Safe Sprays

A little IPM goes a long way...

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is your best bet to really impact insects and disease. Visit your garden often; observe the plants over time and you'll learn the seasons and cycles--what's healthy, what's diseased, what needs treatment, what will take care of itself...

A brisk spray from the garden hose is often enough to dislodge many pests, but these sprays that you can make with ingredients from the kitchen are safe, and just as effective as many commercial poisons. They may need to be used more frequently, and will need to be reapplied after rain. Another safer option is Bt, bacillus thuringiensis (or israeliensis to control mosquitoes in ponds and water features). This bacteria kills only caterpillars, so use it cautiously around butterfly plants or you'll kill your next generation! You can use these in hand-held or pump type sprayers, and Bt is also available as a dust--Dipel. Diatomaceous earth is the ground up glassy skeletons of microscopic sea organisms. Sprinkled around your beds, it pierces the soft body parts of slugs and snails. Not the same stuff that goes into pool filters, it can be hard to find. Good gardening catalogs usually offer it.

Bio-Safe Plant Spray

2½ Tbsp vegetable oil

2½ Tbsp mild dish soap

1 Gallon water

Don't spray in sun. Spray bottom of leaves. Spray again after 5 days. Controls aphids, spider mites, thrips, whitefly, lacebugs, scale and mealy bugs.

Pepper Spray

2 Tbsp red pepper

6 Drops dish soap

1 Gallon water

Get red pepper in the spice section of your grocery. Mix all ingredients. Let sit overnight. Stir thoroughly before spraying.

Powdery Mildew Spray

1 part milk with up to 9 parts water. A Brazilian study reported in Organic Gardening Magazine got results comparable to using toxic fungicides. (Have tried this myself and it seemed to work, but not enough data to recommend without reservation. Let me know your results if you try it.)

Rose Spray for Black Spot

To 4-5 gallons (in sprayer) add 1/2 cup baking soda. If severe add 5 tablespoons of copper hydroxide. May also add insecticidal soap or Neem.

Organic Fertilizer

16 oz. Karo light corn syrup

16 oz. Water

1 tablespoon boric acid

2 oz. Seaweed extract

Mix above and store in refrigerator. To use: add 4 tablespoons mix to 1 gallon of water. Add 1 tablespoon ivory liquid. Spray every two weeks, coating leaves & stems.

(I haven't tried this one. Let me know how it works for you.)

Mosquito Repellent

1 cup lemon scented dish soap

1 cup lemon scented ammonia

Set hose end sprayer to 20 gallons, spray three times a week. (I haven't tried it but my daughter recommends it. Avoid smelling ammonia fumes)

Tobacco Bug Killer

2 oz. Listerine mouth wash

2 oz. Murphy oil soap

2 oz. Tobacco juice

1 gal. Water

Mix together and use in sprayer. (Steep shredded tobacco in water to make juice. Be aware tobacco leaves may transmit tobaccco mosaic virus. Haven't tried this myself. Let me know your results if you try it.)

Vinegar Weed Killer

1 part apple or grain vinegar

5-20 parts water

Reports indicate a weak (5%) solution of vinegar and water is as effective at killing many common weeds (especially when they're less than two weeks old) as more toxic herbicides. More stubborn or older weeds may require a 20% solution. Be careful not to spray desirable plants as well because they will also die.