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by Alea Milham4 Comments
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If you are trying to control insects in your yard and garden, try one of these homemade bugsprayrecipes.
Insectscan quickly take over a garden and getting rid of them can run a hefty bill while dousing your harvest in chemicals. You can make many insect repellentsfor your garden at home for a fraction of the cost without all of the chemicals you do not want around your family. Matchone of the DIY insecticides below to your need to help eliminate pests from your home garden.
5 Homemade Bug Spray Recipes
Homemade Pyrethrum Spray Recipe
Insects like aphids and thrips eataway at your garden literally sucking the life out of your plants.
Ingredients:
⅔ cup powdered pyrethrum flowers
1 gallon water
4-5 drops Dawn dish detergent
Instructions: Collect pyrethrum flowers and dry them in the oven on the lowest setting. Store in an airtight container and grind as needed to make a powder. Mix water and powdered pyrethrum together in a jug and shake well. Filter through a reusable coffee filter or flour sack towel. Add soap and spray the plants well in the evening or early morning. If you have outdoor allergies, wear a dust mask while working with pyrethrum powder.
Homemade Leaf Miner Spray Recipe
If you find winding trails in your plants leaves you can get rid of the cause by smothering the leaf miners.You can alter the quantities, but keep the ratio of2 parts molasses to 6 parts water.
Ingredients:
1/4cup Molasses
1 1/2cups water
Instructions: Combine the molasses and water in spray bottle.Shake well before using and pray on any plants affected by leaf miners.
Ammonia can help control aphids and whiteflies. You can alter the quantities, but keep the ratio of 1 part ammonia to 8 parts water.
Ingredients:
1/4cup Ammonia
2cups water
Instructions: Combine the ammonia and water in a spray bottle. Shake well before using. Apply gently in a test area and wait overnight to see if it burns the plant. If the plant is doing well the next evening treat the plant with this spray.
Homemade Insecticidal Soap Recipe
You can use this recipe just like commercial insecticidal soaps.
Ingredients:
⅛ cup baking soda
3 to 4 drops original Dawn dish detergent or castile soap
2 cups water
Instructions: Mix well and spray infected plants liberally. Be sure to spray in the evening to prevent the sun from burning your plants.
Hot Pepper Bug Spray Recipe
This helps keep bugs away as well as unwanted animals such as cats, dogs, and rabbits. Wear gloves while working with this one.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pureed hot peppers
2 cups water
Instructions: Mixthe peppers and water in a spray bottle. Shake well and apply aroundthe areas you want to protect for about a week straight. The bugs and animals you are trying to keep away will lose interest and stop coming around.
Let us know which of these homemade bug spray recipes you have used and share your results with us.
MoreHomemade Pest Control
Using Ladybugs to Naturally Eliminate Aphids
Natural Ways to Get Rid of Wasps
How to Make a Homemade Earwig Trap
7 Essential Oils to Repel Pests in Your Home and Garden
Natural Homemade Insect Repellent
About Alea Milham
Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.
Comments
Lilysays
Ty
Reply
Chrissays
Are these safe for bees?
Reply
Ricksays
Oh, yes. I use these concocctions all the time. The ammonia and vinegar solution cause the bee to stay away until they dicipate and the flowers have been rained on. A bee is a tough, resilent insect. None of these natural, biodegradable solutions harm bees. Commercial pesticides are the problems with bees and butterflies and lady bugs. None of these will harm any beneficial insect in your garden. Just don’t spray any of these directly on a butterfly. Any thing other than water will degrade the silk on there wings.
Reply
Ricksays
Some of these are mold inhibitors, which decrease white flies as they secrete a honeydew that encourages mold and mildew to propagate. I never like to kill ladybugs either. They are so beneficial to the health of your flora. One ladybug will eat 10 affids per day. Mantis and walking sticks are good to have around too. Any insect with a stiff cuticle are little affected by any of these ingriedients. Bees always shy away from vinegar until it’s odor has evaporated completely.
Use one part vinegar (apple cider or white) to three parts water to create a sprayable solution. Add a few drops of mild dish soap to help the solution stick. Add to a sprayer bottle and apply to the base of infested plants. Treat the leaves directly if heavily infested.
In fact, several products that attract fruit flies employ a vinegar attractant and a trap to help capture and control fruit flies. A container containing vinegar and dish soap can function as a trap since the vinegar lures flies to enter the trap and the dish soap will cause the flies to sink inside the trap and die.
Combine water and peppermint oil in a spray bottle. Shake bottle before use and spray the solution around entry spots such as windowsills and door frames, or places where insects may hide. The strong odor acts as a repellent.
Vinegar is one of the best ingredients to make a pest control spray. Vinegar is one of the best ingredients to make a pest control spray. It is effective in repelling ants, mosquitoes, fruit flies, and many others. Creating a mix is quite simple and is considered safe for humans and pets.
2.5 tablespoons of liquid dishwashing soap (preferably Dawn or Lemon Joy) and not automatic dishwasher soap Mix with 2.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil per gallon of warm water. Make only what is needed for one day's treatment. An insecticidal soap like this is generally not harmful to plants, animals or humans.
Repair any holes in drywall and caulk gaps around floor molding where insects can invade your home from neighboring units. Patch holes and loose edges on window and door screens. And be sure to keep windows and doors closed if they do not have screens. Repair gaps around pipes, air conditioners, and dryer vents.
The working theory is that the soap washes off a protective coating on the insect's body, causing it to dry out. Because of this potential cause and effect, only certain insects are susceptible; small, soft-bodied insects are those most likely to be controlled.
One of the easiest homemade bug sprays, simply mix one cup of white vinegar, at Walmart, with three cups of water. You can also add half a teaspoon of dishwashing soap to help the solution adhere. Shake thoroughly and apply to the affected areas.
To make the solution is simple and easy on the wallet! Pour equal parts of vinegar and Dawn into a spray bottle. Gently shake, then spray liberally onto the surface to be cleaned. I have found the best results is when I use it to clean chrome shower and sink fixtures.
Mix 1 part oil of lemon eucalyptus or lavender essential oil with 10 parts witch hazel in the bottle. (For each drop of oil, use 10 drops of witch hazel.) Shake gently to mix. Spray to apply.
There are four major strategies used by Maine or- ganic farmers to manage insects: crop rotation, bar- riers, microbial insecticides, and botanical insecti- cides.
Bugs hate the smells associated with repellency, such as lavender, citronella, vinegar, peppermint, and geranium. These oils are considered a natural way of driving away bugs from your home without harming you, your family, and other animals.
To make a basic oil spray insecticide, mix one cup of vegetable oil with one tablespoon of soap (cover and shake thoroughly), and then when ready to apply, add two teaspoons of the oil spray, mix with one quart of water, shake thoroughly, and spray directly on the surfaces of the plants which are being affected by the ...
If you're looking for an effective insect repellent with DEET, Sawyer's Controlled Release formula is a solid choice. With 20 percent DEET as its active ingredient, it provides reliable protection against mosquitoes and ticks.
Apply to areas where pests hide, paying special attention to cracks and crevices. Apply to baseboards, corners, storage areas, closets, around water pipes, doors and windows, in attics and eaves, behind and under refrigerators, cabinets, sinks, furnaces, stoves, under shelves, drawers and similar areas.
Vinegar, witch hazel, and essential oil: Combine ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ witch hazel, and 20 drops of any essential oil such as rosemary, citronella, tea tree, cedar, eucalyptus, or lemongrass. Fill a spray container halfway with the mixture and shake well before using.
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