Make your own insecticide with chillipepper and garlic!

Chillis act as a stomach poison, antifeedant and repellent to a number of pests, garlic has anti-feedant, bacterial, fungicidal, insecticidal, nematicidal and repellent properties.

Chilli spray

• Crush and grind 4 cups of ripe chilli pods or 5 cups of chilli seeds. Place in a pan with 3 litres of water and boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Take off the heat and add 3 more litres of water. Leave to cool. Then filter through a cloth and keep the liquid.
• (Alternatively, slice 500 grams of ripe chilli pods and place in a bucket filled with water. Leave to decompose for 4 to 5 days. Sieve the mixture and keep the liquid).
• Add soap so that the mixture sticks to the pests and the leaves. Use potash based soft soap that is used for washing dishes and not the modern washing powders that contain caustic soda which will harm plants.
• Use as a spray or sprinkle using twigs or grass tied together to form a whisk, against most insects, including caterpillars, aphids, flies, ants and mealy bugs. Apply once a week if there is no rain or two or three times a week if it rains. It is important to use this solution as a preventative measure.

Chilli dust

• Grind as many dried ripe chilli pods as required.
• Sprinkle the powder around the base of plants to repel ants, cutworms, slugs and snails as well as many soil pests.

Chilli and garlic spray

• Grind 1 garlic bulb and 1 onion. Add 1 tablespoon of powdered chilli peppers. Stir into 2 litres of hot water. Leave the mixture to cool. Strain through a fine cloth and keep the liquid. Add 1 tablespoon of soft soap and stir well.
• Use as a spray for caterpillars in fruit trees.

Interplanting

Chilli can be interplanted with crops to act as a repellent against many insects, fungi and viruses.

Garlic spray

• Garlic is effective against a wide range of diseases and insects at different stages in their life cycle (egg, larvae, adult). This includes ants, aphids, army worms, caterpillars, Colorado beetle, diamondback moth, pulse beetle, whitefly, wireworm, false codling moth, imported cabbage worm, khapra beetle, mice, mites, moles, Mexican bean beetle, peach borers and termites as well as fungi and bacteria.

• Blend 100 grams of grated and crushed garlic cloves, 0.5 litres of water and 10 grams of soap (Use potash based soft soap that is used for washing dishes and not the modern washing powders that contain caustic soda which will harm plants). Mix well. Strain the mixture through a fine cloth. Dilute the solution in 5 litres of water.

• Mix the solution well before applying to the affected plants. Use as a spray or sprinkle using twigs or grass tied together to form a whisk. For best effect, use the mixture immediately.

• This method may also kill many beneficial soil bacteria and insects. Garlic is effective against so many pests and diseases that different strengths may need to be experimented with. The taste of garlic will remain on sprayed plants for one month after spraying so it may be best to avoid spraying near harvest time. Try to spray only the affected areas where pests are doing most damage.

Intercropping

Traditionally garlic has been intercropped with many crops. This strong smelling plant hides the smell of the crop it is planted with. Intercropped with cabbage, garlic may deter the diamondback moth. Also, planting 4 rows of sorghum with 7 rows of garlic helps to prevent shootfly infestations. Garlic can also be planted around fruit trees to repel aphids, fruit tree borers, termites, mice and other pests.