There are times when it just seems that there are more insects than ever before. Perhaps it is the warmer winters and wetter summers helping them breed more easily, or possibly it is because fewer people are using pesticides on their gardens. It is quite understandable that a lot of people do not want to use chemicals on their gardens, but not using anything at all results in a growth in the insect population.
Over the last fifty or so years, people have become more and more used to using chemical insecticides to poison household and garden insect pests because they are a quicker and more definite killer. So what can you do if you want to manage the number of garden insect pests, but do not want to use chemicals?
Well, you would have to go back to using natural insect pest killers, although most households have forgotten what their great-grandparents used to use to kill insects. The following is a list of a few of the natural ways of killing insect pests. However, not all techniques or plants will be available in all countries.
Stinging nettles: if you cut down a bunch of stinging nettles and steep them in water for a week or more, chemicals will leach out of the vegetation into the water. Strain the water off and spray it over your plants. It will kill or discourage a lot of garden insects. You can also use it as a plant food, but you will have to be careful how strong it is.
Rotenone: is a natural insecticidal. It is made from the roots of the derris plant. It kills by attacking the stomachs of insects. However, it is rather slow-acting and needs to be reapplied often in order to obtain the maximum effect.
Washing Up Water: soapy water of any sort will kill aphids or greenfly along with other garden insect pests. This is a very easy control to administer. Just strain your soapy water into a spray gun (like an empty window spray gun) and squirt your greenfly.
Corn meal: you can dust this around plants or skirting boards to kill insects. If a tomato hornworm or a cockroach eats some, the cornmeal will swell up in the insect's stomach with the bodily fluids in there and the insect will eventually pop.
Pyrethrum: will paralyze an insect, but it will also wear off, so it is often mixed with a poison to finish the insect off. Otherwise, you can pick them up.
A mixture of cow's milk, flour and water can be employed as a natural insecticide, funnily enough. It is very good at killing the eggs of insects. It also destroys insects themselves by blocking their breathing holes. In other words, they asphyxiate.
Neem is a very common tree in India and has medicinal as well as insecticidal applications. This natural insecticide repels insects by means of an active constituent that mimics an insect hormone. It makes it difficult, if not impossible, to digest food and it stops their cycle of reproduction. It works most effectively of all on insects that mainly eat leaves.
Over the last fifty or so years, people have become more and more used to using chemical insecticides to poison household and garden insect pests because they are a quicker and more definite killer. So what can you do if you want to manage the number of garden insect pests, but do not want to use chemicals?
Well, you would have to go back to using natural insect pest killers, although most households have forgotten what their great-grandparents used to use to kill insects. The following is a list of a few of the natural ways of killing insect pests. However, not all techniques or plants will be available in all countries.
Stinging nettles: if you cut down a bunch of stinging nettles and steep them in water for a week or more, chemicals will leach out of the vegetation into the water. Strain the water off and spray it over your plants. It will kill or discourage a lot of garden insects. You can also use it as a plant food, but you will have to be careful how strong it is.
Rotenone: is a natural insecticidal. It is made from the roots of the derris plant. It kills by attacking the stomachs of insects. However, it is rather slow-acting and needs to be reapplied often in order to obtain the maximum effect.
Washing Up Water: soapy water of any sort will kill aphids or greenfly along with other garden insect pests. This is a very easy control to administer. Just strain your soapy water into a spray gun (like an empty window spray gun) and squirt your greenfly.
Corn meal: you can dust this around plants or skirting boards to kill insects. If a tomato hornworm or a cockroach eats some, the cornmeal will swell up in the insect's stomach with the bodily fluids in there and the insect will eventually pop.
Pyrethrum: will paralyze an insect, but it will also wear off, so it is often mixed with a poison to finish the insect off. Otherwise, you can pick them up.
A mixture of cow's milk, flour and water can be employed as a natural insecticide, funnily enough. It is very good at killing the eggs of insects. It also destroys insects themselves by blocking their breathing holes. In other words, they asphyxiate.
Neem is a very common tree in India and has medicinal as well as insecticidal applications. This natural insecticide repels insects by means of an active constituent that mimics an insect hormone. It makes it difficult, if not impossible, to digest food and it stops their cycle of reproduction. It works most effectively of all on insects that mainly eat leaves.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on quite a few topics, but is at present concerned with indoor mosquito repellent. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Mosquito Repellent For Dogs.
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