Aphids are pests that cause serious damage to plants in the garden or orchard. They pierce the tissues of plants to feed on their sap, thus weakening the plants. In addition to this, the saliva of aphids is irritating, even toxic, and causes the leaves of plants to move. If you want to protect your plants and preserve your crops from aphids, this homemade garlic-based insecticide is your ally to get rid of them.
How to prepare a homemade garlic insecticide to kill aphids?
To prepare an effective homemade insecticide against aphids, you will need:
- 5 cloves of garlic
- a liter of water
In a container, soak the garlic cloves in water for a whole day. Then pour the mixture into a saucepan, boil for 20 minutes and cool. Strain the solution and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray the garlic decoction on the infested plants. This insecticide can be applied up to twice a day, in order to improve the growth of your plants. It can also be used to eliminate scale insects, caterpillars, ants or red spiders.
What are some other tips for getting rid of aphids on plants?
In addition to garlic decoction, you can use these tips to eliminate aphids naturally, without harming your plants.
- Black soap to eliminate aphids
Black soap is a natural and biodegradable soap made from linseed or olive oil. This soap is very effective in fighting aphids that are ravaging your plants. To do this, dilute 75 ml of liquid black soap in one litre of water and pour the solution into a spray bottle. Then spray it on the aphids. If you don’t have liquid black soap, you can dilute 20 g of black soap paste in warm water.
- Coffee grounds to get rid of aphids
Coffee grounds have several benefits. Used in the garden to fertilize plants, it can also be used as a natural repellent. For good reason, it is effective in repelling aphids, as well as ants and gastropods such as slugs. To do this, simply spread the coffee grounds at the foot of the infested plants. Please note that it is important to dry the coffee grounds before using them and spread them well around the plants. Renew it as soon as it becomes damp.
- Ladybugs to kill aphids
To get rid of pests, you can attract certain plant aids to your garden. The latter are living organisms, such as insects, that act as predators to remove pests from plants. This is also the case with ladybirds. This beetle insect is, in fact, fond of aphids. To attract ladybirds, you can grow flowering plants such as dandelions or daisies in your garden. Ladybirds feed on their pollen. You can also pile up dead leaves and small piles of branches in different places in the garden. This encourages ladybirds to spend the winter in your garden. Do not remove these shelters until March.
- Fern manure against aphids
Liquid manure is a natural product obtained by maceration, infusion, decoction or fermentation of plants. To protect your plants from green or black aphids, you can use fern manure. To do this, macerate 1 kg of eagle fern leaves in 10 liters of rainwater, in a covered container, which you will keep cool. The maceration can last up to ten days. During this period, make sure to stir the mixture once a day. Then filter your mixture and keep the manure cool. To use your insecticide, dilute fern manure to 10% in rainwater and spray it on plants that have been attacked by aphids.
Thanks to these tips you can easily get rid of aphids that attack your plants, without using chemicals.