong vacuum. |
| Mites | Neem oil, Turmeric, sweet basil, onion spray. |
| Thrips | Neem oil & soap, pepper, ginger, an insect growth regulator (IGR), traps, mulch, garlic planted at the base of the plant, good sanitation, early detection. |
| Aphids | Turmeric, garlic, ginger, pepper, soursop, onion spray, control the ants. |
| Scales | Chive tea, neem oil, control ants. |
| Leaf miner | Neem oil, sweet basil. |
| Caterpillars | Turmeric, pepper, soursop, thuricide. |
First, you need to practice scouting for pests.
Look closely at plants, especially under the leaves. If you can detect some pests early, you may be able to stop a huge buildup before it can happen. So you can easily remove them from your garden using these natural pesticides if you recognize them at a very early stage. Besides some pests are more active at night, and if you check in the day, you can only see the damaged areas.
Recipes For Natural Pesticides
Pepper combination all-purpose sprays
- At first, blend 3 hot peppers, 2 onions and a bulb of garlic in 1 liter of water. Then boil. Let stand for 2 days. Strain. This may be frozen for future use.
- Get 6 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp dried hot pepper 1 minced onion, 1 tsp pure soap (not detergent) 1-gallon hot water. Blend & let sit for 1 – 2 days. Strain & use it as a spray.
Red hot pepper or ground cayenne can also be sprinkled on the leaves of plants (apply when leaves are slightly damp) to repel chewing insects.
This natural pesticides protect plants from cabbage worms, caterpillars, hornworms, aphids, flea beetles and other chewing/sucking insects.
Other Home Made Natural Pesticides
Onion spray
Take one unpeeled onion and blend with 1 liter of water until it turns into a milky color. Strain. Helpful with aphids and red spider mites.
Garlic spray
Take medium size 4 garlic cloves and soak in 1 liter of cold water for 3 days. Blend and strain. Generally helpful with ants, caterpillars, and cabbage worms.
Neem spray
Crush 500 g of neem seeds. Mix the crushed seeds with 10 L of water and leave to stand for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight). Strain this through heavy cloth or gauze and it is ready for spraying.
Chive tea
Pour 600ml of boiling water over ¼ cup of dried chives. Leave to infuse for one hour. Strain. Dilute 1 part spray to 2 parts water. Helpful for scale and mildew.
Salt spray
Mix 125g salt and 30g of soft soap with 9 liters of water. Helpful in controlling the white cabbage butterfly.
Bordeaux spray
Stir 90g copper sulfate into 4.5 liters of hot water and leave it overnight. Secondly, mix 125ml garden lime juice with 4.5 liters of cold water. Then mix a sufficient quantity and equal parts of both and spray for immediate use. Store the balance of the mixtures separately.
Spray for powdery mildew
To remedy this problem, mix 3 tbsp. Baking Soda, 2½ tbsp. horticultural oil and one gallon of water. Spray the mix onto infected plants. Reapply as often as needed. Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects beans, cucumbers, melons, peas, pumpkins, squash as well as many fruit trees and roses.
When using any pest control apply before sunrise and after sunset so that foraging bees are not affected. Besides using several times a day if the pest problem occurs after rain or chronic.
Natural sprays should be stored in a glass bottle in a dark place away from children. Many of the sprays can be stored up to a month, except for the Bordeaux spray, which should be used immediately. And also the pulp left after straining the mixtures can be dug into the garden or put in your mulch heap.
You may also be interested in “Organic Pest Management Solutions”.