I’m proud to announce that my fall garden is goin’ strong, thanks to my natural garden pest control!
I’ve got my soil composted, organic heirloom seeds planted, labels painted, and my day laborers (a.k.a. the children) weedin’ like nobody’s business.
It’s the stuff of dreams, man. Being a natural person, I wanted to go for only organic garden pest control. My garden was doing fine in the beginning, and then came that little pesky problem…
Bugs.
And more bugs.
Seriously, how rude are these bugs? Geez, it’s like they don’t even care that I have a blog or anything.
“Hello! I need my garden to be flawless so everybody thinks I’m perfect and I never have any problems!”
Luckily for these bugs, I don’t believe in pesticides. I’ve had many people recommend all sorts of chemical-laden products. But I decided long ago that this garden was going to be au naturale, dang it! My natural garden pest control will knock those bugs off their feet!
Today’s organic garden pest control recipe is a great natural deterrent for those inconsiderate bugs in your garden. Take it from me when I say this stuff works! It uses garlic, cayenne pepper, onion (and a secret ingredient) to deter the bugs. I use homemade soap to help the spray adhere to the leaves.
For those “special” bugs in your life:
Start by placing 4 cups of filtered water, 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves, & 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper (or any other kind of hot pepper) in a pot. Bring to a boil.
Grate about 1/4 bar of soap. I used my homemade soap recipe here, but you can use any natural soap you like. Seriously, any natural soap like this one (even a cheap one!) is fine.
Once your pot of goodies is boiling, just add that soap right in. Stir while cooking an additional 2 minutes or so, and remove it from heat when the bubbles start to rise.
Cover it with a lid and let it all sit together for about 20 minutes.
Once it cools, strain it and put it in a heavy duty spray bottle like this one.
I’ve been spraying this organic garden pest control on my plants about once a week and it seems to do the trick during those mild months. Also, it won’t leave a residue or flavor on your plants. Since it’s made from real food ingredients, it’s a good idea to store it in the fridge.
What kind of bugs will this spray deter?
I’ve noticed that this organic garden pest control can deter a moderate amount of cutworms, potato bugs, spiders, aphids, caterpillars, ants, aphids, slugs, snails, & squash bugs.
Need an even stronger organic garden pest control option?
During a heavy bug season (during the late summer for us Arizona folks) I’ve noticed that I need a stronger pest spray. I have had incredible results from using essential oil garden sprays. Essential oils have potent properties that deter bugs when you’re dealing with a big infestation in the garden. Watch my free class on which combination of essential oils is best!
Can I get a ‘woot woot’ for organic gardening?
Thanks for this article. Now I only want to know how to apply any of these oils to protect my garden from ants. The best solution I found for now is diatomaceous earth.
Hi Nicholas-
DaNelle’s homemade pest spray should work on ants: https://www.weedemandreap.com/natural-pesticides/
Or you can use straight peppermint oil.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Did you strain the veggies before adding at soup and putting this mixture into the spray bottle??
Hi Darlene-
After it sits for the 20 minutes and cools, then you strain it and put it into the spray bottle.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Wow! I admire your patience to use organic solutions to big, frustrating problems like bugs. Thanks for sharing that easy recipe. Will surely try that once I commit to going all natural with pest solutions soon. Thanks for the inspiration.
What can I do about the gophers that are eating all the roots of my squash plants??
Hi Regina-
The first step you need to take is making sure you are dealing with gophers and not some other critter such as voles.
If you are pretty sure they are gophers than you can try some of the options mentioned in this article: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/documents/12281/managinggophers.pdf
I hope that helps! Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
will this mixture of pepper, onions, garlic and castille oil drive away/harm or kill the bees that i need to pollinate my watermelon plants
Hi Laura-
Yes, pepper sprays can deter beneficial pollinators. So, when using pesticides, even natural ones, do so because your garden is truly being overrun and damaged by unwanted pests and spraying is the best solution.
