Not every person likes cucumbers. You may be interested to learn that ants hate cucumbers, especially cucumber peels. You'll especially appreciate that fact if you want to get rid of them. Just spread some cucumber peels - the more bitter, the best - where ants enter your home and they should get the message. Reconsider cucumber the "anti-welcome" mat for ants.
Cucumbers are one example of natural pest control. It's using natural and ordinarily non-toxic ingredients to repel or get rid of pests including ants, wasps, mites, moths, flies and other insects.
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People are slicing up cucumbers instead of spraying Bug-Be-Gone because they don't want toxic chemicals in their homes or in their orchad sheds. There is growing evidence that artificial pesticides pose a condition risk to humans and animals.
Here at Planet Natural, we have a whole slew of natural pest controls, including Orange Guard (.95) which uses d-limonene, or orange peel extract, to control insect pests; Safer BioNeem (.95), which uses the active ingredient of neem oil - azadirachtin - to kill insects before they come to be biting or reproducing adults; as well as a variety of traps including the Disposable Yellow Jacket Trap (.95) and Apple Maggot Trap (.95).
For those willing to spend some time and effort at crafting their own remedies, we've gone on to list a variety of remedies to help you battle pests on the home front and in your garden.
Barriers act like barbed wire to keep crawling pests, such as ants, out. These consist of garlic - grind it up with water and apply - cayenne pepper, cinnamon, powdered charcoal, bone meal, talcum powder or chalk. Keep in mind that dissimilar pests have dissimilar aversions, so you'll have to see what substance works best with the ones trying to sneak into your home.
Another way to think of barriers is to grow distinct plants nearby the periphery of your home. They not only look nice, but will also deter pests. Plants known to repel ants and aphids include: spearmint, peppermint and pennyroyal.
You can use the same trick for fly control. Just substitute the above plants with mint and basil which repel flies, but smell good to humans.
Boiling water is exquisite for ant control or if you see where they are creeping into your house, squeeze some lemon into the hole or crack.
Barriers also work for snails. They dislike sand, lime, copper or ashes, so use these borders to keep snails away.
Baking soda and powdered sugar mixed in equal parts is a good roach killer. Just spread nearby the area where you see roaches and soon you won't see them anymore. (Boric Acid, while slightly more toxic, is naturally occurring and is someone else way to get rid of them.)
Here's a undoubtedly sneaky way to get rid of fire ants. (All's fair in love and the war against insect pests.) The only way to get rid of an infestation is to assassinate the queen. Wait until a dry spell is about to end. Sprinkle instant grits on the fire ant hill. The workers will carry the grits to the queen for her royal meal. She'll eat the grits and when it rains, she'll drink. And that's what will kill her. The grits will enlarge in her stomach and she'll "bloat" to death. Once she's out of the way, the leaderless ants will die off. (This suggestion came courtesy of the Tightwad Gazette Ii book.)
Cloves smell best than moth balls and are a natural deterrent against winged pests. You can also generate a water trap by filling a small basin with water and leaving a night light suspended over it. Moths will be attracted to the light and will end up crashing and burning and falling into the water. Add a exiguous dish soap to break the outside tension of the water.
Corn Gluten Meal may not sound very appetizing, but it's a natural, preemptive strike against weeds. Apply it early in the spring before weeds sprout. Corn gluten meal is a byproduct of the corn grist process and is a natural fertilizer.
Diatomaceous earth is made up of the fossilized remains of diatoms, single-cell organisms. The glass-like nature of diatomaceous earth makes it one of the oldest forms of insecticide. The sharp surfaces cut through the insect cuticle and the insect dies of dehydration. Diatomaceous earth kills earwigs, ants and box elder bugs. Since it's non-discriminate when it kills, be sure to only apply it just to the ground outside where you think insects are overstaying their welcome.
Grind rosemary leaves into a fine dust and sprinkle it onto your pet or its bedding to ward off fleas.
Ivory liquid dishwashing detergent can act as a natural insecticide. Dilute with water until it is a 1 or 2 percent clarification and then spray on plants.
Need neem oil? Neem oil - made from guess what? - neem seeds, prevents fungus growth, and repels and kills insects, including mites. While it fights many scourges, it's nontoxic to birds, mammals and most useful insects. One word of caution - it can sometime affect bees so use it as a spot medicine to minimize contact. Neem oil is regularly sold in a concentrated form, to which you add water.
Fruit flies are wine connoisseurs. Okay, maybe they are not wine snobs, but they have been known to quaff a few drops here or there. They particularly like Chardonnay or so we hear. Use that knowledge to your advantage: fill up a saucer of some cheap white wine and add a exiguous detergent to it. Leave it nearby for the flies to sip and die on. This clarification brings knew meaning to the expression "rot gut."
A natural fly catcher related to wine is to put something sickly sweet like mango peels in the bottom of narrow-necked wine bottles. The flies can fly in, but can't fly out.
You can even make your own fly paper. Boil water, sugar and corn syrup together. Spread the extra-sticky mixture on brown paper grocery bags and voila you have your own fly paper which will trap flies.
For mosquito control the aged old institution of burning citronella candles will help repel the pesky critters.
To get rid of slugs and snails, invert a flower pot near a shady plant. Use a stick to prop up the flower pot or place on irregular ground - anything will give sufficient of an entrance way for slugs and snails. They will crawl under the rim to avoid the heat. Check the flower pot at the end of the day and remove the slugs and snails.
Vinegar is a great herbicide. Fill a spray bottle with vinegar - white is best since it won't stain, you undoubtedly don't want to use expensive, aged Balsamic vinegar on weeds - and spray the vinegar on your unwelcome flora on your porch, patio or back yard. It's one of the few things that will work against noxious weeds such as Canadian Thistle. All vinegars are diluted, so try and buy the top concentration you can at the supermarket.
Using organic lawn fertilizers will not only keep it green, it will make it healthy and more qualified to defend itself against weeds and pests. Organic fertilizers, such as bat guano, grass clippings, alfalfa meal, fish emulsion and worm castings, work well.
While natural pest control products are a step up from most industrial insecticides, you should still be restrained about using them. Don't just leap at something that cures the symptom - look for the underlying or root cause and seek a clarification for that problem. Overuse can end up creating new problems - getting rid of one pest in exchange for another.
That said, natural pest control can be a great non-toxic clarification to retention your orchad and home pest free.
Natural Born Pest Killers - Home Remedies for Pest control
