After spending lots of time, effort, and money on your garden, the last thing you want to see is pests. A garden can be an appealing place for pests of all varieties, and depending on where you live, you could be dealing with caterpillars, moths, ants, aphids, beetles, or even moles. For some gardeners, treating these pests with organic pesticides is the first course of action.
A Spicy Soap Spray
This might sound unusual, but many gardeners trust a spicy soap spray to keep pests away from plants. To make the spray, you’ll need to start by boiling some water with chunks of onion, cloves of garlic and some cayenne pepper flakes. Then, add in a whole bar of organic soap until melted and boiling. The whole mixture needs to cool and then go into a spray bottle, which can then be used in the garden to repel some pests.
Salt Spray
An even simpler method that has the potential to keep away spider mites is a homemade salt spray. Simply mix two tablespoons of kosher or sea salt into a gallon of water and then spray on plants that are succumbing to the spider mites.
Baby Shampoo
Believe it or not, an organic baby shampoo can be one way that gardeners keep pests off their favorite plants. To make a baby shampoo pesticide, mix a few spoons of the shampoo with warm water and then spray onto plants. After a few hours, you’ll need to rinse off the plants to remove the mixture. Please note that while baby shampoo is free from harsh chemicals, it still can’t be used on waxy vegetables such as squash.
Orange Peels
To keep away aphids and ants, simple orange peels may be able to do the trick. Orange peels naturally contain an organic chemical called d-Limonene, which decimates the waxy coating of ants and aphids. Sprinkle the orange peels throughout the garden, or place pieces directly around the stems of certain plants to ward off these pests.
Professional Help
Although organic pesticides may be a good place to start when ridding your garden of pests, the best results will come from using professional pest control. For more information, contact Clegg’s online or give us a call at 888-672-5344 for a complete evaluation of your home or business.