If you do choose to use the spray there are some things you can do to mitigate its affects. Spray plants when pollinators are less active (nighttime) and look to attract pollinators in others was such as using the pollinator attractant describe in this article: https://www.weedemandreap.com/natural-pesticides/
And also creating a space to attract pollinators like in this article: https://www.weedemandreap.com/grow-butterfly-garden/
I hope that helps!
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I used a vinegar, peppermint oil, cayenne solution on my plants. My spray bottle wasn’t working. I got impatient, and sprinkled the concoction around. After awhile, my plants had discolored spots? Did I ruin them?
Hi Anna-
I’m really sorry about your plants. It’s best not to spray vinegar on your plants. It can damage the foliage especially if temperatures are above 80 degrees and/or the vinegar is not diluted enough. To help your plants, be sure to rinse them off, lightly shade them to keep them from getting sunburned, trim the dead and damaged leaves, and check and make sure your soil pH isn’t too acidic. Hopefully with a little time and TLC they will come back.
I hope that helps. Best of luck with your plants.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Can I use fresh chilli instead of cayenne pepper ? I have a lot that Ive grown and would like to use the imperfect ones up ! I have made and used this receipe and it works great!
Hi Mandy-
Yes, you can use the chili peppers. Glad the recipe works for you!
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Can you use red pepper flakes? That’s all I have at the moment
Hi Becky-
Yes, I believe those should work too.
Thanks -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I would have never thought to use grated soap as a pest control. I’ll have to try creating the soap soup you have the recipe for to see if I can control the bug problem I have in my garden. Ever since I planted my garden 2 months ago the bugs in my neighborhood have made it open season in my backyard.
If we spray this on our garden, will it also deter bees and other pollinators that are WANTED?
Perfect ! This is what I was looking for, much better than buying those allergic pesticides from Walmart. Not a pro gardener but love to grow and beautify plants in my backyard. 😀
Thanks! I meant does it harm any spiders, bugs etc?
Nope, it just deters them:)
Can you use dish soap? If so how much?
Thxs, Emma:)
The spray help indoor plants too and the flower plants help too?
Hi Henry-
Yes, it can help both of those. Thanks -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
This doesnt kill anything right? Just a deterrent? Good info!
Yes, just a deterrent, it hasn’t killed any plant I’ve sprayed it on:)
Hi how often should I use the spray?
I use it about once a week, more if there are more bugs:)
Hi,
I like your post, May i know if it will still work without putting any essential oil ?
It still works fairly well without:)
Does this solution need to be diluted or sprayed full strath on garden plants?
Sprayed full strath:)
Thank you for the tips buy I’m bit concerned about adding soap to the pest spray. There is Lye in it and the bottle clearly says it’s poison and it’s used to clear clogged drains. How to avoid that? Thanks.
Lye isn’t poisonous or harmful after the saponification process that happens when soap is made.
Does this work for rabbits and squirrels, or do you have a different remedy for that?
Yes! I have more solutions here: https://www.weedemandreap.com/natural-solutions-garden/
How do I order oils from you?
Thank you for recipe☺
Hi April,
You can purchase them here! https://www.weedemandreap.com/get-essential-oils
I followed the link to your “Repellent” blend of oils for the spray. I do not see anything there called “Repellent.” Is that product still available, has it changed it’s name? Is there a substitute we could use? Would really like to make this and get my spring garden started! I was a little disappointed with my garden from last year, so I’m going to give it another shot and pests were one of my issues.
Sorry about that Julia! The trade name for it is TerraShield
Thanks for sharing…this is a great recipe!
Hi DaNelle,
I am sakthy from India, recently i saw your blog and find much informative. Thanks for sharing . I have a question plz answer me when u get time. How may day once we need to use this spray for the plants?
-Sakthy
I usually do every other day:)
I would love to learn soooo much more – I need to learn how to make my own natural bug repellent for the family to use. Any suggestions?
