Natural Pest Control Methods

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.

Garlic Aphids, houseflies, mites, whitefly, cucumber beetles, ticks and scab. 
Mineral Oil Aphids & mites.
Basil Fruit flies, leaf miners, red spiders, and mites. 
Bacillus Thuringiensis Moths, beetles, flies, mosquitoes and caterpillars.
Orange Slugs, ants and roaches.
Insecticidal Soap Whitefly, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, scales, thrips and other crawlers. 
Cloves Mosquitos, thrips, aphids, ants, mites, moths and flies. 
Eucalyptus Oil Flies and wasps.
Chrysanthemum Oil Caterpillars, mites, pickleworms, ticks, scales, whitefly, mealybugs, thrips, Japanese beetles and harlequin bugs.
Boric Acid Termites, carpenter ants, beetles & cockroaches.
Ginger Bollworms, aphids, thrips and whiteflies. 
Turmeric Aphids, caterpillars, mites, and rice leaf hoppers. 
Himalayan Pink Salt Spray Spider mites & cabbage worms.
Bay Leaves Ants and cockroaches. 
Neem Oil Black vine weevil, bollworms, ants, locusts, leaf hoppers, leaf miners, mites, termites & scales. 
Papaya Leaf Extract Aphids, caterpillars, borers and fruit flies. 
D.E. Crawling pests, snails, slugs, ants and aphids. 
Chiles Japanese beetles, borers, ants, aphids, caterpillars and slugs. 
Nematodes Root weevils, cutworms, and moth larvae. 
Soursop Nematodes, aphids, caterpillars, greenbugs and fruit flies. 
Cinnamon Mosquitoes and larvae of mosquitoes. 
Tabacco Caterpillars, aphids, leaf miners, mites and thrips. 
Beauveria Bassiana Aphids, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, thrips, whiteflies, beetles and termites.
Sulfur Aphids, thrips, and spider mites. 

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