Saturday 30 April 2011

How to make garlic garden spray to repel aphids

Since I got back from Mexico I had been battling with some small aftermaths from the vacation drought that the garden suffered. One of those problems is aphids. When I came back, I noticed some of the plants got a couple on them. They were not many, so I thought that as the plants recover from the lack of water and having me to check up on them, the aphids problem will slowly disappear. Now, after trying to get rid of them manually for almost a month, I definitely lost the battle, they have taken over the balcony, and started to do some real damage on a couple plants. To continue war is necessary for me to bring out bigger guns. Since I don’t have available a black and red thank (little ladybugs are the best against aphids) I will have to go with garlic artillery. Here is a recipe for making organic garlic garden spray.

Aphid

Aphids are one of the big enemies on the garden



Aphids usually dislike plants with strong and powerful scents like those in the allium family (onions, leeks, chives, garlic, etc.). All the plants in the onion genus have very astringent chemical compound, which gives them their "spicy" or "garlicky" flavor, this serves as a natural repellent for many pests and some fungus. Using a spray of this chemical around the garden will help in getting aphids away in a very natural and organic way.

The recipe is very simple, and after using it a couple times, the results will be visible.

Ingredients


  • 2 cups of water
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp. liquid dish soap


Optional
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 tbsp. Mineral oil


How to make aphid repellent garlic spray

Making garlic spray for the garden is very simple



To make the garlic garden spray all you need is take the garlic, soap and water into the blender and hit on high until is a very liquid puree. If you want a slightly stronger version you can also add one small onion and mineral oil, but is not necessary. For my garden usually using only garlic and soap is enough.

After all is blended, leave the liquid overnight to allow for the chemicals to spread and mix with the water. After that just strain, put it on a bottle and spraying away.

Spray around the garden every couple days and the aphids will start to fade away.

Remember is best to hit the aphids directly for the formula to work best and also try and use up all the liquid before a week to avoid it going bad.

I started using the formula on my garden a couple days ago, and the aphids are already going away. I trust they will be all out soon.

Got any more tips? Feel free to share on the comments


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42 comments:

  1. I have problems with aphids too. They seem to like my roses best. Sorry to say that I use commercial bug-spray, not home-made.

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  2. Good timing as I am thinking of making some garlic spray with the bulbs that have started to grow.

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  3. Fernando,
    That's a recipe except for the soap that sounds mighty tasty.
    Last year we were without bug problems so did'nt use anything. But when there were bugs...a spray bottle wasn't enough (too many shrubs/plants). Neem oil in a water sprayer hooked up to the hose worked best.

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  4. I've done something similar before but it was meant to repel slugs rather than aphids, it worked a treat.

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  5. If the garlic spray doesn't work, you can also use a vegetable dust.

    Eileen

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  6. This has always worked well for me for many garden pests including rabbits. Nobody seems to like garlic.

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  7. Ah.. I understand what you mean by post-vacation trauma. My plants suffer from that whenever I go overseas. This recipe seems good. So organic too! I'm going to try it!

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  8. Thanks for the visit to my blog and for the comment you left

    I’ve been following and enjoying your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation.

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  9. Aphids don't like cilantro/coriander. They will avoid plants near this herb. I usually let my corianders flower becuase this is most effective against aphids and help to nurse the plant back to health without me doing anything.

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    1. I had aphids all over my cilantro in the winter cold frame this winter, so There must be a major difference between your aphids and mine :)

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  10. love finding a resource for non-toxic homemade garden recipes! many thanks!

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  11. Yea, thank you. A timely tip!

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  12. I have a lot of problems with aphids on my roses. I've been using a commercial spray, but would rather not have all of those chemicals around. I'm going to give your spray mixture a try this year! Thanks for posting :)

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  13. I get aphids on my milkweed in the fall but I usually just squish them. I'm not sure the butterflies or catterpillars like garlic. But I will have to keep this in mind for plants that don't attract pollinators.

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  14. Very cool tutorial! Gardening is a Science. My 2 plants have survived my black thumb of death....much to my happiness but the moms had a green thumb :)

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  15. Thank you very much! I hope you find the recipe helpful, and also thank you for all the extra tips. I will try using some when the occasion arises.

    Diana ~ The aphids I had really seem full of determination. They are attacking my cilantro, my tomatoes and other plants that they should be repelled by.

    Mark ~ Maybe planting some alliums around will help.

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  16. Thanks for the tips. I always forgot to add in garlic (or just too lazy to add in :).

