Our Greener Life

Have you been wanting to use a more natural type of pest control in your garden? You can make your own natural garden sprays to control pests, and the ingredients are not expensive. In fact, you probably have a lot of these items already in your home or growing in your garden. Here are some recipes for repelling the pests from your yard and garden.

Note – some of the recipes call for liquid soap. This refers to vegetable-based soap such as castile or oil soap (such as is used for cleaning wood and floors). Using dish or laundry detergent can harm plants.

1. Hot Chili Pepper Spray

This is reputed to kill caterpillars. In a blender, whiz 2 cups of fresh chili peppers or 1 cup dried with 2 cups of water until it is liquefied. Use this spray right away, and keep it out of your eyes.

2. Hot Chili Pepper and Wormwood Spray

This is a spray that can help repel larger pests such as opossums and rabbits, in addition to snails and slugs. It kills white flies and aphids (be sure to spray under the leaves for aphids). Begin as with the chili spray above, but add one cup of chopped wormwood herb before blending (you may need some additional water to blend it into a liquid). Then, add 5 cups of water, boil, and steep for an hour. Strain before spraying. Keep this spray from contacting your eyes and skin.

3. Garlic Sprays

There are multiple garlic-based sprays that repel or kill a variety of pests. Garlic is said to be especially effective against ants, cabbage worms, and caterpillars, but it works as a repellent for a wide variety of pests.

* Basic garlic spray: Steep 4 raw garlic cloves in a quart of water for about 3 days. Then liquefy the mixture in a blender.

* Garlic soap spray: Steep 4 cloves of garlic as above, then add 2 tablespoons of liquid soap before blending.

* Garlic hot pepper spray: Add 3-4 chili peppers to the mixture before blending.

* Garlic, hot pepper, and onion spray: Try this concentrated spray for red spider mites or aphids. Chop a head of garlic and a medium onion (no need to peel first). Add chopped garlic and onion to 5-6 cups of water and stir in a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

When the mixture has cooled, let it sit in a glass jar for a month to six weeks. Then, strain and add 1 tablespoon of this formula (plus an optional tablespoon of liquid soap) to 1 quart of water to make a spray. Keep this out of your eyes and off your skin.

* Garlic oil spray: To kill aphids, onion flies, and mosquitoes, chop the bulbs of 3 to 4 heads of garlic. Steep in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for about 24 hours. Then mix 1 teaspoon of fish emulsion with 2 cups of water and stir until dissolved. Add the fish emulsion mixture to the garlic and mineral oil. Strain and store in a glass container (not metal). This is also concentrated, so use 1 tablespoon per 1 1/4 cups of water.

4. Basic Soap Spray

Gently (so that it doesn’t foam) mix 1 tablespoon of liquid vegetable soap with 1 quart of water. This spray is especially effective on squash bugs and is a great way to protect your squash and cucumber plants.

A home that smells bad can be very frustrating and embarrassing. Bad smells in the home can also indicate problems that could be causing allergies or other respiratory symptoms. Chemical-based, air freshener sprays and synthetic potpourris can actually make allergies worse. Here are some ideas for ridding your home of nasty odors using natural means.

1. Baking soda
Yes, it is part of every natural cleaning suggestion list! There is a reason for that. Baking soda is very effective at absorbing odors. Sprinkle it on your carpet, wait about 10 minutes, and then vacuum. Sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of your kitchen garbage can, underneath the garbage bag. Leave a pan of baking soda out to absorb airborne odors. For sink odors, pour baking soda into your sink drain, followed by white vinegar. Leave overnight, then flush with hot water the next morning.

2. Find the source
It will help any smell-eliminating effort to find the source and clean it up. Maybe one of your pets has started using the bathroom in a hidden corner, or perhaps someone dropped some food behind the couch. It could even be your garbage.

3. Check the vacuum
Because they suck up all manner of household debris, vacuum cleaners can get very smelly. Emptying the canister or changing bags often is helpful, as is changing the filters if your vacuum has them. If the smell is stubborn despite these efforts, vacuum up some baking soda. Or, put a few drops of an essential oil you like onto a cotton ball, then vacuum the ball.

4. Enzymes
Enzymatic cleaners are available to clean many odor-causing messes. There are enzymes specifically for pet odors (you pour the liquid right on the area where the pet has soiled – after cleaning it up, of course), and enzymes for combating mildew. These are natural, non-toxic choices for getting rid of odors.

5. Fresh air
Perhaps it’s old-fashioned, but an open window or two can sweep out odors in a matter of minutes. Make a cross-breeze effect by opening windows that are across from each other, and put a fan in the window to pull fresh air in and help circulate it. If the weather will not permit this, just circulating the air with fans can help.

6. Houseplants
If you can’t let fresh air in due to weather (or worse odors outdoors from, say, car exhaust), grow houseplants. Indoor plants can improve air quality significantly; NASA scientists actually studied the effects of houseplants on indoor air and concluded that they do, in fact, pull chemicals from the air. Some plants to consider are English ivy, spider plant, peace lily, bamboo palm or reed palm, rubber plant and other figs (Ficus), and snake plant.

7. Charcoal
Charcoal is used in filters to remove odors and impurities from water, and it can also serve to remove odors from air. Because it can be messy, put the charcoal in a container with holes in the top of it so air can flow through. Place these throughout your home.

8. Dehumidifier
Sometimes, damp air can worsen odors. A dehumidifier can get rid of the water in the air, making it smell much better.

9. Spritzers
It’s easy to make a natural air freshening spray by mixing 1 part rubbing alcohol with 2 parts water in a spritzer, and adding a few drops of essential oil. Some good choices for essential oils are citrus, lavender, bergamot, and peppermint.