Here is all about using garlic for pest control in gardens.

Sometimes, solutions to pest problems can come from the most unlikely places. This is common with natural remedies as certain food items also double as pest repellents.

The best part is; these natural remedies are non-toxic to humans and also environmentally friendly.

Garlic Pest Control

One of those food items that perfectly fit the bill when it comes to having both food value and pest repellent properties is garlic. How can you use garlic for pest control?

This article is all about discussing the repellent effect and how to go about deploying garlic for pest control.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Can You Withstand the Pungent Smell?

If there’s one characteristic garlic is well known for, it’s its strong pungent smell.

This gives it the unique flavor a lot of people crave. Outside of being a food item, using garlic for pest control won’t be for everyone.

This is simply because some people detest its smell and will avoid it even for food.

In basic terms, you need to know that garlic has a pungent smell that could linger on and permeate your surroundings when applied for pest control.

While this might be considered perfectly okay for some people, others will rather find alternatives to garlic use.

It’s perfectly okay to first decide whether garlic use for pest control is something you should consider. If it is, you’ll find this article highly informative.

If it isn’t, then this article certainly won’t be of much help to you.

What Does Garlic Repel?

What pest issues are you dealing with?

This is a good starting point that helps you determine whether it can be treated with garlic or not. The truth is, there isn’t a catalog or documentation of all pests repelled by garlic.

However, some of them include beetles, ants, aphids, caterpillars, and borers.

Other pest problems you can fight with garlic include armyworms, mosquitoes, caterpillars, whiteflies, slugs, and termites. All of these have responded well to garlic treatments and shouldn’t be difficult to repel with garlic.

Again, this isn’t an exhaustive list of pests you can combat with garlic.

Garlic may work exceptionally well on other household pests. If the pest problems you face aren’t listed here, you may want to experiment with some garlic.

However, the problem is this; it shouldn’t be tested for a difficult pest infestation like bed bugs. The longer you delay, the worse it gets.

Garlic As a Broad Spectrum Insecticide

One of the things you should know about using garlic as an insecticide is that it isn’t selective when it acts. In other words, both pests and beneficial insects are eliminated.

This creates a bit of confusion for gardeners as they tend to rationalize on whether to proceed with garlic treatments or not.

One of the ways this garlic solution can be used with little to no adverse effect on beneficial insects is by selective application. In other words, you can choose to spray garlic only around the most affected areas known to have the most pest activity.

This should make a whole lot of difference.

However, there are arguments in some quarters that garlic won’t pose harm to beneficial insects. There’s some truth to this theory but only on the basis that garlic serves as preventive pest treatment. How so?

When garlic treatments are applied to a pest-infested area, it kills or repels them within a short time. However, there’s still some residual effect left behind which is characterized by its pungent smell.

When sprayed on plants, these pests will keep off due to the smell.

However, you’ll need to have your garlic spray reapplied to keep pests out until there’s a significant improvement before treatment is stopped.

Pest Repellent Nature of Garlic

Garlic can serve as a repellent for a wide range of pest issues. It has fungicidal, moslluscidal, nematicidal, antiparasitic, acaricidal, fungicidal and insecticidal properties.

This makes it widely applicable to several pest issues. Such broad-based pest control properties make garlic ideal for natural pest control treatments.

Certain Precautions will need to be adhered to

Although we’ve stated that garlic is totally natural with zero adverse effects on humans, there are possible causes of allergies that could arise.

While such problems are rare, certain individuals may be allergic to garlic use. In such cases, it’s best to discontinue its use and seek medical attention when reactions get worse.

Extra caution needs to be taken to protect your eyes from garlic solution. This is even more necessary when there are other additives. You don’t want to end up harming your eyes.

Eye protection boils down to how well you apply your garlic solution.

Your best bet is to have your spray nozzle turned as far off from your eyes as possible.

You also need to check the wind direction when applying garlic spray. This helps keep it off.

How to Make Garlic Pesticide

When it comes to garlic used as a pesticide, there are several ways this can be made.

A spray-based treatment is mostly used. While a garlic-only solution can be made, there are additives that you can use to make your pesticide even more potent.

One way to make a garlic pesticide includes adding crushed garlic to water.

How concentrated do you want your insecticide to be? When using for preventive treatments, about 6 to 10 cloves can be added to a gallon of water.

However, when dealing with an active pest infestation, you’ll need a more concentrated garlic solution. Here, about 2 bulbs of garlic or more can be added to a half cup of water.

All you have to do is get the quantity of garlic you want to use and have it crushed.

Now, turn your hot boiling water into the crushed garlic and have it covered. For best results, allow it to sit overnight and strain the mixture before emptying the water into a spray bottle.

This prevents the likelihood of clogging. Apply as necessary over the infested area.

This process can be repeated several times until you get the desired results. This toxin-free way of pest treatment gives you the results you seek.

With this pest treatment strategy, you have a natural and effective option that helps resolve your pest issues.

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