Recipes for all-natural insect spray

babice · May 9, 2012

I found this awesome PDF (attached) of recipes for all-natural insect sprays that you can make yourself and thought I would share it with you.

Also, the book Carrots Love Tomatoes has a garlic-oil recipe with fish emulsion in it: "Take 3-4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs and soak in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for a day. Add one pint of water in which one teaspoon of fish emulsion has been dissolved. Stir well. Strain the liquid and store in a glass or china container, as it reacts with metals. Dilute this, starting with 1-part to 20-parts of water, and use as a spray against your worst insect pests. She says that garlic sprays are also good for controlling late blight.

(revised for recipe with fish emulsion)

Crandrew · May 10, 2012

Interesting. Thanks Babice, i wonder how well it works. I spotted the first aphids on my peppers today. Bah!

JamesL · May 10, 2012

Perfect timing. Doing battle with some aphids as well on one Cherokee plant. I have been wiping them off by hand and they haven't jumped to the others - yet. Mine are still in tight quarters under the garage lights.

I was planning on trying this one - made from chopped tomato plants first. I have a 6 foot tall New Big Dwarf in the basement that will donate the leaves.

Tomatoe Leaf Nightshade family plants, such as tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco, have toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. These toxins are water soluble and can be soaked from chopped leaves and made into home-made sprays. These sprays also work by attracting natural pest enemies. The good bugs follow the smell of the spray in looking for prey.
Protection Offered: Tomatoe leaf sprays have been used to protect plants from aphids. Also, spraying tomatoe leaf spray on corn may reduce corn earworm damage. The corn earworm is also called the tomatoe fruitworm, as it also attacks tomatoe plants. A scientific study has shown that corn plants sprayed with tomatoe leaf spray attracted significantly more Trichogramma wasps to parasitize the corn earworm eggs than the unsprayed did.
How to Make: Soak 1 to 2 cups of chopped or mashed tomatoe leaves in 2 cups of water overnight. Strain through cheescloth or fine mesh, add about 2 more cups of water to the strained liquid, and spray. For aphid control, be sure to thoroughly cover the leaf undersides, especially of lower leaves and growing tips of plants where aphids congregate.
How to Use: Spray plants thoroughly, particularly undersides of lower leaves and growing tips where aphids congregate. while this spray is not poisonous to humans on contact, use care in handling, especially if you are allergic to the nightshade family.

Babice, Just realized your attachment as a similar recipe at the end of it, which adds soap, think I will add.

Crandrew · May 10, 2012

I hate that the pest/disease sub-forum gets more action than any other sub-forum. It really shows our struggle to survive till harvest time.

JamesL · May 10, 2012

It is a war right? Win some battles, lose some, try to come out on top......

babice · May 10, 2012

Crandrew - having a bad tomato day (vis a vis your new signature?

).
JamesL - no worries on the recipe being in the PDF too. I hope other folks post their recipes, etc. Let us know how it goes using the tom leaf recipe on your toms. I read that you shouldn't use like with like...i.e, that the tom leaf recipe is good for roses or corn but shouldn't use on toms. And vice versa, it wouldn't be good to use rose leaf tea on roses. But - dunno if this is true or not!

Kazfam · May 16, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesL

It is a war right? Win some battles, lose some, try to come out on top......

I like that...seems to be how we do it...I am waiting to see if the torrential rains we have had these past few days will take out my any of my plants.

Some cuke plants have water-wilt.

When it rains it pours....pun intended...now the humidity.
Welcome to South Caroliina.

lakelady · May 18, 2012

James, you have a New Big Dwarf that is 6'? LOL call it New Bigger Dwarf.

I am battling aphids for the first time on tomatoes. I've never had them before in my gardens except on roses. Now they are attacking my tomatoes. My Venetian Market and Sandul Muldovan especially were covered all over the stems until I sprayed with Neem the other day. They do seem to LOVE fava beans though and I interplanted the favas with the tomatoes in that particular bed and they are going to town on the favas. I'm wondering if you could use them as a trap crop. Unfortunately the two tomato plants they attacked got a little weaker as they are "leaning" now whereas they were not before so they are getting more TLC. About 18" tall already but these were plants I had out with wows earlier in late March.

