Spring Flowers bring May showers and also sometimes unwanted guest. With so many choices for how to rid your house of unexpected visitors, why not go the natural route? Read our list of Natural Home Remedies for Pest control and keep your house pest free this season.
1. Garlic-Mint Insect Spray
For outdoor pest-control, try cooking up this Hometalker’s mixture of Garlic-Mint spray. Just take some mint leaves and garlic cloves and blend them in a food processor, then add a bit of cayenne pepper and a drop of dishwashing liquid. Bring the whole concoction to a boil and let sit overnight. Strain it into a spray bottle and voila! – keep your greens growing strong and pest free!
2. Coffee grounds
Critters and pests don’t love your coffee like you do — in fact, they hate it. For ants, coffee grounds are fatal. Try getting rid of bugs by utilizing recycled coffee grounds around your home in the area from which you think the bugs are emerging.
3. Soap spray insecticide
A very similar homemade pesticide to the oil spray is a soap spray, which is also effective for controlling mites, aphids, whiteflies, beetles, and other hungry little insects. To make a basic soap spray insecticide, mix 1 1/2 teaspoons of a mild liquid soap (such as castile soap) with 1 quart of water, and spray the mixture directly on the infected surfaces of the plants. A soap spray insecticide works in a similar fashion as an oil spray pesticide, and can be applied as necessary (though it is always recommended to NOT apply it during the hot sunny part of the day, but rather in the evenings or early mornings).
4. Dust Mite Oil Repellent
For your own dust mite repellent spray, try mixing either Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint or Rosemary oil into a spray bottle of water and use it to mist your bed lightly. Allow the spray to air dry. Mites detest these scents and will stay away from them. For additional pest control, try a mixture of Basil and Lemongrass to not only repel dust mites, but also fleas and lice.
5. Hot Pepper Spray
For a hotter kind of pest control in the garden, try mixing 1 gallon of water and 3 tablespoons of hot pepper flakes or 10 peppers chopped up finely if you’re using fresh peppers (cayenne works the best but other varieties work as well). Simmer ingredients in a pan for 15 minutes and then let it sit for 24 hours before straining. Add a couple drops of dish soap to help the solution adhere to your plants.
6. Apple Cider Vinegar Fruit Fly Trap
For this fruit fly trap, you will need a bottle or other kind of container with a shaker or funnel shaped top, so that flies can get in but not out. Fill the bottom of the bottle with apple cider vinegar or vinegar and chopped apple pieces and get rid of that buzzing in your ear.
7. Tomato leaf as a natural insecticide
I have to admit that this one is new to me, but I’ve seen enough mentions of it now to warrant its inclusion here as a natural pesticide. Tomato plants are part of the nightshade family, and as such, contain alkaloids such as the aptly named “tomatine,” which can effectively control aphids and other insects. To make tomato leaf spray for a natural insecticide, chop 2 cups of fresh tomato leaves (which can be taken from the bottom part of the plant) into 1 quart of water, and let steep overnight. Strain out the plant material and spray onto plant foliage.
8. Bananas and Tin Foil
To rid your garden of aphids, place chopped up banana peel under the soil line around the stems of your plants. This deters the nasty critters and adds some nutrients to the soil. As an additional trick, to chase aphids from the underside of leaves, place foil around the base of your plant. The light from the sun will reflect off of the foil and onto the underside of the leaves. Be careful though — too much light might scorch the plant.
9. Chrysanthemum Flower Tea
These flowers hold a powerful plant chemical component called pyrethrum. This substance invades the nervous system of insects, rendering them immobile. You can make your own spray by boiling 100 grams of dried flowers into 1 liter of water. Boil dried flowers in water for twenty minutes. Strain, cool, and pour into a spray bottle. Can be stored for up to two months. You can also add some organic neem oil to enhance the effectiveness.
10. Salt Spray
For treating plants infested with spider mites, mix two tablespoons of Himalayan Crystal Salt into one gallon of warm water and spray on infected areas.