I grow gigantic sunflowers, spinich and rhubarb in a small garden. As usual, bugs are eating away at the leaves. I live in the heat of Texas. I am looking to use an organic, homemade insecticide that will not go bad when I store it in the heat of my garage for the next season or the next season.

What have you all used? The easier the better.

For years I have used this recipe for organic insecticide.
1 gal. of warm water, 1 cup of instant coffee crystals, a squirt of dish soap(not detergent), several dashes of tobasco sauce.
Spray both sides of leaves, the stems and soil surrounding
plants. You can cut this recipe just as you would reduce any recipe. I store the left over in my basement in the winter, Refresh
it the next year with a little tobasco sauce. If you make kess than gal. you could just throw it awy nd start new in the Spring. Do Not
Use Instant Powder Coffee. Won't disolve well. The soap is a
surfacant which helps insecticide stick to the leaves. I think the
key may be the tobasco sauce. Good Luck.

I have an indoor garden where these tiny little gnats seem to spring forth like wild-flowers after a long rainy winter from the soil of my plants. I have a few yellow fly strips up, however, after about a week and a few hundred flies later, they stop having any space left for more flies!

I have tried nematodes and ladybugs, however those are very expensive require lots of work. My indoor garden, because of where I live, is going to be prone to these bugs no matter what I do.

I have a small outdoor garden where spiders have taken residence and seem to keep my bug problem at bay, and I have had MUCH experience with spiders and how beneficial they can be as predators. I always leave 2-3 in or around my house or garage that are out of reach to keep my bug problems at bay. (we all have flies, face it…)

Is there a "safe" species of spider that I can introduce into my very small indoor garden that will keep the bug problem at bay? Can a "safe" sepcies be kept under control?

Curious answers, I agree with some, not with others. (also a degreed horticulturist)

There is no one general pest control method. For example, the insecticidal soap works great on soft bodied insects, but not the hard shelled. Plus the soap can severely harm certain plants. Horticultural oil works by smothering insects, but once again, can harm certain plants. Neem is selective, diatomaceous earth is selective, pyrethrum isn't all that safe (even if it is from nature….so is tobacco/nicotine and nicotine is extremely toxic and no longer available for pest control. Get the idea? Same thing with predatory/beneficial insects; they are selective and with pray mantids, they eat all the other bugs including fellow family members.

The answer……….use a multiple approach, what we call integrated pest management. First know what your pest problems are, learn how to treat each (hopefully there will be something that will work on many, be prepared to have multiple pest control options running at the same time. For example, the yellow sticky traps, make your own out of bright yellow plastic, coat with a sticky substance and when filled with pest, scrape them off and put the boards back out. Release parasitic wasps, use beneficial nematodes if you have large container plantings, use insectidial soap where appropriate, oil elsewhere, Neem, etc. By alternating treatments you keep the pests from developing a resistance. Also…….have a look at your growing environment. Is it such that you have breeding areas for these pests and through good cleanliness and techniquest you can eliminate many of these pests before they reach your plants?

This organic insecticide is soap based and USDA approved, so it is safe and effective to use to control pests on houseplants and other indoor plants. Comes in a 35 fluid oz bottle that is ready to spray with no additional attachments. glycerin-based organic insecticide soap does not use the soap as

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Organic Solutions is committed to intensively researching environmentally friendly insecticide products. Tests at major universities and colleges are part of this research. Over 70% of all poisonings in our homes are caused by pesticides or insecticides. Organic Solutions believes this situation is

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