Insect Control on Vegetables:
Here’s the deal! We like bugs, just not on our food. In this blog post, we will discuss a couple of eco-friendly ways to keep bugs off your plants and produce, all while protecting our precious earth!
Neem Oil Spray:
This product is available online, or your local nursery. Here’s a link for some prices. Super pricey! To mix up
Neem Oil Spray, you will need:
- Spray Bottle ( has to be chemically resistant to prevent erosion)
- Hose Sprayer
Oil Soap Spray:
A great, and safe, way to keep bugs off of your plants and produce without harming nature or yourself is using oil soap spray!
PLANT SPRAY FOR BUGS: 1 Tbsp (15 mL) in a quart (1 L) of water. Spray plants twice daily until infestation clears. Use an essential oil of your choosing for an even better effect!
Tips and Guidelines:
You can use coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil to help the soap mixture stick a bit better. Add two tablespoons of light cooking oil per gallon of water.
DO NOT MIX with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar: see why here – https://livesimply.me/4-natural-cleaning-ingredients-to-avoid-combining/.
To better repulse insects, add a teaspoon of ground red pepper, garlic, or cayenne pepper per gallon of water. Be careful what you spray, if you’re growing food, you will eventually eat it, so you don’t want to spray a lettuce leaf with cayenne pepper!
You can add essential oils to the spray for added effectiveness, smell, and more!
Thank you to https://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/using-essential-oils-home-garden-kill-pests-diy-bugs-b-gone-home-garden-spray/ for the following ratios:
- Ants: Peppermint, spearmint, garlic, citronella, orange, cedar wood
- Aphids: Cedarwood, hyssop, peppermint, spearmint, orange, cedar wood
- Beetles: Peppermint, thyme, garlic, cedar wood, orange
- Caterpillars: Peppermint, spearmint, cedar wood, orange
- Chiggers: Lavender, lemongrass, sage, thyme, cedarwood, orange
- Cutworm: Thyme, sage, cedarwood, orange
- Fleas: Lavender, lemongrass, peppermint, cedarwood, citronella, tansy, orange
- Flies: Lavender, peppermint, rosemary, sage, citronella, tansy, cedarwood, orange, lemongrass, lemon, thyme, tea tree, sandalwood, patchouli
- Gnats: Patchouli, spearmint, orange, citronella, tagetes, cedarwood, peppermint, eucalyptus, rose geranium
- Mosquitoes: Lavender, lemongrass, orange, citronella, tansy, cedarwood, peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, thyme, rose geranium, clove, blue cypress, cinnamon, sage
- Head Lice: Lavender, tea tree, geranium, spearmint, peppermint, pine, thyme, orange, rosemary, cedar wood
- Plant Lice: Peppermint, spearmint, cedarwood, orange
- Moths: Cedarwood, hyssop, lavender, peppermint, spearmint, citronella, orange
- Roaches: Cedarwood, eucalyptus, cinnamon, thyme, orange
- Slugs: Cedarwood, hyssop, pine, garlic, orange
- Snails: Cedarwood, pine, patchouli, garlic, orange
- Spiders: Peppermint, spearmint, lemon, lime, orange, citrus, lavender, citronella, cedar wood
- Ticks: Lavender, lemongrass, orange, sage, thyme, citronella, tea tree, geranium, cedarwood, tansy, eucalyptus, sweet myrrh
- Weevils: Cedarwood, patchouli, sandalwood, orange
What oil should I use?
Dr. Bronner’s! Visit their website here: https://www.drbronner.com/about/. Dr. Bronner’s are locals here in Southern California. SUPPORT OUR LOCALS!!! This product is often on sale at Grocery Outlet in town, and they are an amazing Christian company! Have you read the side of their bottles? Bible verses! In addition, here’s a link to their dilution ration cheat: https://www.drbronner.com/all-one-blog/2017/06/dilutions-cheat-sheet-dr-bronners-pure-castile-soap/.
The Go-to-Crew is all about preventing a cleaner, and eco-friendly way of cleaning! By using these methods, you can help contribute!
For more tips and tricks, visit us at www.gotocrewsd.com !