Organic Pesticides

Tobacco Spray:

1 cup of tobacco

1 gallon of water

Put the tobacco into the container of water. Allow the mixture to set for approximately 24 hours. After it has stood for a day, check the color. It should be the shade of weak tea. If it is too dark, just dilute it with water until it looks right.

Effective against caterpillars and aphids. *Warning: Don't use this solution on peppers, eggplants, tomatoes or any other member of the solanaceous family. Tobacco chemicals can kill these types of plants!

Soap Spray:

Stop the slugs is with soapy water. You can even use your old, dirty dishwater! Collect some of the water in a pan and pour it into a watering can or even use a pitcher to pour it over the plants. This works really well on hostas and mums, but also can be used on other hardy plants. To make a stronger solution, mix 3 Tablespoons of liquid detergent into a gallon of water. Use this weekly.

Alcohol Spray:

This spray really is great for houseplants. This especially works on meal bugs.

1/2 cup of alcohol

2-3 tablespoons of dry soap laundry soap

1 quart of warm water

Mix all ingredients and spray immediately. You don't have to let this set, but you can't store it either. This solution must be made fresh for each use.

Salt Spray:

This solution is used for cabbage worms and spider mites.

2 tablespoons of salt

1 gallon of water

Mix and spray!

Garlic Spray:

Here is the recipe for a garlic spray that fights slugs too. Slugs must not like eating Italian. To make this smelly spray, use the following list of ingredients:

1 garlic bulb

1 quart of water

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon liquid dish soap

Crush the garlic, mincing it fine. Add finely chopped onion to the mixture, while adding the rest of the ingredients except the soap. Wait an hour before adding the soap to the mixture. The spicy ingredients must sort of stew or steep, almost like tea. After an hour, add the soap and your non-toxic spray is ready to use! This can be stored in the fridge for a week.

Buttermilk and Flour Spray:

Garlic spray is great for getting rid of cutworms, wireworms, whiteflies, and slugs too.

What you need:

1 pint of water

1/4 cup of dish liquid

2 teaspoons of paraffin

6 tablespoons of chopped garlic

Soak the whole garlic in the liquid paraffin for at least 24 hours. After a day, add the dish liquid and water to the mixture. Remember to shake it very well. Strain the solution and store it in a glass jar. This lasts around a week.

Spearmint-Hot Pepper-Horseradish Spray:

This works on many different kinds of bugs- too many to list!

1/2 cup of red peppers (hot)

water (read below)

1/2 cup of fresh spearmint

1/2 cup horseradish (root and leaves)

2 tablespoons of liquid detergent

1/2 cup green onion tops

Mix all of the spearmint leaves, horseradish, onion tops and peppers together with enough water to cover everything. Strain the solution. After mixing all of these, add a half-gallon of water and add the detergent also. To use this solution, mix 1/2 gallon of this solution with 1/2 gallon of water. You can use this to spray almost any plant safely. Store this mixture for a few days in a cool environment.