Hello, thanks so much for the recipe, my dahlias are being eaten alive and I need something to help them but hate using chemicals. I’m still waiting though for the email with where to buy the repellent oil. Also do you have an all natural mircale grow recipe? With the late spring my plants are all very stunted and I’d like to give them a boost because at this rate the first frost will be here before a flower ever appears.
Thanks for any help
I am so excited to have found this non chemical ‘bug b gone’ recipe. 2 questions: is it safe for free range chickens and could I use dawn liquid soap. Thanks!!
Yes and Yes!
I was wondering how much of the repellent blend to add to water for an insect repellent. The mosquitos are crazy right now!
It was a homemade lye soap
Help I have goffers eating my new shoots on my strawberries. Could you
offer some advice on repelling them. My owl does not work
Hmmm, I’m not an expert on gophers. Sorry!
I made this and it gelled? Did I put too much soap? Or let it cook too long?
Hi Beth, it could have been the soap you used. What brand did you use?
I am looking for a good, safe way to keep squirrels & chipmunks from my patio garden. Early in the year when I have sprouts and seedlings just starting, I go out in the morning to find holes in the soil with plants either completely missing, or lying beside the freshly dug hole, roots up! I start most of my flowers and vegetables from seeds that I have harvested the previous year. I do buy a few, for I like to try unusual plants, just to see if I can succeed. Any way, I invest lots of time, and sometimes it is so disappointing, I’m ready for some squirrel stew. Some things I have tried are human hair, pet hair(dog), cayenne pepper, blood meal, bone meal, bone & blood meal. these critters seem to like everything I give them. My latest is plastic forks, tines up. I just did that today, so I don’t know if it works or not. Help!
This is a link for a critter repellent cage to grow veggies in 300 sq ft and not too expensive to make: https://growyourowngroceries.org/the-advanced-tree-rat-defense-system/
I was wondering, I recently bought some ‘Kiss My Face’ brand pure olive oil soap that is fragrance free. Would that work for the soap part of this recipe?
Sure!
thank you, great post. Dose it work on apple trees.
Yes!
I have the essential oil blend. How many drops to you think I need to add to just water for bug spray on just me and the kids?
You can put it straight on the skin, as it’s already diluted a bit, but I like to mix with witch hazel and put in a spray bottle I’ll put an entire bottle of it in a 16 oz. spray bottle with witch hazel.
OMG, this concoction smells so bad I almost threw up pouring it into my spray bottle! I used crushed red pepper flakes bc that’s what I had on hand and my natural soap is lavender scented so you can imagine why it smelled so terrible. Hopefully it works, this is my first year doing a vegetable garden so let’s hope for the best.
This is a great post! So helpful.
Does it also repel pollinators? I’m nervous to spray it on my flowering vegetables…..do you think it’ll be ok?
Thanks,
Wonderful information. I have a heavy earwig infestation all over my yard. Will this recipe work to eradicate them? Also any suggestion on ridding powdery mildew from pumpkin and cucumber plants other than milk and water? I’m vegan so I really don’t like to have to buy milk! Thank you again for your information.
I have to look up the article that I read regarding the toxic plants that are insect repellents but I do know that among them is eucalyptus.
which of the constituents in the essential oil blend recommended for insect repellant is of concern for dogs? I read also in this blog that the product could be used as a tick/flea repellant for dogs.
Hi Alison,
All of the essential oils in the TerraShield blend are considered safe for pets:)
Thank you for you Natural Garden Pest Control recipe I can’t wait to try it but I have 2 dogs and I was wondering if it could hurt them in any way and if so is there anything else you can recommend also what can I use on them for fleas? Thanks for any help you can give.
Hi Anneke,
This mixture is safe for dogs:) For fleas, you can use a drop of the Terrashield blend on their collar:)
DaNelle,
Thanks for this recipe; this is just what I’ve been looking for! Have something eating all the green leaves on my Dahlias. Just one question – Can I make this WITHOUT the soap? Will it still work? Let me know when you get a chance. Thank you.
