luckandleather
Active Member
Natural Pesticide Recipes
Marigold Spray (Calendula officinalis)
Mash up 250 grams of marigold leaves and flowers into a pulp and add to half a litre of water. Stir and leave this mix to stand for 24 hours. After 24 hours has passed strain the mixture through a fine mesh or cloth. Then add another 1.5 litres of water and fill your sprayer. This mixture will help to control asparagus beetles, tomato hornworms, leaf cutting and chewing insects.
Elder Leaf Pesticide
Boil half a litre of water and add approx 225 grams of Elder leaves. Leave this mixture to simmer for 30 minutes. Take another half a litre of warm water and mix with 1 table spoon of castile (vegetable oil based) soap. Then mix both the soap water and the elder water together and strain through a fine mesh or cloth. Pour the strained mixture into a sprayer. Helps to prevent attack from Aphids, carrot fly, peach tree borers, cucumber beetles and midges. Elder leaves also have fungicidal properties and may be useful against mildew and blackspot diseases.
Note Elder leaf is poisonous. Store carefully and make sure it is well labelled.
Orange Peel Spray
Boil half a litre of water and pour over the peelings of 1 orange. Leave the water and orange peel to stand for 24 hours. Then add a few drops of castile (vegetable oil based) soap. Strain the mix through a fine mesh or cloth and add to a sprayer. Controls soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and can be used as an ant repellent.
Pepper Tea
Take one teaspoon of hot pepper or tobasco sauce, 4 cloves of garlic and 1 litre of water. Mix these together in a blender and strain the resulting mix through a fine mesh, such as a cheese cloth and then simply pour into your sprayer. This will then help to repel pests such as aphids, whiteflies, caterpillars and spidermites.
Vinegar Fungicide
Mix 3 tablespoons of natural apple cider vinegar in one gallon of water. Spray during the cool part of the day for black spot on roses and other fungal diseases. Adding molasses at 1 tablespoon per gallon will again help.
As with all commercial products, store these solutions out of reach of children and pets. They may be made from natural products, but some of the ingredients can be poisonous, such as Elder leaf, or cause irritation. Try not to make up more of a solution than you will use in a few days.
Do some research on any home made recipe before using, and try on a small area first before applying to your entire garden, especially on edible crops.
Marigold Spray (Calendula officinalis)
Mash up 250 grams of marigold leaves and flowers into a pulp and add to half a litre of water. Stir and leave this mix to stand for 24 hours. After 24 hours has passed strain the mixture through a fine mesh or cloth. Then add another 1.5 litres of water and fill your sprayer. This mixture will help to control asparagus beetles, tomato hornworms, leaf cutting and chewing insects.
Elder Leaf Pesticide
Boil half a litre of water and add approx 225 grams of Elder leaves. Leave this mixture to simmer for 30 minutes. Take another half a litre of warm water and mix with 1 table spoon of castile (vegetable oil based) soap. Then mix both the soap water and the elder water together and strain through a fine mesh or cloth. Pour the strained mixture into a sprayer. Helps to prevent attack from Aphids, carrot fly, peach tree borers, cucumber beetles and midges. Elder leaves also have fungicidal properties and may be useful against mildew and blackspot diseases.
Note Elder leaf is poisonous. Store carefully and make sure it is well labelled.
Orange Peel Spray
Boil half a litre of water and pour over the peelings of 1 orange. Leave the water and orange peel to stand for 24 hours. Then add a few drops of castile (vegetable oil based) soap. Strain the mix through a fine mesh or cloth and add to a sprayer. Controls soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and can be used as an ant repellent.
Pepper Tea
Take one teaspoon of hot pepper or tobasco sauce, 4 cloves of garlic and 1 litre of water. Mix these together in a blender and strain the resulting mix through a fine mesh, such as a cheese cloth and then simply pour into your sprayer. This will then help to repel pests such as aphids, whiteflies, caterpillars and spidermites.
Vinegar Fungicide
Mix 3 tablespoons of natural apple cider vinegar in one gallon of water. Spray during the cool part of the day for black spot on roses and other fungal diseases. Adding molasses at 1 tablespoon per gallon will again help.
As with all commercial products, store these solutions out of reach of children and pets. They may be made from natural products, but some of the ingredients can be poisonous, such as Elder leaf, or cause irritation. Try not to make up more of a solution than you will use in a few days.
Do some research on any home made recipe before using, and try on a small area first before applying to your entire garden, especially on edible crops.
