The Power of Natural

Homemade Pesticides

Using chemical sprays to control pests has proven to have many seriously harmful damages on the natural environment and human health. Reversing damages to ecosystems, plant and animal species, water contamination, crop loss, and human health has cost billions.

However, there was a time when products like Roundup did not exist and people used more natural methods to control pests. Biological Control is the practice of using natural means to maintain pests and plants. There are natural ingredients that can be used as effectively as chemical pesticides but lack the harmful side affects. Using these alternatives can lower your contribution to environmental pollution and economic cost by decreasing the dependency on chemical pesticides.

 Here are a few of the many many mixes you can make to use for pest control. These options won't harm your family or pets! You can find more here

Pesticide	Ingredients	Instructions
Oil spray	Combine 1 tablespoon dish soap + 1 cup cooking oil, add 4 tsp soap and oil mix to 1 pint of water	Spray generously once every 7 days to control aphids, thrips, spider mites, and whiteflies
Baby shampoo spray	Combine 2 tablespoons baby shampoo with 1 gallon water	Spray generously and let sit for several hours before rinsing off with water. Do use the spray in the sun of on plants with hairy leaves
Garlic Spray	10-12 garlic cloves with 1 quart of water in a blender, allow to sit for 24 hours, then strain mixture through a cheesecloth into a jar and add 1 cup cooking oil. When ready to use combine ½ cup of garlic mix with 1 gallon water	Apply liberally to plants. The scent of garlic keeps many little pests away
Red pepper spray	Combine 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder, 6 drops of dish soap and 1 gallon of water. Mix thoroughly	Spray generously on plants for control of pests like leafhoppers, spittlebugs, beetles, and loopers
Salt spray	Combine 2 tablespoons salt with 1.5 gallons of warm water, allow to come to room temperature	Spray generously to control spider mites, caterpillars, cabbage worms, and chewing insects
Citrus spray	Boil 4 cups water, remove from heat, add 2 cups orange or lemon peel, let cool and strain.	Spray to repel white flies
Peppermint tea spray	Mix together 1 tablespoon peppermint essential oil with 1 quart water	Spray liberally, repels ants
Chrysanthemum flower tea	Boil 100 grams of dried chrysanthemum slower in 1 liter water for 20 minutes, strain and let cool	Spray generously. Chrysanthemum has a chemical component that attacks insect’s nervous system. Add organic neem oil for enhanced effectiveness.

The BIG deal about INVASIVES!

Most of us reading this blog are pretty aware of invasive species. We can agree that they are bad and we need to pay extra close attention to what we are putting into the ground. They choke out the native plants and tend to spread like wildfire and eventually we have a yard full of a plants that we thought looked cool or was pretty.

Take a drive outside of the city and look at the majority of the plants in our forests. You may see huge NATIVE Douglas fir trees. These trees are a huge part of our economy! Don't we want to protect them? What else might you see? How about that INVASIVE ivy climbing up that Douglas Fir tree? Or those green bushes with the pretty yellow flowers blooming on them right now, also known as Scotch Broom, which is INVASIVE.

The Nature Conservancy has some alarming facts on how much damage these invasive plants can do. Not only to our land, but also to our economy. For a little tease to get you to click on the link, it costs the United States economy about 120 BILLION a year! This website also shows some ways that you can help with getting rid of these invasive plants.

Here is also a LINK with a list of all of the known invasive plants in Oregon by the USDA.