Herbs and other plants are great natural remedies for getting rid of common bug and pest problems. Here are a few really easy solutions using mixtures of herbs and other plants to remove infestations of pesky insects from your home, indoor plants and garden. Ants Repellents:
Bay Leaves: Lay fresh whole bay leaves in kitchen drawers, on cupboard shelves, in your cookie jars or bread drawers.
Cayenne Pepper: Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on their path.
Cinnamon: Use powdered cinnamon to block their path.
Cloves: Sprinkle cloves in any area where you find ants.
Garlic: Set out a few pieces of garlic where you see invading ants.
Mint Leaves: Crush fresh mint leaves and set them in ant infested areas of your home. Plant peppermint plants in the area of your garbage cans to repel ants.
Orange and Lemon Peels: Put orange and lemon peels in very hot water and leave it for several hours, even overnight. Then strain the liquid and pour it around any plants that ants are attracted to.
Pine Oil: Use One drop of pure pine oil in one quart of water as a repellent for fire ants.
Sweet Fern: Scatter sweet fern in an area where red ants gather.
Tansy: Distribute fresh tansy leaves on windowsills, counter tops, in cupboards and in corners of your home. A good deterrent to keep ants away from your garbage can area outside is to plant tansy plants in the area.
Turmeric Powder: Sprinkle some turmeric powder where you have ants.
Termites:
Aloe: Make a solution used a crushed aloe plant to five parts water. Let it stand for an hour, strain, and spray in termite areas.
Castor Oil: Use a mixture of castor oil green seeds, leaves and roots in two quarts of water that has been soaked for about 24 hours. After the soaking time, strain the solution and spray it on the affected area.
Mexican Poppy: Mix Mexican poppy oil with water and spray or sprinkle Mexican poppy powder around the termite infested area.
Cockroaches:
Garlic, Cayenne Pepper and White Onion: Add one crushed garlic clove, one tablespoon cayenne pepper and one small crushed white onion to one quart of water in a cooking pan. Bring it to a simmer. Then remove from the heat and let it steep for an hour. Pour the mixture into a sprayer, and apply to roach infested area. (Don't use garlic alone, as some species of roaches are attracted to garlic).
Hedgeapple: Place a hedgeapple from the Osage orange tree in a room where you have cockroaches.
Spiders:
Citronella Oil, Lavender Oil, Cinnamon Oil, Peppermint Oil, Citrus Oil, Tea Tree Oil: Drop one drop of any of these oils into one quart of water and use as a spray to keep spiders away.
White Vinegar and Coconut Oil: Mix a solution of five percent white vinegar and one teaspoon of coconut oil and spray where you have cobwebs.
Plant Bugs:
Cayenne Pepper and Garlic: Mix together six cloves of very finely chopped garlic, one teaspoon of cayenne pepper and one quart of warm water. Let it stand for an hour, strain, and spray the solution on aphid areas.
Garlic: Lay one piece of peeled garlic clove with the narrow end up just slightly under the soil of your house plants to keep the bugs away.
Lemon or Lime: Put a pint of water into a cooking pot and bring it to a boil. Remove it from the heat and add the grated rind of one lemon or one lime. Steep the mixture overnight; strain and spray it on aphids or use a soft brush and paint the leaves of the plant that has the aphid problem.
Marigold: Chop up 15 mature marigold plants and soak them in five pints of boiled water. Cool the mixture and then add three drops of liquid soap. Strain and use the mixture as a spray.
Nasturtiums, Garlic and Onion Plants: Plant nasturtiums, garlic or onions around plants that aphids like. Nasturtiums work the best.
Sweet Potatoes: Save the water from boiled sweet potatoes and use as a spray for aphids.
Tomatoes: Grind up two cups of tomato leaves and stems, and blend in a food processor with two cups of water. Let it sit overnight before straining. Add two more cups of water and use a spray on aphids.
There are dozens of natural remedies, and learning to use these remedies as much as possible will bring freedom and relief from the potent chemical solutions that may do more than kill your bugs.
