Many gardeners seek natural alternatives to chemical insecticides in order to keep bugs away from their vegetable gardens. With common household items and some creativity, you can easily create your own natural bug spray and help safeguard your vegetables against insects.
Marigold flowers have long been used to repel plant lice, aphids, hornworms and mosquitoes from gardens; further enhancing vegetable growth around them. Try planting some in containers alongside beans, potatoes and squash plants.
Vinegar
Vinegar isn’t limited to just being used in the kitchen – it also has many uses around the garden! As well as being an effective bug repellent, vinegar’s acidity and natural disinfectant properties make it useful in performing garden chores such as cleaning tools and trellises, as well as spraying plants with diluted vinegar solutions in order to keep plants healthy and vigorous.
To use vinegar as a bug spray, fill a plastic spray bottle with one part white or apple cider vinegar and three parts water, mix well, and apply as necessary on vegetable plants’ leaves or stems – taking care not to spray any flowers or stems that could potentially harm them! In addition, acid-loving plants like hydrangeas or azaleas will benefit greatly from such a solution!
An effective vegetable garden insecticide combines soap and vegetable oil, effectively coating bugs’ bodies to make breathing and digesting difficult for them. To create this solution, mix one tablespoon of mild dish or castile soap (dish soap is ideal) with 1 cup of vegetable oil in a spray bottle and use as directed on bugs.
If pests are wreaking havoc in your garden, try turning to natural solutions before resorting to chemical sprays. Instead of sprays, try introducing beneficial insects such as parasitic nematodes, ladybugs, spinosad and beetles which feed off pests by eating or competing for their sustenance. Garden centers usually sell these beneficial bugs.
Strong-smelling vinegar spray can be an effective deterrent against animals that damage vegetable gardens, such as squirrels, raccoons and rabbits. Additionally, its strong aroma can deter weeds. To make this repellent effective against animals invading your garden space, soak several old cloth rags in vinegar before hanging them around the garden space – be sure to refresh their scent regularly for maximum effectiveness.
Trapping pests is another effective strategy, and can be done easily with bait containing reproduction-related bug hormones that lure them in and capture them. Homemade traps can easily be created using ingredients found in your pantry; commercial versions may also be purchased at garden centers or online.
Garlic
Garlic is a beloved garden plant with powerful insect-repellant properties. The strong aroma and taste of garlic deter many insects such as slugs, snails and worms from eating your vegetables; additionally it acts as a natural antifungal and antibiotic remedy – perfect for keeping diseases at bay! Garlic spray or bait traps are excellent tools to use garlic effectively – not forgetting its ability to deter moles and voles that enjoy munching away at plant roots!
Shannon Harlow-Ellis, associate certified entomologist and technical services manager of Mosquito Joe (one of Neighborly’s service companies), notes that garlic has the ability to repel many types of pests including aphids, beetles, flies, hornworms, caterpillars, maggots, slugs and snails. According to Shannon in her article “Garlic: More Than Just a Cooking Spice,” allicin, diallyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide allicin compounds cause unpleasant sensations within their mouth when consumed by animals or insects when consumed by them when consumed when consumed in large enough quantities by them when consumed by them when eaten by these organisms.
These compounds produce unpleasant odors which repel insects, and even can be toxic for some insects, so using garlic in and around vegetable gardens helps deter bugs from accessing crops. One common method for doing so is purchasing concentrated garlic spray at garden centers and applying as needed; another alternative would be creating your own mixture using water, vegetable oil and garlic heads.
Your spray can either be misted out as mist or applied directly from the bottle as liquid for application to affected leaves or the entire vegetable garden. This natural insecticide provides an alternative to chemical insecticides being introduced into the ground and drinking water supply; however it should be kept away from skin and eyes as contact can cause severe irritations.
Bait traps are an easy and efficient way to protect the garden against pests such as maggots, hornworms and beetles. Sticky traps are readily available from garden centers, and should be placed near plants where pests may lurk.
Dish Soap
Frustrating garden pest infestation can be made more manageable with natural products like neem oil or garlic spray; or try DIY sprays made out of dish soap and water!
An easy and effective solution for protecting vegetable plants without using harsh chemicals or toxins is creating a homemade dish soap bug spray. Simply combine one part vinegar (white or apple cider vinegar are both excellent choices) with three parts water in a spray bottle and add one teaspoon of dish soap; mix this all well, and apply to vegetable leaves, particularly underside of leaves where pollinator activity is lowest. Spray daily early morning or evening when pollinator activity levels are at their lowest point to spray accordingly.
Neem oil can boost the effectiveness of any homemade dish soap bug spray by providing natural bug killing properties that dehydrate and kill insects as well as repel them. Plus, its rich fatty acid content protects plant leaves against further insecticide damage while strengthening them so they’re less vulnerable to adverse weather conditions or insecticide damage.
If you don’t have neem oil on hand, any edible vegetable oil will do. A combination of oil and dish soap might even work; just be mindful that overusing either could harm your plants.
Some gardeners find that pouring homemade bug spray onto ant hills works to keep ants away from vegetable plants; this tactic, though potentially effective over a large area, may prove ineffective unless properly targeted.
If these natural methods of pest control have failed and unwanted bugs persist, more effective measures may be required. There are “soft” insecticides available to vegetable gardeners such as horticultural oils or the bacterial sprays of Bacillus Thuringiensis or Spinosad that won’t harm beneficial insects or earthworms as heavily as chemical ones do.
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oil is a cooking oil derived from plants or seeds and typically includes canola, corn, olive, soybean or sunflower oils. With its high heat tolerance and versatile use in frying, sauteing and baking applications, vegetable oil also acts as an effective natural bug deterrent since most insects have an intense dislike of its scent. A great way to use vegetable oil for this purpose is mixing it 1:1 ratio with dish soap before spraying onto plants that have become infested with pests.
Essential oils are another natural insect repellent, making a homemade bug spray simple by mixing witch hazel and water together with 10 drops each of lavender, lemon grass and eucalyptus essential oil or rosemary essential oil (pests have an intense dislike for rosemary!). Rosemary works very effectively as a deterrent!
Other natural ways of protecting your vegetable garden against bugs include:
Avoid pesticide use when possible, since their chemical solutions can be harmful to both you and the environment. Instead, choose recommended cultivars of crops when planting crops, avoid overcrowded conditions when possible and regularly remove weeds from your garden. Furthermore, proper soil management – with organic matter and phosphorus addition – may prevent insect infestation altogether.
Vegetables harvested early are more likely to remain free from defects and insect pests, and should be harvested without delay. If you’re growing late crops, consider terminating as soon as pest populations become severe; and dispose of old crop residue promptly.
As you become more educated about the insects and bugs that invade your vegetable garden, the easier it will be for you to use natural methods of control. By understanding their life cycles and cultural practices, natural enemies, and plant pathogens you will develop an integrated pest management program which includes cultural practices, natural enemies and plant pathogens as part of an integrated pest management strategy. See Extension Publication 2347 Insect Pests of the Home Vegetable Garden for additional details regarding identification and biology of common vegetable pests.