JamesL · May 21, 2012

lakelady,
Yeah, I am going to have switch to a smaller variety next year if I do inside.
These were my "test plants" and I didn't get any fruit, (humidity is about 20%) but I knew that going in. I never caged them and just let them sprawl, but if I had they would probably be more like 7". Neglected the heck out of them as well.
I was going to sacrifice them, but made a last minute decision to slap a cage on them, prune them way down and move them outside. We will see how they do.

The light in the photo is hanging at about 5 1/2 feet and they grew up past it.

elight · May 22, 2012

Would love to know if others have success with all of those various sprays. Last year I used a soap spray to battle aphids (using Murphy's Soap Oil, I believe), which was effective. I also used a cayenne spray to try to keep the chipmunks away, but wasn't able to keep up with re-application every time it rained... And also the cayenne seemed to clog up every spray bottle I tried (Tabasco thus seems like a better choice).

janezee · May 22, 2012

elight, I use some water, garlic, fresh habañeros and ginger in a blender, let it sit overnight or longer, and then strain it through two coffee filters. No clogging. Are you using powder? I tried that once, but it went through the filters.

j

babice · May 22, 2012

Another interesting idea - orange peels for aphids. Supposedly even placing orange peels down around the area will kill aphids?

Supposedly a recipe for "rose aphids" - will it work for tomatoes too?
1 orange peel, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp. baby shampoo or mild dish detergent
2 cups water
blend on high speed for 10-15 seconds. Strain into coffee filter, & pour liquid into handheld sprayer. Hose down bushes to knock off aphids. Then mist-spray the plants.

Also read that a seaweed spray will help repel red spider mites and aphids, whilst being good food for the plants.

MarinaRussian · May 24, 2012

You can use a Coca-Cola/ water cocktail (1:1) and spray the plants with it to get rid of aphids. Aphids hate the smell of Coke. This recipe is not just for tomatoes, works well for other veggies and roses, etc.

Another recipe: 1 tablespoon of Mustard Powder/ 10 liters of water. This helps if you have spidermites and it's also an excellent fungicide, especially for cucumbers.

And this is a natural fungicide: 1 liter of milk/ 9 liters of water/ 20-30 drops of Iodine. My mother-in-law uses this mixture every 10-14 days on her tomatoes and her plants look great until frost kills them. The Iodine also makes the tomatoes ripe sooner, for some reason.

lakelady · May 24, 2012

I bought some pure neem oil which just arrived. Last night I mixed some shredded natural soap in 2 qts water until it melted. This morning I added 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 2 tbsp neem oil and mixed it up. I'm going to try this concoction and see what type of results I get.

Although, we've had a lot of rain the past 5 days and it looks like today will be another one...already dark and cloudy. May have to wait until weekend.

May 10, 2012	#3
JamesL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 1,992	Perfect timing. Doing battle with some aphids as well on one Cherokee plant. I have been wiping them off by hand and they haven't jumped to the others - yet. Mine are still in tight quarters under the garage lights. I was planning on trying this one - made from chopped tomato plants first. I have a 6 foot tall New Big Dwarf in the basement that will donate the leaves. Tomatoe Leaf Nightshade family plants, such as tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco, have toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. These toxins are water soluble and can be soaked from chopped leaves and made into home-made sprays. These sprays also work by attracting natural pest enemies. The good bugs follow the smell of the spray in looking for prey. Protection Offered: Tomatoe leaf sprays have been used to protect plants from aphids. Also, spraying tomatoe leaf spray on corn may reduce corn earworm damage. The corn earworm is also called the tomatoe fruitworm, as it also attacks tomatoe plants. A scientific study has shown that corn plants sprayed with tomatoe leaf spray attracted significantly more Trichogramma wasps to parasitize the corn earworm eggs than the unsprayed did. How to Make: Soak 1 to 2 cups of chopped or mashed tomatoe leaves in 2 cups of water overnight. Strain through cheescloth or fine mesh, add about 2 more cups of water to the strained liquid, and spray. For aphid control, be sure to thoroughly cover the leaf undersides, especially of lower leaves and growing tips of plants where aphids congregate. How to Use: Spray plants thoroughly, particularly undersides of lower leaves and growing tips where aphids congregate. while this spray is not poisonous to humans on contact, use care in handling, especially if you are allergic to the nightshade family. Babice, Just realized your attachment as a similar recipe at the end of it, which adds soap, think I will add. Last edited by JamesL; May 10, 2012 at 10:55 AM. Reason: Similar recipe

