Insecticidal Soap
Inside a spray bottle, Add1 Quart of water
1-2 Tbsp Liquid Castile Soap (I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint, which is an easy to find brand)
Start with 1 Tbsp to first see how tolerant your plants are. If the infestation is heavy and it seems your plants are tolerating the applications well, then increase gradually.
Very useful in combating soft bodied pests such as Aphids and Spider Mites.
Here's a how to video from Lisa Bronner making and using insecticidal soap:
Powdery Mildew
Another home remedy I've tried in the past and seems to help a bit for Powdery Mildew is to mix:
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Quart water
a few drops of pure liquid soap (again, Dr. Bronner's is a good one)
Spray on leaf surfaces and undersides of affected plants once per week. Be sure to trim off dying or severely affected leaves and to disinfect your gardening shears with bleach afterwards so you do not contaminate other plants with the spores.
Posts
2 comments:
Thank you so much for this post! I've been battling squash bugs by hand all summer, but spraying my squash plants (tops and bottoms of all the leaves) with the mix of water and peppermint castille soap has really reduced the number of squash bugs I have to squash!
so glad you found it useful lauren! thanks for commenting!
Post a Comment