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Airborne insects such as cabbage butterflies
dislike strong bitter aromatic herbs.
Plant some Wormwood close by as a deterrent.
Recipe for natural insect spray. In your blender
place one large garlic clove, an onion, 1
teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1 litre of water.
Blend well. Pour into a large plastic
juice or cordial bottle. Add another litre
of water and a tablespoon of liquid soap.
Shake well. Store in the fridge.
Aphids
Spray the whole plant, including underneath the
leaves with a dilute solution of soapy water.
Then spray the plant with clean water. Planting
marigolds as companion plants is said to deter
aphids too. Ladybirds are great consumers
of aphids. Plant garlic chives in close
proximity to plants that are susceptible to
aphids. You can also use onion plants and
normal chives but these die off whereas garlic
chives last forever. Lavender plants exude a
strong aroma that they mask the smell of
roses and hence aphids are not tempted to invade
the rose bushes.
Black Spot
Black Spot is a fungal disease and it thrives
best in warm, humid conditions. It is
infamous to rose growers. The disease
starts off as a black spot on a rose leaf.
Eventually the leaf turns yellow and drops off.
some susceptible rose bushes can die from this
disease. Fungal diseases thrive on
humidity so when watering roses always water
them at ground level. Don't water their
leaves. Using Sulphate of Potash will
decrease the incidence of Black Spot on your
roses. Give each rose bush 100 - 150 grams
of it about four times per year. Sulphate of
Potash increases the thickness of the plant's
cell walls making it more difficult for the
Black Spot spores to wriggle their way into the
plant. A fungicide can be made from common
kitchen ingredients. Mix together 2
teaspoons of Bi-carb, 5 litres of water and a
few drops of detergent. This combination
will work as a a pray-on fungicide.
Caterpillars
Manually catch them and squash them.
Encourage birds to your garden as they will
enjoy eating the caterpillars. If necessary
Dipel or Derris Dust can be used to kill them.
Mealy Bugs
These look like there are tiny tufts of fluffy
white cotton wool on your plants. They tend to
gather underneath leaves and also in the joints
where the leaves meet the stems. Mealy
bugs have a waxy coating on them and it is
sometimes difficult to get through the waxy
barrier to kill them. Wherever possible
try to kill the mealy bugs with alcohol. Dip a
cotton bud in the alcohol and dab it on each
mealy bug. You may need to repeat this
process over and over to finally get rid of
them. If you have to resort to a chemical
solution please be careful and observe all
warnings when using the product.
Mosquitoes
The following plants deter mosquitoes: rosemary,
catnip, marigolds and ageratum. Rosemary and
catnip can be crushed and rubbed onto your skin
as well. It is the actual crushing of the
plant that releases the odour that mozzies don't
like. Don't rub marigolds or ageratum onto
your skin.
Slugs and Snails
These slimy creatures each have both female and
male reproductive organs. So they can mate very
easily and produce lots of problem babies.
For removal the best option is to search out all
possible snail and slug homes within your
garden. Tidy everything up in your yard.
Remove any weeds and dead organic matter.
They like hiding underneath long grass and
weeds. Look beneath any pot plants, check
areas that are dark and tucked away. Check
around the back of the shed, around your compost
heap and especially alongside any any spare
bricks and timber you are saving for future
projects. At night head outdoors with a
torch and follow their shiny trails. Now put out
some traps to catch the ones you have missed.
Find a shallow bowl and put in some stale beer.
They will be attracted and will then drown
themselves in the beer. Keep an eye out
for their eggs - they look like tiny jelly
balls. Destroy them. Spread oat bran
around. It kills slugs and snails.
They don't like gravel or other rough surface
ground coverings such as wood chips. So, spread
something similar around your plants and it will
deter the them from reaching the plants.
If you have to resort to baits please
consider what other garden creatures might be
killed as well as the slugs and snails. If
you use baits then put them in places where pets
won't be able to reach them. Possibly put
them under a piece of currugated iron that has a
brick or two on top to stop it being moved.
There is now an organic certified snail bait
available that is safe around pets and children.
Spider Mites
These critters are difficult to see with the
naked eye. If your plants are looking
yellowish -brown and you have eliminated other
causes then spider mites could be the problem.
Check out the plants with a magnifying glass to
be sure. They are difficult to control
without using chemicals. If you are forced to
resort to a chemical solution then please read
the instructions very carefully. The
chemical you purchase must say on the label that
it is suitable for spider mites. General
insecticides won't work. Dry air seems to
encourage spider mites to breed so keep up the
moisture wherever possible.
Thrips
These are hard to see. They are tiny little
brown insects and they will want to fly away
when you get near them with sprays. This
is another pest that Ladybirds enjoy eating.
Try using an insecticidal soap to get rid of
them.
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