Ella
Hi Ella,
The soap helps the solution attach to the leaves, but feel free to leave it out and see how it does:)
Would this recipe repel deer from eating plants ALL over my property? Or, do you have a recipe for this purpose. I’m going to try your recipe to start with for garden plants. Also I noticed people saying that the end product would solidify. If you’re using shaved soap in the recipe, once it is cooled in the frig, it makes sense that it would get hard. What’s the trick to that?
Love your generosity in sharing your wisdom–very grateful. Thanks so much.
Haven’t used it on deer yet so I’m not sure, but it’s definitely non-toxic if you’re concerned about that:)
i have heard human hair is a natural deterrent. Maybe check with a local barber or hair salon and ask them to gather their clippings for a week. Simply scatter around th perimeter of the areas they bother. Good luck.
Human hair works for about 60 days. I put it in old stockings and hang in on my plants. But, it has to be replaced regularly cause the human scent goes away. This year I read somewhere that strips of white cloth tied on the plants makes the deer think its the underside of the tail of another deer, which is a warning sign for them. I tried that this year (used old t-shirts of the hubs and tore them in strips). So far, so good. They usually destroy the leaves on our fig tree as they come out, but they haven’t touched it at all.
Thank you so much. I have a very bad sinus problem that simply cant tolerate those commercial brand pesticides and ido love the garden , but ha e had so little success because of not enough nutrients to the soil or plaques of ravenous insects . I have banana tree that could be unlucky enough to fall victim to a bug that is going through the farms up north of this state. Ithasruined that industry before a d the bananas had to be imported and so the cycle started all over again. I am hoping to miss out on it by using an old remedy. It entails pouring buckets of water from the washing machine a few times a week.My old Mother in law now deceased, did it to her trees years ago and saved them. Thank you so much cause this recipe for pest control is going to be a Godsend to me. As I live in Australia in Queensland we do have a lot of summer bugs and they all have an appetite for anything that grows in the garden. Midges Aphids , lace bugs , caterpillars, fruit flies , and heaps more.We also have a bug that eats leaves but is also attracted to white clothing and linen on the clothes line. It draws the water out of the item its on but leaves a big yellow stain when it’s finished its time on the bit of white clothing or sheets. Once again, thank you for this help I do appreciate it greatly.All the best. Lyne
Where can I purchase a bottle of Terrashield. Every time I hit the Weedemandreap.com website it does not bring anything up.
Thank-*you,
Kakie Diuren
I’m not an employee or connected with any store but, Whole Foods is the only place that I know that might carry Terrashield. I hope there is a store near you. If you are too far away, I think they will ship it to you, if you look online. They may have a mail order website.
Hi there,
I’ve just made potion, I left it out over night and it has solidified.
I was afraid to put it in the spray bottle for the fact that I wont be able to spray it?
And if it goes in the fridge wont it be worse?
Can you please help?
What do you use the potion you made for?
You’ve listed other ways you use Terrashield; is that with the mix you made on the stove?
And lastly can you use it on your bed as a deterrent?
Thank you so much and I really look forward in hearing from you,
Maroula
Hi Maroula,
I only use this spray in the garden, and I’m actually pretty surprised that it solidified. Terrashield is used separately for the other things listed.
If some one wishes to be updated with latest technologies then he
must be go to see this web page and be up to date all the time.
Will this work without the your favorite brand of oil?
Sure! I’ve found the oil gives it a boost, but I’ve made it without as well:)
The above recipe sounds easy and I’m going to make it today. The only thing not mentioned is “what time of day to you apply it to the garden. I’m new at this, so could really use your help.
Thanks in advance
Anytime is fine:)
I am a 4-H leader, and our club works extensively with gardening. They each have raised beds and we coordinate a community garden with our local church youth group. This year we are making many of the products for our garden as additional projects. These recipes are wonderful, just what I have been looking for.
If I don’t have your favorite brand, but do have a good variety of essential oils, which ones would you recommend I try?
