Natural Pest Control Methods

The easiest solution to keep pests away is to keep your garden "healthy"! This means removing weak plants, building up a nutrient rich soil, using clean mulch, clearing debris and weeds, practicing good crop rotation, keeping foliage dry during the day, and disinfecting all garden tools after use.

You should also encourage beneficial insects to take up "home" in your garden. Things like ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies and praying mantis will contribute to the control of any pest problem you may be encountering. Try setting aside a small plot in your garden area for these insects to thrive. Allow the plants here to flower or "go to seed" so that the beneficial bugs will have a constant source of food. If you're trying to attract ladybugs specifically, try planting these varieties!

If you've already encouraged beneficial insects into your garden but pests are still getting the best of your crops, you can try these natural pest control methods below.

IMPORTANT: Even homemade or natural remedies which are meant to kill harmful insects will also kill beneficial insects. Do your own research about how to prepare these ingredients into sprays or solutions. Use these natural remedies sparingly, only applying directly to the affected area. Use them first thing in the morning or at dusk.

	Garlic	Aphids, houseflies, mites, whitefly, cucumber beetles, ticks and scab.
	Mineral Oil	Aphids & mites.
	Basil	Fruit flies, leaf miners, red spiders, and mites.
	Bacillus Thuringiensis	Moths, beetles, flies, mosquitoes and caterpillars.
	Orange	Slugs, ants and roaches.
	Insecticidal Soap	Whitefly, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, scales, thrips and other crawlers.
	Cloves	Mosquitos, thrips, aphids, ants, mites, moths and flies.
	Eucalyptus Oil	Flies and wasps.
	Chrysanthemum Oil	Caterpillars, mites, pickleworms, ticks, scales, whitefly, mealybugs, thrips, Japanese beetles and harlequin bugs.
	Boric Acid	Termites, carpenter ants, beetles & cockroaches.
	Ginger	Bollworms, aphids, thrips and whiteflies.
	Turmeric	Aphids, caterpillars, mites, and rice leaf hoppers.
	Himalayan Pink Salt Spray	Spider mites & cabbage worms.
	Bay Leaves	Ants and cockroaches.
	Neem Oil	Black vine weevil, bollworms, ants, locusts, leaf hoppers, leaf miners, mites, termites & scales.
	Papaya Leaf Extract	Aphids, caterpillars, borers and fruit flies.
	D.E.	Crawling pests, snails, slugs, ants and aphids.
	Chiles	Japanese beetles, borers, ants, aphids, caterpillars and slugs.
	Nematodes	Root weevils, cutworms, and moth larvae.
	Soursop	Nematodes, aphids, caterpillars, greenbugs and fruit flies.
	Cinnamon	Mosquitoes and larvae of mosquitoes.
	Tabacco	Caterpillars, aphids, leaf miners, mites and thrips.
	Beauveria Bassiana	Aphids, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, thrips, whiteflies, beetles and termites.
	Sulfur	Aphids, thrips, and spider mites.

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