Before heading to Europe I was dealing with my annual aphid invasion. I hate keeping chemicals around so tried this organic insecticide. I returned to blooming, aphid free plants.
Here’s the recipe:
2 hot peppers – this is optional; I used a few shakes of cayenne pepper; be forewarned, you will want to use gloves when handling the final product if you include the peppers.
1 large onion
1 whole bulb of garlic
1/4 cup of water
Toss the lot into a food processor; blend until a mash is made. move to a bowl or container with one gallon hot (not boiling) water and let stand for 24 hours. (Don’t make the same mistake I made…let this stew outside! It took days for me to get the smell out of my kitchen! Strain and spray on roses, azaleas and veggies. Bugs need to eat this for it to work. The recipe I found also recommended burying the mash in the ground closest to where the infestation is the worst. Also, while I elected to use the peppers, a number of sites had similar recipes without the peppers that claimed to work just as well.
And in your absence, did it work? How often do think you will have to treat it?
That should read, ” How often do YOU think you will have to treat it?”
Yes it worked…I returned home to aphid free rose bushes. I had to squirt my one rose bush a few days after we got back, but my carnation plant, a planter of basil and some other flower I have that seems to attract small red mites are still clear after only the first application…so going on plus three weeks…I can live with that.
But does your basil taste like garlic and onions?
The spray reeks to high heaven when it goes on…but the roses come up, err, smelling like roses, again, quickly. I still wash my basil, so it doesnt taste like herb butter, but, now that you mention it, spraying it may save me some time in the future with selected recipes…may throw some parsley in for good measure next time as well.