May 18, 2012	#8
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	James, you have a New Big Dwarf that is 6'? LOL call it New Bigger Dwarf. I am battling aphids for the first time on tomatoes. I've never had them before in my gardens except on roses. Now they are attacking my tomatoes. My Venetian Market and Sandul Muldovan especially were covered all over the stems until I sprayed with Neem the other day. They do seem to LOVE fava beans though and I interplanted the favas with the tomatoes in that particular bed and they are going to town on the favas. I'm wondering if you could use them as a trap crop. Unfortunately the two tomato plants they attacked got a little weaker as they are "leaning" now whereas they were not before so they are getting more TLC. About 18" tall already but these were plants I had out with wows earlier in late March. __________________ Antoniette

May 22, 2012	#12
babice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 643	Another interesting idea - orange peels for aphids. Supposedly even placing orange peels down around the area will kill aphids? Supposedly a recipe for "rose aphids" - will it work for tomatoes too? 1 orange peel, coarsely chopped 1 tbsp. baby shampoo or mild dish detergent 2 cups water blend on high speed for 10-15 seconds. Strain into coffee filter, & pour liquid into handheld sprayer. Hose down bushes to knock off aphids. Then mist-spray the plants. Also read that a seaweed spray will help repel red spider mites and aphids, whilst being good food for the plants. Last edited by babice; May 22, 2012 at 10:34 PM. Reason: spelling

May 24, 2012	#14
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	I bought some pure neem oil which just arrived. Last night I mixed some shredded natural soap in 2 qts water until it melted. This morning I added 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 2 tbsp neem oil and mixed it up. I'm going to try this concoction and see what type of results I get. Although, we've had a lot of rain the past 5 days and it looks like today will be another one...already dark and cloudy. May have to wait until weekend. __________________ Antoniette

May 10, 2012	#2
Crandrew Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: asdf Posts: 1,202	Interesting. Thanks Babice, i wonder how well it works. I spotted the first aphids on my peppers today. Bah!

May 22, 2012	#10
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	Would love to know if others have success with all of those various sprays. Last year I used a soap spray to battle aphids (using Murphy's Soap Oil, I believe), which was effective. I also used a cayenne spray to try to keep the chipmunks away, but wasn't able to keep up with re-application every time it rained... And also the cayenne seemed to clog up every spray bottle I tried (Tabasco thus seems like a better choice).

May 22, 2012	#11
janezee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Whidbey Island, WA Zone 7, Sunset 5 Posts: 931	elight, I use some water, garlic, fresh habañeros and ginger in a blender, let it sit overnight or longer, and then strain it through two coffee filters. No clogging. Are you using powder? I tried that once, but it went through the filters. j

May 24, 2012	#13
MarinaRussian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Russia Posts: 176	You can use a Coca-Cola/ water cocktail (1:1) and spray the plants with it to get rid of aphids. Aphids hate the smell of Coke. This recipe is not just for tomatoes, works well for other veggies and roses, etc. Another recipe: 1 tablespoon of Mustard Powder/ 10 liters of water. This helps if you have spidermites and it's also an excellent fungicide, especially for cucumbers. And this is a natural fungicide: 1 liter of milk/ 9 liters of water/ 20-30 drops of Iodine. My mother-in-law uses this mixture every 10-14 days on her tomatoes and her plants look great until frost kills them. The Iodine also makes the tomatoes ripe sooner, for some reason.