Homemade Natural Pesticides

Save your Landscape from Pests

If you're looking for nontoxic, environmentally friendly ways to control pests in your landscape here are some suggestions for natural pesticides -

Tobacco "sun tea" - heat about a spoonful of natural chewing tobacco per gallon of water for about 45 minutes. Spray it on plants. It's safe for bees, ants and ladybugs plus it dissipates rapidly in the environment.

Pepper "tea" - place one cup of fresh, crushed or sliced hot peppers into a boiler with about two quarts of water. Boil the peppers for 30 minutes or more to extract the hot oils from the peppers. Strain and place in a spray bottle, adding water to create one gallon. Spray the plants with this when there will be time for the pepper solution to dry on the plant.

Soap water -one teaspoon of liquid dishwashing detergent to one gallon of water then spray this solution on your plants. You can also use dishwater that has already been used to wash your dishes for this purpose. These natural pesticides deters all kinds of pests.

Garlic “tea” - adding the juice of several large garlic cloves to a gallon of water can be effective.  Another formula for grubs and soil pests-mince five garlic cloves and let them dry, then crush them into a powder. Place the powder in 2 teaspoons of water, and let the mixture stand for two hours. Add 2 quarts of water, mix well, strain and place into a sprayer with a glass jar. (Never use metal, because it may react with the chemicals in garlic.) Spray on a test area to make sure the mixture isn't too potent for plants. If not, spray the area where grubs have been found. The mixture will kill grubs but not earthworms, which are beneficial to the soil.

Neem oil – (from the seeds of the neem tree, Azadirachta indica) can be mixed with water or diluted with other natural oils for spraying.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)- a naturally occurring bacteria sold in garden supply stores. Use according to directions to get rid of pests. Caution- this can kill butterflies.

All of the above products kill or discourage the pests, but are safe for mammals and birds and most good insects. 

Conversely, some plants themselves are deterrents to pests- most notably the pyrethrum daisy, nasturtiums and marigolds. Attractive as flowering plants, they are effective against many types of insects and even nematodes.

To keep ants away plant mint, tansy or pennyroyal. Plant mint, garlic, chives, coriander or anise around the plants and aphids will be discouraged. If mice tend to be a problem in your garden, plant some onions.   So there are many ways to keep your landscape safe from pests, while keeping the environment safe.