Organic Guide

The Guide to Organic Gardening

Chapter 7

Particular Bugs

Tips and Recipies for Controlling Specific Pests

Ants
A LONG LIST OF ANT REPELLENTS
(SOME TRIED AND TRUE)

Plant peppermint near entrances or place crushed mint leaves near doorways. Ants don't like the smell of peppermint. They'll avoid anyplace that smells like it, so start inside with the places you think that they might be entering. Next, do the outside where they might be coming in. Possibilities: peppermint flavoring (used for baking), peppermint tea, and, if you have a health food store nearby, Dr. Bonner's peppermint scented castile liquid soap. I personally used to fill a spray bottle with mostly water, a tiny bit of dish soap (so it sticks), and enough flavoring drops or the peppermint liquid soap so that I could smell it. I just shook the bottle a little and then sprayed away - problem solved. My friend had luck just tossing the tea bags on the floor.

To keep ants from getting into your hummingbird feeders, take a sheet of Bounce (dryer sheet) and wrap around the hanger with a rubber band of tape on the ends. The ants won't come near it or get into the hummingbird's sugar solution. This works well especially if you have hummingbird feeders hanging from trees. (Cynthia Carpenter)

To keep ants from entering the house (or anywhere else) sprinkle baby powder on entry points. The ants won't cross and it is safe around pets and children. Bonus, smells nice too! (Charlotte)

To keep the ants out of your sugar bowl put a piece of lemon peel in it. I can assure they won't show up! I used to keep my sugar bowl in the refrigerator in the summer because of the ants and now I'm free of them! (Aldo)

Use a solution of water and bleach and spray entire path ants take, you have to lose the scent they follow. (Bell)

If you have small children or pets, better would be to put around cucumber peels. Just put them where you see the ants, and the ants will disappear! (Frieda)

How to get rid of the stinging from a fire ant: Take 1 tsp. of Meat Tenderizer Seasoning put in a little bowl and add a drop of water. Mix until pasty like and add to spot where the fire ant bitÉIT WORKS!!! (Deborah)

For ants put orange peels on sill, put peels in ant holes and add water. They will never return. (Sammy)

To prevent wasps, ants, etc. from entering into the drain holes along the foundation in your brick home: Get some heavy (metal) black screen from your hardware store, cut it in strips approx. 1"x3". Flex it into a U shape and place in the the slots between the bricks. This lets air in and allows drainage, but keeps the bugs out. (Kenny D)

For sugar ants, (the little black ones) mix equal parts of sugar and borax, mix with water to a paste, dab in areas where ants like to visit. It dehydrates them. Outside, sprinkle the solution around known ant colonies. I was amazed at how they devour this! (Carole)

You can deter ants by putting Diatomaceous Earth down in the dirt. It supposedly dehydrates the ants and the die.

Ants dislike salt. Example: if they are coming through a doorway spread a good layer of salt in their path and they will no longer enter. (Naida)

To keep ants away from your pets' food outside or inside, put some Vaseline (in a circle) around the pets' bowl. The ants will not cross it! Ever! (PinkSocks)

Fire ants: non toxic way to kill them is plain old instant Grits. The ants eat them, then go for water the grits expand inside them & they die, they can't expel gas, & you don't worry about pets getting poisoned. Just sprinkle & go. (C.K.)

Be aware of the ants' movements. They usually head for their holes before it is going to rain.

Ants can be destroyed by pouring ammonia into the ant hole.

Place bay leaves or whole cloves in the corners of cupboard shelves and windowsills. These last about a year.

Keep ants from getting into pet food dishes by placing the dish with the food inside another shallow, bigger dish with an inch of water in it.

Put cinnamon or baking soda in entry point cracks. Repeat occasionally.

Seal points of entry with caulk or masking tape.

Put coffee grounds around doors and windows.

To prevent carpenter ants, keep firewood and tree branches away from the house.

For hummingbird feeders, cover the string with vaseline to keep ants off.

Try using ground red pepper or curry to get rid of those little black ants that invade your house, put it at the source of their entrance.

Plant companion plants in your garden: Pennyroyal, spearmint, peppermint, southern wood, and/or tansy.

Aphids

DESCRIPTION
Aphids are small, green, gray, violet, red, yellow, or brown insects that suck sap from the plant. They are soft-bodied and pear shaped, with long antennae and tube-like projections on the abdomen. They congregate on leaves and cause them to curl and pucker, and eventually deform and stunt flowers and buds.

CONTROL
Control by gently rubbing leaves between thumb and forefinger. Spray with non-detergent soap and water mix, tobacco tea, Garrett Juice with insecticide additive, or Neem Oil.

To keep aphids and other pests off your roses, finely chop

1 onion
2 medium cloves of garlic

Put ingredients into a blender with 2 cups of water and blend on high. Strain out pulp. Pour liquid into spray bottle. Spray a fine mist on rose bushes, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves.

ALUMINUM FOIL "FOILS" APHIDS
Use an aluminum foil much around the base of plants such as tomatoes. The reflection confuses the insects and drives them away.

Cabbage Worms

Sprinkle flour on developing cabbage heads. The flour swells up inside the worms and bursts their intestines.

Mealy Bugs

DESCRIPTION
Mealy bugs are soft-bodied insects that most commonly look like cotton tufts. They suck sap from the plant stunting or killing it. They congregate on stems.

CONTROL
Control by spraying the plant with a strong stream of water. Spray with non-detergent soap and water with a drop of alcohol, Garrett Juice with orange oil or garlic juice (organic insecticide additive), or Neem Oil. Apply rubbing alcohol to insect clusters with cotton swab. Wash with insecticidal soap and rinse. Isolate infected plant if possible.

Scales

DESCRIPTION
Scales have a shell-like covering or scale that protects the entire body. They're usually oval and their color varies from white to black. They suck sap from the plant stunting or causing poor growth. They excrete droplets of a sweetish, sticky liquid called honeydew.

CONTROL
Control by washing with non-detergent soap and water and while wet, rub off scales with a cloth or Garrett Juice with insecticide additive or Neem containing organic oil sprays.

Slugs

Sprinkle salt directly onto slug. They shrivel up and die. Place shallow bowl of beer on the ground near slug trails and leave overnight.

Copper wire? That's what Martha Stewart says. Coil a piece of wire around the base of your plants to give slugs a shocking experience. They won't come back.

Spider Mites

DESCRIPTION
Spider mites appear as tiny white dots on the underside of the foliage. Leaves become discolored with tiny webs appearing on the surface. Warm, dry air favors their development.

CONTROL
Control by using a water misting foliar spray to keep up the humidity level of the plant; hose off plant and wash away the web and mites; wash with non-detergent soap and water, Garrett Juice with insecticide additive, or Neem Oil.

Keep spider mites away from your blooms with this Super Spider Mite Mix: 4 cups of wheat flour 1/2 cup of buttermilk 5 gallons of water Mix all of the ingredients together, and apply to your plants with a handheld mist sprayer. Spray to the point of runoff. This mix will suffocate the little buggers without harming your plants.

Whiteflies

DESCRIPTION
These pests have white, wedge-shaped wings. When plants are moved, the adults take flight usually from the upper leaves. They feed on the sap of the leaves, and the leaves become pale, die or drop off.

CONTROL
Control by using Garrett Juice with Orange Oil or Garlic juice added or one of the products containing Neem Oil.