Thanks!
To clarify, I meant if I don’t have your favorite brand‘s Terra Shield, but do have a good variety…
I tried this without any essential oils a few days ago and it hasn’t stopped the ants (they just walk right over it) from munching on the leaves. I also found that something (in just a few hours) chomped down on my bell peppers’ leaves. I found 3 or 4 catepillars/worms cocooned on the underside of some of the leaves. I pruned those off and threw them away.
Any suggestions?
I know for sure that ants hate Peppermint!
This is great! Thank you for posting. I am a new user to your favorite brand and just got TerraShield so I am happy to read this on how to use. I do have grapes and fruit trees that this will work on. Can you use your remedy on flowering plants as well?
Yes!
Does this recipe do away with grasshoppers? If not, What will? Please tell us how we can use this recipe in a hose end sprayer. My garden is too big for a squirt bottle.
Linda, here’s a quick-and-dirty math conversion to make a more concentrated version of this recipe to use in your hose-end sprayer. Spraying at an 8oz per gallon rate, you would need to brew up a solution 16x as strong. So, 8 onions, 32 cloves garlic, 4 tsp hot pepper in 4 cups water – except that you won’t fit that many onions into 4 cups of water! :-/ You would have to use more water, just to cover the onions, and then after removing the onions, you would need to slowly boil it down to concentrate it. Then add maybe a whole bar of grated soap and 80 drops of essential oil, to end up with roughly 1 quart of the concentrate to spray through the hose-end spayer @ 8oz/gallon setting.
This is great, thanks!
Hmmm, I’m not sure about grasshoppers. Sorry, I wish I could be more help!
Thank you! I needed this recipe.
Awesome post! Gardening is an awesome hobby and it’s very rewarding when you grow your own veggies. But pest control is a big PITA, thank Mother Nature for her goodies that also keep the bugs and critters at bay.
Hi,
I followed your recipe and mine did not turn dark brown like your picture for the bug spray, did I miss an ingredient?
Thanks Kelly
I’m not sure Kelly. I did leave the skin on my onion, maybe that made a difference.
Hi, I am new to all of this, so I have a few questions. Can Dr. Bronner’s Castille bar soap be used? I had heard that spraying certain things on plants can burn them with direct sunlight. Is there a best time of day to spray so that the plants aren’t burned in the sun? Can it be sprayed directly on leaves? What about directly on flowers? Does it work with cabbage worms? What about beneficial insects like bees? I know, a lot of questions, but I just want to be sure that I am using it properly to obtain maximum benefits. Thank you.
Hi Nella,
Yes, Castile soap can be sued. This recipe does not burn the plant. You can spray any time of day directly on the leaves or flowers. I don’t know if it affect cabbage worms, but it doesn’t harm bees:)
This is a great post! So helpful. How long can it be stored for?
Can this be used on houseplants?
Yes!
Ive had the same prb and used this exact recipe and it worked like a charm <3
Perfect timing, I will try this on my arugula and bokchoy plants. I discovered yesterday that leaves were eaten but I don’t know if bugs or caterpillars. Will this deter caterpillars too?
Can Iiquid Ivory Soap work instead of grating a soap bar?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work.
I will definitely try this recipe. I hate losing my garden to the bugs.
Thank you. This is perfect for my garden.
Don’t you have to strain the pieces out of it first? It would clog up the sprayer, if you don’t.
Does this work for ticks also, we have a lot of deer, so we deal with ticks
I haven’t tried it on ticks yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work!
Hello, i have tried to this today, but for me it turnes into a gelo that there’re noway i can spray, what am i doing wrong ?
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Will this work on my fruit trees?
Sadly, it’s still frosting at night here… and yesterday it even snowed. I haven’t planted ANYTHING lol!!! This time last year I was already eating lettuce! Yikes. I’m excited to try this recipe. Really strong unsweetened tea will work too!!!
