Balcony plants have bugs but you do not dare use pesticides? Let me teach you how to make harmless insecticides at home

Currently, more and more people like to grow all kinds of flowers, plants and vegetables on their own balconies. In the warm indoor environment, green leaves easily breed pests such as aphids, red spiders, whiteflies, leafhoppers, thrips and tortrix moths. Conventional chemical pesticides are not only highly toxic, but also leave a large amount of residue after use, seriously affecting people's health, especially children's.

Today, we recommend for you several plant-based or kitchen pesticides that can be made from locally available materials, are simple to prepare, cause no pesticide damage, leave no toxic residue and cause no pollution, and also have a good control effect on common diseases and pests of balcony flowers and plants.

1. Tobacco water

Take 50 g of tobacco leaves (if using tobacco stems, tobacco veins or cigarettes, double the amount), add about 1500 g of clean water, and soak for a day and a night. During soaking, rub repeatedly several times, then remove and filter. Add 0.1% neutral washing powder to the filtrate and stir well before spraying. Tobacco water can control pests such as aphids, red spiders, whiteflies, leafhoppers, thrips, stink bugs and tortrix moths.

Fun fact: Why is it harder for bugs to appear in a home where someone smokes? It is because smoking releases nicotine, and nicotine has the effect of killing bugs. Saying this does not mean I recommend smoking indoors; first-hand smoke, second-hand smoke and even third-hand smoke are hugely harmful to human health.

2. Citrus seed/peel infusion

Soak citrus seeds in clean water for 3-5 days, with a ratio of seeds to water of 1:5. Soak flowers, trees or seedlings in the infusion for 5-10 minutes, then sow or plant them, and most pests and ants will not harm them. Spraying the citrus peel infusion (1:10-20) directly on flowers and trees also has a repellent effect on pests such as aphids.

3. Garlic water

Mash garlic cloves into a paste, add an equal amount of water and stir well, then take the stock solution and add water at 50 times dilution before spraying. Use it immediately after mixing. It has a very good control effect on aphids and red spiders.

4. Scallion water

Mash the outer skin and broken leaves of scallions, add water at 10 times dilution, soak for several hours, filter and spray. It can control aphids and soft-bodied pests, and can inhibit the spread of powdery mildew.

5. Ginger water

Mash fresh ginger and squeeze out the juice, add about 20-25 times its volume of water and spray. It can inhibit rot disease, sooty mould and the germination of other pathogenic fungal spores.

6. Sichuan pepper water

Take 1 part Sichuan pepper, add 5-10 times its volume of water and boil it down into a stock solution. After filtering, add about 10 times its volume of water and spray. It can control aphids, whiteflies, leafhoppers, scale insect nymphs, stem borers and so on.

7. Chives

Take 250 g of fresh chives, mash them into a paste, then add 500 g of water and soak for 30 minutes. Filter out the juice and spray it on the plants. It has a good effect on killing aphids and controlling diseases, and can also be used for soil disinfection. Mix chive juice with water at 1:60, filter, and spray the juice on diseased plants 1-2 times a day to control black spot disease.

8. Loofah

Mash fresh loofah, add water at 20 times dilution and stir, then take the filtrate and spray. It can be used to control pests such as cabbage caterpillars, aphids, red spiders and cabbage borers.

9. Onion

Take 10 g of onion, mash it, add 400-500 g of water, soak for a day and a night, then filter it and spray the plants. It can control aphids and red spiders.

10. Chili pepper

Take 50 g of fresh chili pepper (it must be red chili; green or sweet peppers cannot be used), add about 1000 g of water, put it in a pot and boil for half an hour. After it cools, take the liquid and spray flowers and plants. It has a good effect on controlling red spiders and aphids.

11. Masson pine

Take 5 kg of pine needles, add 5 kg of boiling water, soak in a sealed container for 2 hours, then filter. It can control whiteflies and leafhoppers. Take pine needles, at a weight ratio of 1:2-3, add water and boil for 2 hours until slightly gelatinous; take the filtrate, dilute with water at a volume ratio of 1:1, and it can control root rot.

12. Chinese arborvitae

Mash the leaves, add an equal amount of water and mash again, squeeze out the juice, then add 2 times its volume of water to make a spray liquid. It can control aphids. A 10-fold aqueous solution of Chinese arborvitae liquid has an obvious effect on controlling rust disease of flowers and trees.

13. Willow leaves

Mash willow leaves, add water at 3 times dilution, soak for half a day, filter and spray directly. It can kill aphids and other flower and tree pests, with an effective rate of over 85%.

14. Ginkgo

Put the fruit into a mortar and mash it, add an equal amount of water, and filter to obtain the stock solution. When using, take the stock solution, dilute with water at a volume ratio of 1:2, and spray. It can control aphids.

15. Potassium permanganate

Use a 0.02%-0.03% potassium permanganate aqueous solution and spray once every 2-3 days; for severe cases, spray twice. It can control powdery mildew.

16. Pyrethrum

The pyrethrins contained in pyrethrum flowers have a strong contact-killing and stomach-killing effect on insects, and can kill flower and tree pests such as aphids, leafhoppers, scale insects and caterpillars. Mash pyrethrum flowers, add water at a flower-to-water ratio of 1:5, soak for a day, filter, and spray the filtrate on the affected flowers and trees.

17. Alcohol leaf-wiping method

Gently and repeatedly wipe the leaf surface damaged by scale insects with alcohol, and the scale insects can be removed; even larvae invisible to the naked eye can be thoroughly killed.

18. Baking soda spray method

Finely spray the affected plants with a 0.1% baking soda (NaHCO3) solution. The control rate for powdery mildew on flowers such as Chinese roses, chrysanthemums, garden balsam, cotton rose and cineraria can reach over 80%.

19. Washing powder solution spray method

The specific preparation method is to use 1 g of washing powder and add 100-180 g of water, then mix well. Spray once a week, and after 2-3 consecutive treatments, scale insects and aphids can be controlled. However, note that neutral washing powder should be used. If burning appears on tender leaves, promptly spray some clean water to wash off the residual liquid.

20. Fengyoujing (essential balm) spray method

Dilute Fengyoujing at 600-800 times and spray. It can control aphids, red spiders, scale insect nymphs and larvae of moths and butterflies, with a pest control effect of 90%. Floral water can be used instead of Fengyoujing!

21. Sugar-vinegar solution spray method

Spray potted flowers with a mixture of 2 g of sugar, 3 g of vinegar and 95 g of clean water. It can kill many pests and pathogens, and has a good effect on chlorosis caused by iron deficiency in flowers and trees such as camellias and rhododendrons.

22. Miehaoling spray method

The Miehaoling spray sold on the market can not only kill mosquitoes, flies and cockroaches, but is also a good remedy for controlling flower and tree pests. When flowers and trees are found to be harmed by aphids, red spiders, scale insects, whiteflies, caterpillars and fly species in the soil, Miehaoling spray can eliminate the pests on contact. However, note that it should not be sprayed too much, otherwise it will cause damage to some indoor foliage flowers and trees with tender leaves.

23. Mosquito coil fumigation method

Put the affected potted flowers into a container such as a vat, light a mosquito coil, cover the mouth of the vat tightly with plastic film, tie it firmly with rope, and then make a small hole in the plastic film. Small and medium potted flowers can be taken out after one hour, and large ones after three hours. It takes effect in one treatment, and both adults and eggs can be killed.

The author gives priority to recommending the first 21 methods, which cause no harm to the human body, especially children. When pests are relatively severe, the last two methods can be used, with immediate results!!!

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