Organic Garden Pesticides

Regardless of what some may think, there are organic pesticides on the market, such as Neem oil. Neem oil is pressed out of seeds obtained from Neem trees. Neem oil disrupts insects’ hormone balance, so they die before they reach the next stage of life. Garlic oil spray can kill aphids, and other softer bodied pests. Insecticidal soap, a common formula for this is 1-2 tablespoons of dish detergent like dawn per gallon of water, you want to heavily spray affected plants with water before spraying with this solution, and never on a sizzling hot day. It can burn some plants with dull leaf surfaces, so always test on a non-visible area first. The fatty acids in the soap penetrate the insects causing the cells to collapse. Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), basically bacteria, there are many types available as powders that you sprinkle on a plant, and must be eaten by the insect. This acts as a stomach poison which cause them to stop eating, and starve to death. However, Bt strains are very host specific, and are most always harmless to humans, birds, or other animals, and usually takes time to effect insects, as sometimes it takes days to stop them from eating to your plants. All these can help with natural insect control, but there are very many other methods, too many to list here, but be sure we will come back to this subject with more methods and explanations of them.