An affordable, homemade, chemical-free insecticide made with just three ingredients – and does it really work? Yes, please!
The scoop
TikTok gardener and educator Gem in pot (@potted_gem) posted a video of a recipe for a chili and garlic spray to keep pests away naturally.
First, he chopped a cayenne pepper and several cloves of garlic, which he then minced in a food processor. After soaking the mixture in water for 24 hours, he strained it through a fine mesh sieve and bottled the resulting liquid. “Freeze the extra, [and] spray once a week,” he wrote. It couldn’t be easier!
@potted_gem Organic insecticide for your garden #growyourownfood #insecticide #organic #insects #grow foods #gems in pots #garden #plants #like the garden #pest control #garden tips #organic gardening #mealybugs #hasfaith #gardenhack #kitchengarden #pepper #ggarlic ♬ Feeling Good – Michael Bublé
Potted Gem lists several species that can be treated and kept away with this spray, including aphids, ladybugs, moths, caterpillars, armyworms, cutworms, beetles, slugs, mosquitoes and flies.
“This probably helps with rodents too,” one person wrote.
How does it help?
Many people want to know if chili spray endangers their location pollinators. Capsaicin, the compound that causes the heat in cayenne peppers, actually is toxic to bees and other insects pollinators. So, to protect bees, someone suggested a simple solution: “Make sure you spray at night.”
And luckily, capsaicin is tasteless and harmless to most birds. In fact, many people like to mix a little cayenne into their birdseed to keep squirrels away from their birdfeeders.
There are many others creative ways to keep your vegetables or herbs free of insects and pests. From the use of basil natural scent repellent to spray neem oil, using physical barriersand also attractive useful insects which naturally keeps pests under control, the list is endless.
And keep a healthy garden it’s not only good for pollinators and good for plants – it’s also good for your health. Using gardening to build a deeper connection to nature has repeatedly been shown to decrease stress and growing optimism. Also, skipping the hazardous chemical pesticides to opt for a home made solution create a safer environment for everyone.
It’s also good for your wallet – and the planet. Grow your own eat help to save money us produceand also reduce the demand for fruits and vegetables which are mass produced, industrially grown, and shipped around the world – all of which have an environmental cost. In fact, up to 30% of the the average family The carbon footprint comes from food.
What everyone says
“I’ve been doing this for years and it works so well!” another commented. “Just don’t spray in the wind,” they joked.
Others were grateful to have a more food-safe solution to their pest problems. “The insecticide never feels safe enough to spray on me vegetables“, wrote one. “I needed this.”
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