Do you think this would work for earwigs?! I hate using chemicals but I haven’t found anything natural to get rid of our earwig infestation and I DETEST those buggers they eat all of my hostas, tomatoes, lettuce and they get into my house by the droves.
Hello Deborah,
Our local garden guru recommends a simple trap for earwigs. It consists of putting crumpled up newspaper in an old flower pot and hanging it upside down on a short stick pushed into the ground. Next morning you’ll find the pot contains many earwigs which crawl into the newspaper for a nap. Then you dispose of the earwigs any way you like. He recommends tapping them into a bucket of water containing some kerosene for instant death.
Great tip!
I’m loving your site! I just made your brew using feels naptha( natural?).I stored it in the fridge right away because it was too dark out. It got VERY thick so I had to scoop it out and warm it. Just wondering if I used too much soap and if that would hurt the plants if I did. Thanks! Keep the goodness coming 🙂
I think if you used a lot of soap, it wouldn’t be good, so just stick with a small amount.
I’m cooking this up as I type…thanks for the article.
Update…no new critter holes in the leaves of our sunflowers, potatoes, eggplant, chard, beans or any of our squash. I’ve also unedited my hostas, lambs ear and dahlias. Seems to be working but I am reapplying every 3-4 days on the plants that have overhead watering just in case. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
can you use Lye soap????
I sure will try.
Yes, my homemade soap is made with lye. As long as the lye has properly saponified, you should be good.
Will this work on fruit trees?
Sure will!
Could you give me a recipe to get rid of ants that are coming in from outside and in my pantry closet where I store all of my food. I don’t want to use any chemicals because I just finished chemo & radiation for breast cancer. I am noe cancer-free and I am staying away from all chemicals. Please help! Thank you!
Lillian Chilelli
Hi Lillian,
Peppermint essential oil has worked great for me! Maybe put some on a few cotton balls and leave them where you see the ants coming from.. Please be aware of the surface though as I’m not sure what it would do to the wood. Maybe place the balls on top of something? Hope this helps. BTW- congrats on kicking cancer’s butt!!
This site has a recipe for ant killer: https://www.creeklinehouse.com/2013/05/the-very-best-homemade-ant-killer.html
I made one similar to this last year only no soap. I made it like a tea, letting it sit in the sun for a couple of days before using. It worked great on my apple trees.
I used garlic, chilli & any strong herb cuttings from the garden with dish washing liquid. Chop it all up & let it brew in the spray bottle of warm water. Together with beer traps, crop rotation & food forest-ish layering (as well as a few early morning trips to the garden with scissors before the original caterpillars took over) we’ve beaten millipedes, earwigs & cabbage moths. Hoot hoot!
Great recipe!
Your recipe for all natural insecticide is illegal according to the US EPA unless it consists of a list of active ingredients exempt under Section 25(b). Anyone who manufactures or applied your recipe could be considered breaking the law because the ingredient you recommended is cayenne pepper which is not exempt. Our natural insecticide is made with white pepper making the product exempt. If you changed the ‘recipe’ into a formulation with white pepper, then no one is breaking the law. Kind regards, Danny Ledoux, President, OrganoPest.com, LLC
Well, I’m not selling it, so I think I’m fine:)
Oh for pete’s sake…seriously!!??
What about squash bugs, they are bad here no matter how I rotate my crops or how much garlic barrier (homemade) I use. Will this work better nor do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you
Does this work for aphids?
I’d love to know if this deters aphids as well.
Yes, it does deter them:) I also hear that ladybugs are great for aphid control as well.
Yes, it does!
Hmmm. I wonder if I can spray this on my houseplants to keep my big bugs (aka 3 pesky kitties) from eating them??
Onions and garlic are poisonous to cats. I wouldn’t recommend it.
How does this work on Squash bugs?
Just dug under five inches of snow to harvest kale. It was delicious in my soup.
Can I spray this on my compost? I have a problem with fruit flies. I’m new at all of this but aspiring to be an urban farm girl.
