Eggs shells
- We have found that crushed up eggs shells are a great calcium feed for tomato plants. Also mashed up banana skins make a potassium feed. You just have to dig them lightly in around the base of the plant.
- —Guest the make it an mend it team
ecofriendly paper wasp/hornet control
- Tips for getting rid of paper nests ranged from the downright dangerous, such as setting fire to it or prising it off into a garbage bag through all kinds of chemical treatments. I hapened to be watering the plants in my greenhouse one day when I accidently sprayed water on the nest. An interesting thing happened. The nest began to disintegrate. I concentrated the water on it from a safe distance and destroyed the nest entirely within a few minutes. The next day, the insects began to rebuild so I sprayed it again. They left..this time for good.
- —Guest stpady
Another one for aphids
- Puree banana peels with enough water to make a pourable liquid. I also threw in a few cloves of garlic, just in case = P
- —erunuevo
marigolds in garden
- SDgardener beat me to the punch about planting marigolds. We have a 10 x 10 veg. garden and I plant marigolds about 5 or 6" apart all along the outside of the garden NO WORMS at all, not the first one of thoes awful green worms!! I have done this for the past 4 years. I would like some suggestions on keeping the birds out of my tomatoes. They pecked them just before time to pick last year. Thanks!
- —Guest marzeitz
aphids don't like tobacco and turmeric
- We first bathe the aphid-affected plant in turmeric solution. This may need a couple of repeats in a week. If that doesn't help, soak tobacco from a couple of cigarettes in water overnight. Douse the plant with the water. we've had reasonable success.
- —Guest Benita Sen
Stop cat facing on tomatoes
- When I plant my tomatoes, I place finely crushed egg shells in the bottom of the hole. It adds calcium to the soil which helps preent cat facing. Also bury the entire plant minus the top whorl of leaves, tomatoes root all along the stem.
- —joan.102440
No ants in my house
- In the spring if I sprinkle paprika at each doorway entrance to my house. No ants all summer long.
- —Guest Rhoda
Aphid Control
- I mix liquid dish soap, like Dawn or Palmolive, with water in a spray bottle (about 1 tea. to 1 c. water) and spray directly on plants. Soap doesn't hurt plants but gets rid of aphids. I will also work on spider mites, but takes a little more soap. I have also mixed up large quantities to use in my 2 gal. yard sprayer and use it to control catepilliars and web worms that infest my pecan and sweet gum trees in summer.
- —dbrazil
Some Ideas
- baking soda works really well in the cracks between the sidewalk slabs as a weed killer. it also works well sprinkled in the yard to minimize snails. plain powdered laundry detergent sprinkled and watered into the grass works really well to keep mosquitoes away, remember to reapply after rains. coffee works well to keep ants away. and of course, mega mulch to make pulling any weeds in the beds easy.
- —jag7
Weed Killer and Insecticide
- Mix about a cup of regular table salt with warm water in a regular size spray bottle. The warm water helps dissolve the salt. Leave enough room to add about 1 tblsp of liquid dish detergent, preferably one that is a biodegradable/natural cleanser. Shake the bottle to blend well. Spray this on weeds and plants you don't want. However, be careful not to get on plants you do want. Let plant dry then repeat. The soap helps the salt to adhere to the plant which then causes the plant to dry out. I also have had luck using this same mixture on ant hills and nests. Replacing the salt with apple cider vinegar makes a good bug spray. Again, the soap helps the vinegar adhere to the plants which causes the bugs to "burn". They may not die immediately but when the sun works with the vinegar I have found they're pretty helpless to survive.For real tough bug issues add cayenne pepper to the vinegar mixture..
- —Guest Daisey
Aphid Defense
- Boil rhubarb leaves in water for 30 minutes, then use as a spray for aphids. Works good on my roses, although you do have to re-apply often :)
- —Guest Amber
Garden Pest Controls
- I thought this was an old wives tale but I planted marigolds all around my tomatoes last year and had virtually no worm or bug damage. I didn't have one rabbit bite either but that may be because I have a dog (though he's inside most of the time). The marigolds look pretty too!
- —SDgardener
Egg Shells & Coffee for Slugs
- ground egg shells mixed with used coffee grounds and small amount of wood ash from fireplace to prevent slugs from munching on my seedlings
- —flynn2149
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