Garlic is a very good natural pestiside

I have been doing general research on pesticides. Some of the formulas seem complicated and apply to only certain pests. I found one that said if you put onions, garlic, dish soap and cayenne into a bunch of water blended it would keep just about anything away. As a first try I used just the garlic. The soap and pepper made me nervous and I don't really see a big difference between garlic and onion except size and strength. My plants were covered with little flying insects that looked like gnats. There were ends that looked like they had been torn off. They didn't have the usual holes in the leaves you see with worms or flying pests. I had brought them inside because birds were eating the leaves of all my herbs, the ones I cook with and the ones I smoke. I sprayed the plants thoroughly with the garlic water, 3 cloves of garlic mixed with a cup or two of water. The bugs went away and have not returned. It smelled, something awful, but it worked. I think I need to do it a couple times a month. So far so good. Any input would be good.

Grow green.

Annie~

i use cyane garlic and dishsoap all the time in my garden, i just planted 250 garlic cloves for next years harvest

It is especially good to keep the vampires away.

yeah i use lots and lots of garlic and it really keeps the wife away,good days are here.

Thats odd I have the same little flying fruit fly-looking bugs on my plants, and the tips of my leaves are all eaten off by them, all my lower leaves are yellow with brown spots....im going to have to try this

dishsoap won't kill ur plant?

No it's actually ok. Just use a small amount of soap. (I use about 3 drops per gallon water) The detergent in the soap disrupts the membranes of the bugs. Also it acts as a surfactant.

smokeordie said:

dishsoap won't kill ur plant?

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dish soap will get rid ofe aphids if you mix water and soap 1 gal. one tablespoon it also lowers the waters stress level and makes it stick to the plants better(not sure if its called stress i dnt remember but still works the same)

what is a good ph level?

starzhello said:

what is a good ph level?

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soil 6.3-6.8 hydro 5.6-6.0

so the best thing to do is jus take a gallon bucket and mix in a spoon full of dishsoap and then a little bit of garlic and jus spray it on the plant and bugs will stay away from it???


thats badass. lol.

Please don't use antibacterial or antimicrobial soaps, though. You don't want to make lather, you want to break the water's surface tension (which is what causes droplets to form).

Annie, would you mind sharing some of the research that prompted you to try the garlic? I'm well aware of its mild anti-bacterial properties (tied up with allacin), but as a pesticide am not. I happen to use tobacco tea as a spray, with fantastic results. But, if I use too little soap it smells like an ashtray.

Seamaiden said:

Please don't use antibacterial or antimicrobial soaps, though. You don't want to make lather, you want to break the water's surface tension (which is what causes droplets to form).

Annie, would you mind sharing some of the research that prompted you to try the garlic? I'm well aware of its mild anti-bacterial properties (tied up with allacin), but as a pesticide am not. I happen to use tobacco tea as a spray, with fantastic results. But, if I use too little soap it smells like an ashtray.

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surface tension thats what i ment not stress what was i thinking

Tension, stress, they kinda mean the same thing. A few drops per liter of soap is all I use for my sprays.