プラダ アウトレット イタリア サマンサタバサ バッグ セール https://sishenbac.cartiershueiowsdgkirtjp.org/
Any suggestions for squirrels? We’ve tried netting but they still get into my tomatoes.
Exactly what I was looking for!!
Thanks, DaNelle, I love reading all of your great ideas, recipes and stories! 🙂
Could I use liquid castile soap? It’s what I have on-hand.
We live in Northern AZ so the cold nights are “burning” the leaves on all of the plants in my garden! Not only that, but this is my first year having a large garden, and the bugs have ravaged most of it. So sad. I wonder what would survive all frosty winter long up here?
Woot woot!
If i don’t have electricity in my area,how would i store it
Hi , love your blog !!!! I garden in the summer but would love to do a fall garden. I have a few questions…. First does this organic bug spray kill squash bugs??? Nothing I’ve tried works, even pesticides and I hate using them. Second how do you plant arugula_?? I love it and have never grown it. Can u plant it in a container like an earth box_?? Thanks a bunch, look forward to hearing back from you and reading your blog .
I’m so excited about this recipe! Thank you!
I have tomatoes waning, winter squash growing, arugula still going strong, and for the fall I’ve planted mustard greens, collard greens, spinach, romaine lettuce, bush beans and rutabagas. It’s my second year doing a garden, and my first time doing a fall garden, so I am pretty, pretty excited. LOVING your blog, by the way.
Two questions.
#1 What are you growing in your fall garden? I’ve got lots of greens, peas, carrots, onions, that kind of thing.
#2 Does the spray work to deter crickets? Can I spray around the outside of the house?
I use a straight garlic spray which is basically garlic, dishwashing soap and water. The only problem is you have to be vigilant with these type of sprays. Garlic can also deter good bugs too.
Luckily with Fall and frost, the bugs subside,
@Tiffany d, the only thing I found with white flies is to spray them with a bug blaster. They are impossible. Yellow sticky traps work too. I find them impossible to eradicate in the garden. They love greens especially collard greens.
Addition, simply looking under your leaves for eggs and worms helps as well.
Woo Hoo! Thanks.
Have you found this effective on white fly? They just love me and don’t want to leave my garden! 🙁
Tiffany D – I was told that using a spray made of Dawn dish soap and water would get rid of white flies – havent tried it for myself though- and Im not sure what is in the Dawn soap so you may want to check it out first.
The Dawn soap killed my tomatoes last year. I don’t recommend that.
For what it’s worth, I did the exact same ingredients RAW in a blender.. let it sit overnight then strained it before putting in a spray bottle.. It kills some bugs right out, and deters others.
Sweet!
I have a really large garden. I squirt bottle would not do. Have we found how to use this recipe in a hose end sprayer?
What about a pump spray bottle like this one? -> https://amzn.to/1jd22nv
Can you use dish soap? If so how much?
Thxs, Emma
Hey there! I am a newbie to your website and am enjoying it. One question though, does it matter if it is clear or solid soap?
I don’t think it should matter, as long as it’s a natural one:)
Love it!
Woot Woot! I have been looking for something like this for the past few months, so glad I found your site!
p.s. I bought your book last week, read it in 3 days, and am totally in love with you. I have been living this way for the past 1.5 years and have lost about 45 lbs. I just didn’t realize that I was doing it. You put exactly what I was doing into coherent beautifully written words. Thank you!
you can see my journey at:
https://migrainemechanics.blogspot.com/
Woot woot!
Thanks for the recipe!! I’m new to gardening, but want to start out the right way and use organic practices.
I love it! Can you tell me where you purchased your heritage seeds? Thank you!
I bought my seeds this year from http://www.johnnyseeds.com
Good to know and sounds safer than rhubarb leaves which are a good natural insecticide but toxic to dogs and potentially children too. https://www.ehow.com/how_5015925_make-rhubarb-leaf-natural-pesticide.html
Thank you for your pest control recipe; just what I was looking for.