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Blog -
Gardening
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Written by Owen Jones
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If you are one of the growing number of people in the world that thinks that we ought to start using less chemicals on our planet, then you have almost certainly asked yourself about home-made pesticides. Once you have had a lung full of ant spray or cockroach spray, you know that it would be a good idea if you could use something less appalling.
by OwenJones
If you are one of the growing number of people in the world that thinks that we ought to start using less chemicals on our planet, then you have almost certainly asked yourself about home-made pesticides. Once you have had a lung full of ant spray or cockroach spray, you know that it would be a good idea if you could use something less appalling.
The problem is that we have come to depend on a spray of this to destroy ants, a spray of that to kill cockroaches and another spray for silverfish or whatever. This is all a big con. You do not need three or four sprays to kill or deter all the insects that you are concerned about.
In fact, many sprays contain the old-fashioned pesticides, but they are packaged so as to make you pay a lot more for them.
Boric acid can be used to kill all insects that have jaws and forage. If you want to kill ants, mix it with water and sugar. It will be taken back to the nest, if you do not make the solution so strong that it kills the ants before they can get home. Boric acid will also kill cockroaches. Mix it with flour or pour it in liquid form on bread.
You can kill greenfly or aphids quite easily, by spraying them with your used washing-up water. Soapy water is all you need to kill these pests.
The Colorado potato beetle is a nuisance in some locations. You can kill or deter the Colorado potato beetle with a spray made from soaking cedar wood chips in water. This will make a tea-coloured liquid. It is a potent pesticide and an antibiotic as well. Spray it onto the leaves.
You can also use a foliage spray made from tansy. The process is to dry the tansy and then grind it down - as finely as you can be bothered to. Use a pestle and mortar and then combine it with water. The finer you pulverized the tansy, the fewer blockages you will suffer in your spray gun.
Cutworms can be overcome by mixing pineapple weed with water and spraying it on affected areas. Sagebrush and water will have the same result, but you may need to boil the mixture to extract the essential oils.. If you do not have these plants where you live, you can combine molasses with bran or sawdust and spread that on your plants just before dusk.
The tomato hornworm causes a great deal of damage to tomatoes where they exist. This technique of destroying them is not a pesticide as such, but it is very effective. Spread cornflour around your tomato plants, the hornworms will feed on this too, but they cannot digest it. It will soak up their digestive fluids , expand, and blow them up. This technique can be used on cockroaches too.
A spoonful of canola oil and a drop or two washing-up liquid in a spray gun will exterminate most soft bodied grubs
Diatomaceous earth is a good barrier to all insects and is one of the few ways of clearing out bed bugs too.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with Terro Ant Killer. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please visit our website at Killing Carpenter Ants. |
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