
A few days ago, Curls of Curls & Q, wrote about landscaping their back yard. Check it out if you have the time the before and after pictures are amazing.
Anyway, Curl’s post made me realize that I hadn’t made any of my natural insect repelling sprays! I’ve been so caught up with my honeybees that I haven’t thought about spraying my garden.
With the garden showing signs of our labor, it’s high time I get out there and protect all of our efforts, right?
Since I needed to update my garden sprayer, I logged onto Amazon and purchased the metal Stanley Lawn & Garden Sprayer. Which makes a nice upgrade from the plastic sprayer that I was using. If parts wear out I won’t have to purchase a brand-new sprayer, I just need to replace the part.
Neem oil, is my favorite oil that I used to keep the insects at bay. I spray plants once every four days, using a total of six applications. Insects that ingest the plants sprayed with neem become sterile and prevents egg production. I even spray this brew around mosquito friendly areas.
What’s even better the beneficial insects, like butterflies, honeybees and spiders aren’t usually affected. It’s recommended to spray your garden with neem oil in the early morning or evening, so you don’t douse the beneficial insects.
Later this week, I’ll post more about the awesomeness of neem oil and I’ll make sure I include a simple recipe.
Update:
Neem recipe to eliminate garden pests has been posted.
Resources:
- Mosquito Control by neem
- Use of neem oil as a mosquito repellent in tribal villages of Mandla district/ Madhya Pradesh
I have been having Carpenter Ants & Carpenter Bees problems lately – nothing was working, naturally…eeek! Usually I have LOTS of luck with natural solutions, tho!
Jennifer recently posted..I’m Alive – Life Has Gotten In The Way!
@Jennifer, If you use diatomaceous earth that will take of your problem. It will kill them.
Aynaria recently posted..Natural Beekeeping/Gardening: Culling pests
I’ll look into that 🙂
Jennifer recently posted..Potatoes with Chive Basil Pesto, Creamy Avocado Power Pesto Over Pasta, Vegan Banana Nut Bread, Kale Pesto, Vegan Creamed Spinach and ‘Refried’ Beans
@Jennifer, Let me know how it works, diatomaceous earth (also called DE) works by cutting their exoskeleton, so put it down where you have the ant problem. The carpenter bees might be a hit or miss, but I would put it down if you see them landing at certain spots.
Aynaria recently posted..Natural Beekeeping/Gardening: Culling pests
I am always looking for natural remedies for just about anything so this is great!! I actually took a look at your mosquito article also as they are so bad this year and it seems everything we have done or tried to do isn’t working so anything that will help we take a look at. I have never heard of using neem oil for insects so love your tips and will definitely have to try it! Thanks again will be bookmarking this site for sure!
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@Ron, I hope it’s helpful to you, the past few years the mosquitoes have been really offensive. I make a skin application also and just mix in lavender essential oil and citronella the skin munchers leave me alone. 😉
Aynaria recently posted..Natural Beekeeping/Gardening: Culling pests
Q – I’m going to investigate Neem Oil right now! Will it work on the tomatoes to keep the HORRID horn caterpillars from them? I’ve already seen one destructive beetle I need to get rid of.
Recommendation for snails? We have the décolleté snail that’s supposed to eat the brown snail, lets just say after 30 years they live in peaceful co-existence.
Thanks for the shout out! I cannot wait to try your recipe.
curls and q recently posted..Gardening Time Again
@curls and q, It works on both. They munch plants and they will be affected. When I spray the garden the bugs will usually fall off as soon as the spray hits them. it’s quite comical. 🙂 Neem smells like garlic so the odor isn’t particularly pleasant. I do love garlic though. This method is simple but for me it’s been very effective. Unlike the pesticides you will have to keep applying, especially if it has rained. I get my Neem oil online, the brand I use is Dyna Grow but as long as it’s 100% Neem oil it will work.
I’ve used Neem for years in making my own skin care products/soaps. Several years ago, I tried it on our grape vine since I knew Neem had anti-fungal properties. Our grape vine had some type of fungus and hadn’t produced grapes in almost two years. Liberally spraying the leaves and vine in early spring cleared up the issue and we once again had our grapes!
Aynaria recently posted..Adventures in Beekeeping: Early morning “inspection”
I have something like that. Lots of all kinds of pests in our tropical climate…and ants, especially ants! Have to spray regularly all nook and cranny to keep them at bay or you’ll see them crawling all over the whole house. Just drop a drop of drink or a bit of food and if not wiped up properly, the whole army will come out of nowhere… Tsk! Tsk!
suituapui recently posted..Dinner is served…
@suituapui, We used to have an ant problem, you’re right a drop of food has to be cleaned properly or ants will be all over it quickly. Diatomaceous earth and freshly ground cinnamon are a few things I use for ants. They don’t like either and the earth will kill them.
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