DIY Homemade Garden Pesticide Spray Recipes

Homegrown Pest Control using Homemade Natural/Organic Alternatives to Commercial Pesticides

Most garden problems can be solved with a bit of commonsense and most of the fertilisers and pest and weed control products you need are already accessible from either your garden or kitchen pantry.

Any seasoned gardener will know that if your soil is rich and full of life and if your plants are strong and healthy, then your garden will be less susceptible to those darn right annoying pests.

For a flourishing garden, you simply need lots of mulch and manure or compost to enrich the soil and control weed growth as well as planting out plenty of flowering/blossoming plants and water in birdbaths to encourage and attract the pest-eating birds and predatory beneficial insects into your garden.

If this does not sound at all like your garden, do not stress, as I have a bunch of my favourite easy to make at home effective natural pesticides recipes that you can easily make for yourself within your own kitchen, that will help you to control your garden pest problem without bombarding your garden with even nastier chemical-based poisons.

An initial stopgap to solving your pest control problems, you could always plant out a number of companion pest-repelling plants amongst your existing garden as these plants will emit odours that will deter pests from calling your patch of garden home sweet home.

You just need to remember that these plants are only deterrents and not cures as they will simply make other plants less pleasant to pests, not stop them.

Some fabulous pest deterring companion plants to plant in your garden include Marigolds, Tansy, Rue, Hyssop, Feverfew, Wormwood, Pyrethrum Daisies, Nasturtiums, Lavender, Rosemary, Scented-Leaf Geraniums, Scented-Leaf Pelargoniums and Garlic.

You should only be using homemade pesticides when you are converting to an organic garden and your plants are vulnerable. Another reason is when seasonal and/or other conditions produce an unusual build-up of pests and as a result the plant/s are in danger of being smothered and killed.

Pesticides should always be used as a last resort when dealing with garden pests. Even homemade organic pesticides which are made from natural ingredients and break down much quicker than commerically-made pesticides may kill useful predatory insects/bugs when applied or at best reduce their food supply so then they will go elsewhere in search of food and you will miss out on having the help of beneficial pest-controlling insects/bugs and birds in your garden.

Remember that any successful naturally stable productive garden needs some pests in order to feed the beneficial predators - just as in life it is a balancing act of moderation and not extremes.

Even though the following recipes are natural-based and not chemical-based I would still advise that you keep them out of reach of children.

Just because they are natural does not mean that they are 100% safe if they were to be injested or sprayed into someone's eyes, etc. Always assume that any pesticide is dangerous and you would with any commercial chemical-based pesticides.

I would also suggest that you make them using separate utensils than those you would normally use in your kitchen and keep these stored away for when you need to make up your next batch.

I would also suggest that you store any unused pre-made pesticides in clearly labelled containers in a place out of sight of young children.

Always wear gloves and long sleeves (and even a spray mask) when you are spraying and applying your homemade pesticides on the plants. While the majority of pesticides are not poisonous they may very well be irritating and cause skin irritations/flare-ups.

Better to be safe than sorry!

This easy to make pesticide spray can be used as a general insecticide in a wide range of situations. It is not a contact pesticide as you spray it on the leaves of the plants and not directly on the annoying pest.

The effectiveness of this spray will depend on how soon the pests actually munch-out on the leaves that you have sprayed and obviously you would be silly to make up a batch and spray it if rain was forecast for that day.

Ingredients -

200 grams GARLIC, chopped but do not worry about peeling it

4 tlbspns MINERAL OIL

1 tlbspn GRATED SOAP or SOAP FLAKES

1 litre WATER

Utensils -

WOODEN Stirring Spoon

Old SAUCEPAN

GLASS Jar

BUCKET

Method -

Soak the GARLIC in the MINERAL OIL for at least 24 hours before making this pesticide spray.

Combine the SOAP and WATER in an old pan and heat, stirring until the soap dissolves, then remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. (If you use warm/tepid water you could use a lidded jar and just shake the soap and WARM water until it is mixed properly).

Add the SOAP mixture to the GARLIC mixture.

Strain the SPRAY into a GLASS JAR (not a metal container) and then discard the residue garlic pulp.

Store your concentrated GARLIC SPRAY mixture away from the light (and young children).

When it is time for you to use your concentrated garlic spray mixture just add it to 10 litres of WATER (ie. add 10 parts of Water to 1 part base mixture).

If you notice that this mixture proportion is not as effective as you would like then just add more of your concentrated base mixture into the water until you are happy that the spray is obviously doing the intended job of getting rid of leaf-eating, sap-sucking garden pests such as aphids.

Any of the following easy to grow pest repellent plants such as Tansy, Wormwood, Marigold, Rue and Feverfew can easily be used in a homemade pesticide spray.

You could also experiment yourself with plants such as Lavender, Rosemary and Scented-leaf Geraniums and Pelargoniums.

Ingredients -

1 - 2 cups of the leaves/flowerheads of TANSY or WORMWOOD or MARIGOLD or RUE or FEVERFEW (You can choose to only use only the one plant variety or you could use a combination per spray mixture)

1 - 2 cups Boiling WATER

Method -

Pour the Boiling WATER over the PLANT LEAVES/FLOWERHEADS in a pre-heated lidded glass jar.

Once the water has been poured then place the jar lid on (try not to sniff the steam).

When the liquid has cooled down (you could even leave this mixture overnight) then strain out and discard the plant residue.

This pesticide mixture can be stored in a dark place for several days. Make sure that you label the jar/container and keep it out of reach of young children.

Spray the liquid pesticide mixture onto the infested plants every two to three days, as being organic-based it will tend to break down quicker than chemical-based pesticides.

This can be tried on any garden pest but the success rate will be variable. I have had great success with this particular homemade pesticide spray recipe.

Ingredients -

1 part PEST that you are trying to eradicate

3 parts WATER

Method -

Kill the PESTS first by pouring boiling hot water over them.

Now crush up the pests and add the mashed-up pests into the WATER and leave this mixture to steep in a warm but not hot place for at least 24 hours.

Strain the pesticide mixture into a bucket and then discard the leftover pest residue.

Dilute the liquid with 50 parts water and spray onto the plants that are being attacked by this particular bug/pest.

Some possible reasons as to why this homemade bug juice spray pesticide works is because of the pathogens and/or parasites on the original pests which you are spreading onto new pests or it is because the odour of their crushed-up playmates is just too offensive and they move on.

This would easily be the most effective snail repellant that I know but unfortunately it only seems to work on the particular type of snail from which it is made so it is advisable that you only use snails found in your own garden.

I would only recommend you try making this homemade garden pesticide if you are a gardener with a 'strong stomach' otherwise find someone who has. Most kids love making this slimy-sludgy brew (well at least mine do)!

Ingredients -

Lots of SNAILS from your own garden (you have already halved your snail-problem)

Bucket of WATER (Lidded Bucket)

Method -

First you will need to catch your SNAILS and I would recommend that you do this on a wet rainy night armed with umbrella and torchlight.

Crush up the collected snails before throwing them into a bucket of WATER and placing the lid onto the bucket.

Leave this mixture to 'brew' for at least a week or more before you use it to spray the resulting, disgusting liquid over your plant seedlings once a week.

The snail sludge is actually very god for the plants as it is high in calcium, nitrogen and phosphorous.

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