The easiest solution to keep pests away is to keep your garden "healthy"! This means removing weak plants, building up a nutrient rich soil, using clean mulch, clearing debris and weeds, practicing good crop rotation, keeping foliage dry during the day, and disinfecting all garden tools after use.
You should also encourage beneficial insects to take up "home" in your garden. Things like ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies and praying mantis will contribute to the control of any pest problem you may be encountering. Try setting aside a small plot in your garden area for these insects to thrive. Allow the plants here to flower or "go to seed" so that the beneficial bugs will have a constant source of food. If you're trying to attract ladybugs specifically, try planting these varieties!
If you've already encouraged beneficial insects into your garden but pests are still getting the best of your crops, you can try these natural pest control methods below.
IMPORTANT: Even homemade or natural remedies which are meant to kill harmful insects will also kill beneficial insects. Do your own research about how to prepare these ingredients into sprays or solutions. Use these natural remedies sparingly, only applying directly to the affected area. Use them first thing in the morning or at dusk.
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Garlic | Aphids, houseflies, mites, whitefly, cucumber beetles, ticks and scab. |
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Mineral Oil | Aphids & mites. |
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Basil | Fruit flies, leaf miners, red spiders, and mites. |
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Bacillus Thuringiensis | Moths, beetles, flies, mosquitoes and caterpillars. |
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Orange | Slugs, ants and roaches. |
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Insecticidal Soap | Whitefly, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, scales, thrips and other crawlers. |
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Cloves | Mosquitos, thrips, aphids, ants, mites, moths and flies. |
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Eucalyptus Oil | Flies and wasps. |
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Chrysanthemum Oil | Caterpillars, mites, pickleworms, ticks, scales, whitefly, mealybugs, thrips, Japanese beetles and harlequin bugs. |
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Boric Acid | Termites, carpenter ants, beetles & cockroaches. |
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Ginger | Bollworms, aphids, thrips and whiteflies. |
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Turmeric | Aphids, caterpillars, mites, and rice leaf hoppers. |
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Himalayan Pink Salt Spray | Spider mites & cabbage worms. |
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Bay Leaves | Ants and cockroaches. |
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Neem Oil | Black vine weevil, bollworms, ants, locusts, leaf hoppers, leaf miners, mites, termites & scales. |
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Papaya Leaf Extract | Aphids, caterpillars, borers and fruit flies. |
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D.E. | Crawling pests, snails, slugs, ants and aphids. |
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Chiles | Japanese beetles, borers, ants, aphids, caterpillars and slugs. |
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Nematodes | Root weevils, cutworms, and moth larvae. |
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Soursop | Nematodes, aphids, caterpillars, greenbugs and fruit flies. |
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Cinnamon | Mosquitoes and larvae of mosquitoes. |
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Tabacco | Caterpillars, aphids, leaf miners, mites and thrips. |
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Beauveria Bassiana | Aphids, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, thrips, whiteflies, beetles and termites. |
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Sulfur | Aphids, thrips, and spider mites. |
