Homemade Earth-Friendly Insecticidal Soap (Repels Deer and Bunnies too)

This is my favorite time of the year to cook:  our garden is growing and often I find myself walking outside to grab something for dinner from our garden.  Trouble is, some critters, bugs and worms are having their dinner from our garden too!

If you're growing your garden organically, one of the most effective way to control pests is to use insecticidal soap.  You can purchase insecticidal soap at the store, but it is super easy to make at home and will save you from having to run an extra errand.

For the most simple insecticidal soap, you can dilute 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap to 1 quart of water.  My version incorporates garlic and red pepper flakes to also deter bunnies and deer.

All you need:

Homemade Insecticidal Soap

Make the base:
1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 cup water

Make a batch of insecticidal soap:
2 tablespoons base mixture (above recipe)
1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap
2 cups water

Make the base:

Remove the garlic cloves (you don't need to peel them though) from the head of garlic.

Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and 1 cup water to a blender and process until it forms a runny paste.

Pour the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any small chunks of garlic or pepper flakes.  The remaining water is your "base."

Yields about 1 cup of base.


Make a batch of insecticidal soap:

Mix 2 tablespoons of the base mixture, with 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap and 2 cups water.  Combine in a squirt bottle and spray away!

A couple important notes:

*Insecticidal soap works best when done on a day without rain.  Rain will wash it away, and you want to keep the mixture on the leaves as long as possible to deter pests.

*Be sure to spray the backs and fronts of the leaves of the plants.  Many pests hide on the underside of the leaves.

*You may respray daily, as needed.

*This insecticidal soap can be used even if you are about to harvest your vegetables.

Our poor collards were attacked over the weekend.  Insecticidal soap to the rescue!

Happy gardening!
SPC