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The Corroboree
Infinity

Natural Pesticide Recipes

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Welcome.

 

I greet you in the Love and Light.

 

Natural pesticides are a cheaper and often safer alternative to commercially manufactured products. It is not old fashioned to formulate your own products, rather it is a smart use of the natural resources that are often readily available.

 

I especially like natural products that don't necessarily kill but instead make my plants so unpalatable that the so-called pests simply pack up shop and move on. No loss of life, plants are happy, I'm happy - problem solved.

 

Here are a few recipes I've come across. This is not an exhaustive list so please feel free to contribute and add your own recipes, tips and tricks.

 

NATURAL PESTICIDE RECIPES

 

Neem (Azadirachta indica)

Recipe: Collect mature seeds, wash and remove the husk, and allow to dry completely. Take 40 grams of seeds and grind them into a fine powder. Mix the powder in 1 litre of water and soak overnight. Strain the liquid and apply using a spray bottle. Used as a fungicide, nematicide and bactericide.

 

Custard Apple (Annona squamosa)
Recipe: Collect 100g of seeds and dry. Grind into a fine powder. Mix with 4 litres of water and soak overnight.

 

Chili Peppers (Capsicum frutescens)

Recipe: Collect 50g of chilies and dry. Grind into a fine powder, taking extra care not to touch your penis, rub your eye, pick your nose or inhale the dust. Mix with 1 litre of water and soak overnight.

 

Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica)

Recipe: N. rustica contains 9x more nicotine than other species making it ideal as a pesticide. Collect healthy, fresh leaves which are free of spots. During flowering the leaves are at their strongest. Mix 80 grams of whole dry leaves with 1 litre of water and soak for two days. Best applied in the early morning before sunrise due to its volatile nature. CAUTION: Nicotine is toxic, do not breath the vapours or allow spray to drift onto the skin.

 

Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium)

Recipe: The active ingredient is found in the flowers. Collect only fully opened flowers. Mix 100 grams of dried flowers in 1 litre of water and soak for one day.

 

Garlic (Allium sativum).

Recipe: Finely grate 1 bulb of garlic and mix with 1 litre of water. Its effect on the plant lasts only for 1-3 days after applying it.

 

Love & Light

Edited by Infinity
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Ricinus? Like actually? I'll apply glyphosate by spit spraying it from my mouth before I start messing with that stuff.

 

I love the warning on the chilli one. Unfortunately I've found chilli to be useless on most things. For a start, it only works on mammals (not insects) and the ones I get (native rats, exotic rats, bandicoots and possums) aren't affected at all. Most of my Butch T Scorpions got taken from the bush before I got to harvest them. I have no idea how much these animals suffered but I would have wanted to die. Regardless, they came back.

 

Nicotine is very toxic to many things and will kill pollinators so I avoid that.

 

I've never heard of the custard apple trick. I'll read into it. What are the target species?

 

Thanks for sharing.

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Some info on targets for custard apple solution can be found here:

 

http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/plants_in_pest_control/custard_apple.html

 

For rats: Try peppermint oil spray or fresh mint leaves scattered around the plant. Rodents hate that smell. I’ve also heard sprinkling kitty litter near your plant with cat piss in it deters rodents as they think there is a cat about. 

 

For possums: 1x cup of molasses into a litre of water sprayed onto the plant is said to be effective.  They also hate the strong smell of mothballs. I’d try the mothballs first. 

 

For Bandicoots: they hate strong ammonia smells so maybe some chicken poop or dynamic lifter around the plant will keep them away. 

 

For kangaroos: an old bloke taught me that simply using 40cm tall bamboo stakes in the ground positioned in a triangle around the plant keeps them away. I’ve seen this first hand and was surprised how effective it was. Seems they are worried about shanking their eyes out when they feed.

 

I hope that helps.

 

8

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Good point. I'll remove the Castor Bean recipe.

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