It’s heartening to see people getting onto our site and making enquiries regarding organic gardening. One of our regulars has asked for some details on organic pesticides, as her tomato and chilly plants are under attack from aphids and other small pests!

Organic pesticides not only work well for any type of pests, but are also environment friendly and even cheaper than the regular pesticides. Here are some organic pesticides that will help you beat the bugs in your garden:

1. Neem Oil
This is used to kill pests (which eat the leaves), or to repel others with its strong smell. It can be used against whitefly, aphids, Japanese beetles, moth larvae, scale and spider mites. Neem oil specifically targets pests, and will not affect insects that don’t eat the foliage – like bees or lady birds. It’s also useful as a fungicide against rust, black spot, mildew, leaf spot, scab, anthracnose, blight and botrytis.
Use 70% Neem Oil (Mix 1 tablespoon of this in 2 litres of water) by spraying it over all plant surfaces including the undersides of the leaves.
If you can't source the oil, but have access to the real thing, then use about a kilogramme of leaves (with thin stalks is fine), and crush them in large container. Add about 3-4 litres of water and leave overnight. The water will be a dirty green, strain it and spray on the plants.

2. Soap Spray
This is probably the simplest way to stop bugs in their tracks! Use 3 tablespoons of liquid detergent into a 4 litres of water. Use organic soap if available☺, spray weekly!

3. Salt Spray
This is a good solution for cabbageworms and spider mites. Mix 1 tablespoon of salt in 2 litres of water and spray the plants – as usual, do spray the undersides.

4. Citrus Spray
Peal the rind of a large orange or lemon, and pour a litre of boiling water over it. Leave this overnight. Strain this, add a drop of dish washing soap and spray your plants. This is especially good to keep aphids and other pests at bay.

5. Garlic Spray
Bugs and slugs, all hate the garlic-ky smell. Blend cloves from a complete bulb of garlic, a medium sized onion, a tablespoon of cayenne pepper and about 200 ml water (in total, you need a litre of water for this spray). Strain it, and add the balance 800 ml water and a tablespoon of dish washing liquid. Spray this every few days till you can see no pests, and then after about a week to get rid of the larvae or eggs that may be around. You will need to re-spray in case it rains.

Since this spray has oil from the garlic, and dishwashing liquid, it sticks to plants as well as suffocates pests. It will also make the leaves unpalatable to the bugs. It will kill ants, aphids, caterpillars, grubs, bugs, whiteflies, cutworms, slugs, wireworms and many more.

6. Tomato Leaves Insecticide
Two cups of chopped tomato leaves in two cups of water and soak in water for a couple days. To make the spray, strain the leaves out of the liquid using a fine strainer. Add another one to two cups of water to the liquid and add it to a spray bottle. Tomato plants contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves.While this spray is very safe for humans, some people are allergic to alkaloids. If you are one of them, care in making and applying this.

Just some caveats,
- Never use spray on plants during hot sunny weather as it may cause the leaves to burn.
- Take care of the useful animals such as bees, earthworms.
- Even with natural ingredients, it’s best to keep the sprays away from children. Label them and keep them in a cool storage area.
- Wash your hands after using the sprays, and definitely avoid contact with eyes!