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  17. Ciao Fer, thanks for visiting, i follow you. Un saluto dall'Italia.

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  18. Will certainly try your garlic blasts..[might help my rose plants.]My garden is in need of fumigation- I have all sorts of pests since I've been away almost 3 weeks in April.
    Rosie

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  19. We have trouble with aphids on the roses. We were told to use a spray with just soapy water, seemed to help but you have to be especially careful not to spray in sunshine as the soap seems to increase the problem regarding scorching of the leaves. I will try adding the garlic.

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  20. Fer, I have aphids right now and they are attacking my cilantro and mint. I did a garlic with tomato leaf spray and I just saw I forgot the soap. I'll try again.

    By the way how is your grapevine ina pot doing? can you post pictures? I am trying to copy your grapevine in a pot graphic :-)

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  21. I've often used a soap and water spray to knock aphids off plants with success but never heard of adding garlic. Garlic would likely add extra future protection. I will try this in the future.

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  22. I've got a major aphid situation on one of my roses, so this will be put to the test later this week. (I've already made a batch to bring up to the garden, since I don't have a blender in the summer house.)

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  23. I do the same spray too! It always help me! But monkeys are not bothered by this spray....sigh....

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  24. The aphids are taking over my garden too! I use a similar recipe (soap, water & oil). I will have to try adding garlic and see if that works any better. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Good luck getting rid of all the pests before they harm your plants too much!

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  25. I did the same spray too, the only thing is I added some chili powder. Glad that it is effective for your garden! Spotting aphids in the garden are a nightmare!

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  26. Excellent tip, thanks! Do you have any for scale as well?

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  27. Lucky they are not that much of an issue for me... they do exist, but at a tolerable level...

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  28. As this is my first spring/summer in my new place, I am finding a lot of new issues with my plants. I certainly have aphids. I wonder if the garlic spray would work with the deer and rabbits? I know the Liquid Fence type stuff has garlic---but also some rotten eggs.
    Good tip!

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  29. Thanks for the recipe fer - we've had dreadful greenfly this year, and my standard soap spray didn't seem to do anything, but I tried your garlic spray and it has cleared everything up beautifully!

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  30. What an excellent and simple idea! I'm certainly going to be giving this a go - thank you :)

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  31. Thank you very much! is great to see it's been helpful. I am glad to say it worked wonders on my garden. I am almost free of aphids.

    Alistair ~ I had that same problem with soap, that is why I tried garlic, but if you make it to concentrated it can also be dangerous, so I guess you have to be careful with everything

    Anonymous ~ Those must be some really mean aphids if they went after your mints too. I hope you can get rid of them. I posted the photo of the grapevine. I hope it helps you.

    Bom ~ I will try and find some recipe for scale. I never had problems with that before

    Janet ~ great to hear you got rid of them all.

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  32. thanks so much for this tip! does this work for gabbage wors as well?

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  33. Hi naughteebits,
    I am not sure if it works, but garlic is a good repellent for a lot of pests, you can give it a try.

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    1. Can I just use the garlic and not the soap?

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  34. i made it fer!!! thanks for the help! i'll keep ya posted! =>

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  35. if you chop up some rhubarbe leaves and some garlic put all in a pot cover with cold water and then bring to the boil until all is soft, take off the heat and leave to get cold, next strain juice into a big spray bottle with a table spoon of wash up liquid an spray on affected plants. this also kills aphids i would not use this spray near a fish pond as rhubarbe leaves are poisonous and would not like to see what it might do to little fish..........as i don't have a pond but i have used this method on my plants and it works for me.

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  36. Hi! Im just wondering if you used an American standard cup (240 ml) or a Japanese standard cup (200 ml).

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    1. hi! i use the metric cup 250ml
      but it is not a hard recipe, feel free to adjust around to see what works for you

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  37. Reading all your comments have been interesting regarding the effects of garlic In my garden of herb and vegies I have planted garlic chives around and in between Not only do they help repel insects they are great tasting for salads have a lovely mauve flower and keep on multiplying so you can divide n plant where you want them I also have them around the bottom of my roses and apple tree also makes a great border Just pick off slender leaves in places Ahh !!! aroma

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  38. Hi fer, Is the dish soap really necessary? Because I was thinking of applying it to my rose plants as well, but they are in pots, so I'm just afraid that the dish soap will stay in the soils in the pots and harm the plant.

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  39. Can you tell me what the important benefits while spraying the garlic are?

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