Pests are a normal part of any garden. They come and go with the seasons. In healthy gardens, they are kept in check by birds, frogs and lizards, as well as beneficial predatory and parasitic insects. It is crucial to keep plants in good shape because weak, diseased and stressed plants are more susceptible to attack. Cultivation practices such as crop rotation and mixed crops further reduce the risk of infestation. While many commercial pesticides are effective against insects, they sometimes also kill beneficial insects and can be harmful to pets and children. There are many benefits to using a natural insecticide or one you can make yourself using ingredients you already have at home. We'll show you somenatural vegetable manuresagainst pests that you can easily do yourself.
Nettle against aphids and whiteflies
Instead of planting nettle among your edible and ornamental plants, collect the leaves from the wild - or in a carefully demarcated garden bed - and use them to make a spray that repels harmful insects. Most manures against pests are usually easy and quick to prepare.
The main uses of nettle are:
- as a defense against animal parasites in plants, especially aphids and mites.
- as a high-quality organic fertilizer because it is rich in nitrogen and trace elements.
- as a stimulant for the plants' natural defensesagainst certain fungal diseases, which are very dangerous to vegetables, such as oidium and downy mildew.
How to make the spray:
- Use pruning shears to cut the nettle from the base of the plant. Take enough of the nettles to fill a 20kg bucket. Wear long sleeves, long pants, and gloves when trimming plants.
- Place the nettle in a 20kg bucket. Shred the plants or squeeze them with your gloved hands.
- Pour water over the nettles until they are covered.
- Cover the bucket and let the mixture steep for at least a week.
- Remove the wet nettles with your gloved hands. Place the nettles on the compost heap.
- Strain the infused water through a sieve into a second bucket.
- Use a funnel to pour the nettle solution into a spray bottle.
- Spray the leaves of the affected plants with the nettle spray, treating both the top and bottom of the plants.
- Add the rest of the solution to the spray bottle as needed.
Natural remedies against pests: rhubarb leaves manure
Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, which is an excellent natural pest control agent for leaf-eating insects. If aphids or othersPests attack your plants, the acid in the rhubarb leaves should cause them to suffocate or otherwise be disturbed. Over time, you will no longer need to worry about the pests. For this reason, gardeners have always used rhubarb leaves as a natural, chemical-free insecticide.
What you need:
Rhabarberblätter
An old pot or casserole dish that you will no longer use for food preparation
An old mixing spoon that you will no longer use for food preparation
A cutting board or surface that you can wipe down afterwards
A sharp knife
Water
Funnel (optional)
A sieve or cheesecloth
A clean bucket
Dishwashing detergent or soap flakes
A clean spray bottle
Measuring cup
If you want to make a larger batch of rhubarb leaf insecticide, you will also need a safe jar or bottle with a lid for storage. To make an insecticide solution, the first thing you need to do is collect rhubarb leaves. Of course, if you grow the plant yourself, you can use your own leaves. If not, you can buy rhubarb from the supermarket that still has green leaves.
Rhubarb leaves manure recipe
- Cut the stems from the leaves to use in cooking or other activities and save the leaves for your manure.
- Once you have your rhubarb leaves, you need to boil them in water. Try to maintain a 1:3 ratio between the leaves and the water.
- For example, if you have 120g of rhubarb leaves, use 360g of water. Boil the leaves in a pot for about half an hour and then let the broth cool.
- Then use a sieve to remove all the leaves from the pot.
- Add some liquid dish soap and pour the solution into a spray bottle. That's all you have to do!
- Once you do thatnatural plant sprayhave made, start by spraying the affected plants in your garden. It is best to spray in the morning or afternoon so that the solution does not evaporate too quickly. Over time, you should notice that the insects find your plants less attractive.
Manure against pests: onion peels
A potentially effective ingredient for a homemade pest spray is onion, whose strong odor is unpleasant to many pests. Combining the onion with garlic and pepper into a spray increases its effectiveness against pests that chew on plant leaves or suck out plant fluids.
