DIY garden bug spray...have any recipies?

[MommyHawk]

I need to make a concoction to keep ants and other bugs out of my garden. I have TONS of ants...my mother mentioned using dish soap with ground up garlic and peppers, but doesn't recall the exact proportions or how to make it...

does anyone have a useful recipe that they know works at keeping bugs off of the veggie plants in the garden?

thanks!

[MommyHawk]

anyone have any good results with a DIY garden bug spray?

[ScarletBegonias]

dh and i make one that works well:

Make a strong tea/decoction from the following:

1/2 gal boiling h2o
1 cup dried marigolds
3 whole dried hot red peppers (cayenne etc.,.)
1 whole head garlic, cloves separated

steep for half a day up to 24 hours. strain and pour into spray bottles. this may sound strange but, it also helps if you include a few dead specimens in the steeping brew of whatever bug you are battling. hth

[sugareemoma]

Nice username Does this spray work okay on toddlers?

[Alyantavid]

Dh just learned of one in class yesterday, but we haven't tried it. Mix 1 tbsp dish soap with 1 cup water and spray on the plants.

[ramama]

My mother had a HUGE potted plant that she kept in the garage for the winter. The ants nested in it. When she put it back out on the patio, there were ants EVERYWHERE! Like, millions! We put a bit of dishsoap in a spray bottle with water and sprayed all over the plant. Soaked it. The ants were dead.

I apply a nasty mixture to our garden to keep the squirrels from digging around. Hot peppers and several (like 10) cloves of garlic boiled in about 2 cups of water for 20+ minutes. Strain and stray. I don't think proportions are important, as long as it really really really stinks (and it does!). I don't have an ant problem in my garden, so I don't know if it really works on ants. Although perhaps that's why I don't have an ant problem...