Make Organic Pesticides With Household Items

There is many solutions that can help you keep the bugs out of your garden. By using household items, we can keep our garden free from pests. Toxins and harmful chemicals do not have to be part of your garden.

1. Tobacco or Nicotine Spray

This mixture is great for combating many different types of bugs, but especially caterpillars, aphids, and many types of those nasty worms.

Ingredients:
1 cup of tobacco
1 gallon of water

Put the tobacco into the container of water. Allow the mixture to set for approximately 24 hours. After it has stood for a day, check the color. It should be the shade of weak tea. If it is too dark, just dilute it with water until it looks right.

*Warning: Don’t use this solution on peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, or any other member of the solanaceous family. Tobacco chemicals can kill these types of plants!

2. Soap Spray

Another way to stop the slugs is with soapy water. That’s right, you can just use your old, dirty dishwater! Collect some of the water in a pan and pour it into a watering can or even use a pitcher to pour it over the plants. This works really well on hostas and mums, but also can be used on other hardy plants. Many bugs do not like their lunch spoiled by a soapy aftertaste! For a stronger solution, mix 3 Tablespoons of liquid detergent into a gallon of water, I prefer Dawn, but any will do. Use this weekly.

3. Alcohol Spray

This spray really is great for houseplants. This especially works on meal bugs. Read more

Grow Fruit Plants in a Pot

The best way to start growing strawberries is to buy pot-grown strawberry plants in spring: five plants are plenty for a hanging basket and ten for the average 13 inch pot. Plant them immediately in soil-based compost and they will produce a modest crop in their first year. The second season should see a bumper crop, followed by a slightly lower yield the third summer. Then start again with fresh stock.

Careful watering and feeding are essential. If you are to reap a good crop, you must never let the compost dry out, particularly when the fruit is forming and ripening; if you do, the bulk of your crop will drop off the bush almost immediately. Water well then leave the pots for up to three weeks, until they reach the point of drying out. Be careful not to over water them during the winter months. Read more