Make Your Own Pesticides for a Pest-Free Home
Pests are unwanted visitors that dampen the joy you get from your home and lawn. No one wants to see critters running around in their kitchen, living room or garden. Plus, pests like rodents, cockroaches, termites and mosquitoes are carriers of germs, which can cause sickness at home.
To immediately get rid of pests, hire the pros. Whether it’s ticks pest control service or a mosquito extermination service, seek professional help to remove pests from your home. But as the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. So, to avoid pests or want to mitigate the problem while waiting for your local professional, make natural pesticides at home.
These DIY and homemade pesticides are effective at getting rid of unwanted pests but do not affect the health of your family or damage your home.
Consider the following homemade and natural remedies to keep your home and garden free of unwanted guests.
Vegetable Oil Spray
A homemade pesticide made from mild soap (e.g. castile soap) mixed with vegetable oil can drive certain troublesome pests, such as thrips, mites and aphids, away.
To make a basic vegetable oil spray pesticide, mix a cup of vegetable oil with one tablespoon of your chosen soap. Give the mixture a good stir before shaking it vigorously. Once the mixture is ready, add two teaspoons of the vegetable oil mix with a quarter of water. Give it a good shake before you directly spray the mixture on your plants.
How does vegetable oil spray work? It coats the bodies of the pests, which suffocates them. At the same time, it doesn’t harm your plants.
Garlic Spray
Garlic has a pungent aroma that is delectable to humans and repellent to pests. Its strong scent plays an important role when used as a natural insecticide. Use this common kitchen ingredient to knock down pest infestations in your garden.
The basic garlic spray only requires two whole bulbs of garlic, pureed in a food processor or blender with a small amount of water. Let the mixture sit overnight before straining it into a jar. Finish the spray off with a one-half cup of vegetable oil, a quart of water and a teaspoon of mild liquid soap.
To use your garlic spray, use a cup of the mixture and spray liberally on infested greens.
Garlic-Mint Insect Spray
For another take on garlic spray and outdoor pest control, cook up a DIY garlic-mint insect spray. Just take some garlic cloves and mint leaves and blend them up in a food processor. Add a drop of dishwashing liquid and a bit of cayenne pepper before bringing the whole mixture to a boil. After cooking the spray, let it sit overnight.
Once the concoction is ready, pour it in a spray bottle and voila – you have a DIY insecticide that keeps your greens healthy and pest-free.
Soap Spray
A distant relative of the oil spray, the soap spray is also effective for controlling beetles, mites, whiteflies, aphids and other pests.
To make homemade soap spray pesticide, mix one quart of water with one and one-half teaspoon of liquid soap. Pour it in a spray bottle, give it a good shake and directly spray on any infected plant. Similar to the vegetable oil spray insecticide, it coats the leaves and suffocates the insects. Apply the spray if necessary although refrain from spraying it during the sunniest part of the day. Instead, use it during the evening or early morning.
Chili Pepper Spray
You can make chili pepper spray from either chili pepper powder or fresh hot peppers. To make the basic chili pepper spray, mix a tablespoon of chili powder with a quart of water plus several drops of liquid soap. If you want to make a spray from fresh chili peppers, puree or blend a one-half cup of peppers with a cup of water before adding another quart of water and let it boil.
A word of caution: hot chili peppers are potent on humans, too. So when making a spray out of fresh peppers, use gloves when handling them. When spraying, keep the mixture away from your nose, eyes and mouth.
Coffee Grounds
Pests and critters aren’t big fans of coffee like you. In fact, they hate it. Coffee grounds are deadly to ants. So, if you want to recycle your coffee grounds from today’s coffee fix, use them as a pesticide. Scatter them around your home or in areas where bugs are thriving.
Pests aren’t worth your time. Instead of worrying about them, concoct your own to enjoy downtime with more Friends Christmas episodes or other Neflix movies.
Although there are many other natural insecticides available, the natural homemade pesticide recipes above are good starting points that can encourage you to make your own. Protect your home and your health with these DIY pesticides.