Tap to Read ➤

Natural Insecticides for Vegetable Gardens

Rujuta Borkar
Read ahead to know more about the natural insecticides for vegetable gardens. If you've ever had this problem, these tips will help you out with some remedies.
Bugged by bugs? Irritated with the constant swarms and colonies of a countless pesky insects making your vegetable garden their playground? Munching, chewing up, and destroying what you have created with care and patience? Are you going to watch your garden be a prey to those pests, or are you going to take the required steps for effective pest control?
Choose the pest control option and use pesticides for the same. You can go in for some natural insecticides in the vegetable garden instead? Why pour chemicals over your plants when you can deal with the insects without harming them?

Natural Insecticides for Gardens
Depending on the vegetables growing in your garden, methods of getting rid of the pests will change. Since that could turn out to be a never-ending topic, let's deal this a little differently. Here are some insecticides that will work for vegetable garden. Note and start making the arrangements.
Tomato Leaves: Take some tomato leaves and add cornstarch (1 tbs.) and water (3-5 pints) and blend well in the juicer. Strain the liquid and transfer it into a spray bottle. Spray around the plants for getting rid of the ants and other bugs that have made house in the vegetable garden.
Vegetable Oil Soap: Take about ½ cup of mild liquid soap. Add vegetable oil (2 cups) to it and mix together in a blender. To a tablespoon of this mixture, add 1 quart of water. Use this to cover both sides of the leaves of the plant(s). Make sure you do not use a stronger formula as it'll be harmful for your plants. Though it is tedious, it does work.
Garlic Spray: Chop about 4 garlic cloves. Add them to a liter of water and let this mixture sit through the entire night. Boil garlic cloves in a cup of paraffin wax. Now, add some soap flakes by grating a level full of any mild soap bar in it. Mix the liquid well and transfer into a spray bottle. Spray over the leaves.
The other alternative to this is to add hot chillies or onions to the same. Garlic has been known to get rid of spider mites, rabbits, mosquitoes, and several other garden pests. This has been seen to work wonders as a natural insecticide for basil and other plants.
Mixed Recipe: Mix 3 tbs. of onion and garlic juice, 1 tb. of Tabasco sauce, 3 tbs. skim milk, and 2 tbs. baby shampoo in 1 gallon of water. Mix all ingredients well and spray all over the plants. Repeat every 10 days.
Neem Oil: Neem leaves are extremely bitter and used as a natural insecticide. Oil made from these leaves also makes one of the most effective insecticides. Just dab a cotton ball into the neem oil and spread over the plants. Neem oil as an insecticide will not only repel the insects but also stop them from breeding.
Cloves: Crush several cloves in a gallon of water, mix well, let sit overnight, and then use this mixture to spray over the plants. The strong smell of the cloves drives the insects away.
Wormwood Spray: Take some wormwood leaves and dry them out till you have about 15 gm of these. Add these to a liter of water and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes. Now, cool the liquid and spray on the plants. This is a strong solution and should only be used for larger pests and insects.
The advantage of using natural insecticides in your vegetable gardens is that it rids the insects without harming the plants. And that is exactly what you need in the end. Now that you know what some of the ways of controlling insects in the vegetable gardens are, use them and rid the area for a cleaner and better garden.