Make your own garlic spray

In this hot weather the aphids are having the time of their short life. Broad beans, roses and many other plants and vegetables are suffering from aphid (green fly or black fly) attack. They really love my artichokes in the allotment and the ants run around them, literally farming them, so they can feed on the sugary syrup the black flies produce. I would not mind them much in the ornamental garden but really don’t want them on my fruits and vegetables, especially that I grow my produce from seeds.
If you plant veg and some smelly plants together, you do companion planting, so you well know that it is recommended to plant garlic around broad beans for example. The good news is that following this idea you can make your own garlic spray which will be an excellent weapon in the fight against the aphids.

Simply mince or finely chop a whole garlic, add a pint of boiling water and let it sit overnight. Sieve and dilute it a bit and you can use it in your spray bottle against insects. Add a bit of washing up liquid too to the mixture so it will stick to the leaves easily. If you plan to use this mixture on young, tender plants it is advised to test it first on a few leaves to check that the spray does not harm your young plants. Also I would advise not to use it on flowering plants as it could repel bees too. Garlic is a really healthy thing, I love it in every meal, and it is good for your plants too; with its antifungal and antibacterial properties garlic will make the plant tissue stronger so that the bacterial and fungal diseases will have a hard time to establish themselves on your strong plants. And I heard it can even repel slugs?!

See also  How not to look after your plot
Previous article
Next article

Latest Articles