How to prepare the manure:
- Blend about six cloves of garlic, one large onion, and one tablespoon of cayenne pepper or two whole peppers in a blender or food processor.
- Combine the mixed onion, garlic and pepper with a liter of water and let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
- Pour the mixture through a sieve or cheesecloth into a glass to separate the solid slurry from the liquid.
- Bury the separated solids shallowly in areas of your garden or yard near plants that are particularly affected by pests.
- Pour the onion solution into a spray bottle.
- Spray pest-infested or susceptible plants thoroughly with onion spray.
- Store unused spray in the refrigerator. Use it within two weeks by misting the plants every few days and after each rainfall or overhead watering.
Prepare field horsetail manure yourself
This plant with great medicinal properties helps fight fungi and some pests such as spider mites or aphids thanks to its high content of silica and a saponin called equisetonin, which is toxic to fungi. We find silica in most of our forests or already dried in every herb shop.
- We put 15 grams of horsetail if it is dry or 100 grams if it is fresh in a liter of water and let it boil for 15 minutes.
- Once it has cooled, we pour off the water and dilute the solution in a 1:3 ratio (for each part of the horsetail preparation we add three parts of water) to spray our plants with it. The smell of this solution is very pleasant and it is one of the easiest and quickestchemical-free manureagainst pests.
Garlic is one of the best pesticides against pests
And,Garlic acts as a pesticide, and usually extremely effective. Garlic repels insects in the same way it repels some people. This means that the smell is unpleasant and the insects avoid it. When garlic is applied to the plants to be protected, the plant absorbs its scent, more specifically the allicin in garlic. The smell is so faint that humans cannot detect it after application, but insects can. Although garlic doesn't kill insects, the scent is deterrent enough in most cases.
Garlic spray can kill some soft-bodied insects, but only if sprayed directly on them. The basic recipe for this spray is easily customizable, so you can experiment with different proportions with this recipe to find the strength that works best for you. There are also a number of recipes for garlic spraying against pests on the Internet, which are set in different strengths or with different additives and which you can try out. For the simplest recipe you will need the following:
4-6 cloves of garlic
2 liters of water
Optional:
1 tablespoon natural dish soap or natural oil
2 hot peppers or 1 tablespoon hot sauce
How to prepare the spray:
- Crush or chop the garlic cloves as finely as possible.
- Heat the water until almost boiling and then add the garlic.
- If you also add hot peppers, chop them finely and add them to the water along with the garlic.
- Keep the water hot for another 15-20 minutes and then remove it from the heat.
- Once cool, strain it to remove any garlic and pepper bits and pour the water into your spray bottle or other container if you want to store it.
- If you want to add a natural soap or oil, you can add it to the container first and pour the garlic water over it.
- Spray your plants with the garlic spray once a week. Be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves as this is where the insects often lay their eggs.
Elder leaves are effective against pests
Target insects: Aphids, carrot root fly, cucumber beetle, peach tree borer and root maggots. Particularly effective against mosquitoes. Elderberry leaves also have fungicidal properties and can be useful against powdery mildew and black spot diseases.
Preparation:
- Simmer 200g leaves in 500g water for 30 minutes.
- Stir thoroughly, then strain.
- Take 500g of warm water and mix it with 1 tablespoon of Castile soap.
- Add the soap mixture to the elderberry water and spray as needed.
Note: Set your sprayer to a coarse or large drop setting as this mixture can clog a fine setting.
Prepare manure from cabbage
The cabbage spray is used against flea beetles. To prepare it you need 1 kilogram of cabbage leaves and 5 liters of water.
How to prepare the spray:
- Shred the cabbage leaves and place them in a large container with the water.
- Cover and let the mixture sit for 3 days.
- You can then use the manure for pest control.
This spray is used against fleas, ants, aphids, root aphids and caterpillars. To prepare it you need 3 kilograms of tansy leaves and 10 liters of water.
- Crush the tansy and add water to make a slurry.
- After three days you can use the finished manure by spraying the affected plants twice a week.
