Five DIY Remedies for Pests in the Home Garden

Are garden pests, such as squirrels, rats and rabbits, eating your vegetables and fruits? Do you have aphids on your roses?

Before going to your local garden center, consider the following DIY pest remedies, which you can probably make from ingredients you may already have in your cupboard.

Remedy: Hot pepper spray.

Deters: mammals, such as rats, squirrels and rabbits, from eating fruit or vegetables

To deter pests from eating immature fruits, fruits with inedible skins, or certain vegetables, organic gardeners can easily make a pest repellent from hot peppers with particularly high levels of capsaicin, such as serrano peppers or habanero peppers.

• Take one cup of hot peppers with high levels of capsaicin and coarsely chop
• Immerse in 2 cups of water for 12 to 24 hours
• Strain and place liquid in plastic spray bottle
• Refrigerate
• Use within 2 to 3 days
• Spray on immature fruits, or fruits with inedible skins, such as citrus, or certain vegetables, such as eggplant
• Wash before eating yourself!

The capsaicin in the pepper spray deters mammals, such as squirrels, rats and rabbits, from eating fruits and vegetables, yet the hot pepper spray will not harm the animals.

solution for hot pepper spray

Remedy: Cut rose stems with thorns

Deters: Mammals from entering garden beds

Once the blooms on your rose stems have lost their luster, dry the petals for potpourri and place the thorny stems around your vegetable garden bed. The stems serve as a barricade; they will deter mammals who step on the thorns from entering your garden beds.

rose stem with thorns

Remedy: Beer

Drowns: Slugs and snails.

This barricade-type remedy prevents slugs and snails from eating your garden greens. Place a series of small cups filled with beer around the edge of your garden; snails and slugs are attracted to the beer and will fall into the cups–and drown before eating your harvest. Use this remedy with caution if you have household pets who may be tempted to drink the beer, such as cats and dogs; beer can be toxic to these family members.

beer in cup buried in ground

Remedy: Water from garden hose

Removes: Aphids from rose bushes

Use a strong stream of water from your garden hose to remove aphids. Light to moderate infestations of aphids on rose bushes in the spring is usually not harmful to rose bushes; however, most gardeners prefer to remove the aphids. Direct strong streams of water from the hose to dislodge the aphids from rose stems and buds; the water will not harm the rose blossoms and plants. For complete instructions for growing roses in your area, go to GardenZeus and enter your zip code.

aphids on roses

Remedy: Boric acid solution

Kills: Ants

Often aphid problems coincide with Argentinian ant infestations because ants move aphids to uninfected leaves and protect aphids from predatory insects. Use a boric-acid ant bait to control ants. Add 8 teaspoons sugar to 1 cup of water and mix; then add 1 teaspoon of boric acid to the mixed solution. Saturate the solution with cotton balls and place in containers where ants are located. The boric acid solution attracts the ants and the ants carry the solution back to the ant colony where it will kill many ants over a several week period. After the ants die off, aphid problems will diminish.

boric acid solution

For more gardening tips and for complete gardening information by plant and zip code, go to GardenZeus.