Natural Pest Control Solutions For Your Vegetable Garden

Garden pests rampage your garden because they love finding concentrated areas of food. Unfortunately, they don't realize that your food isn't their food -- and reasoning with the bugs in your garden won't get them to leave. That doesn't mean that you have to share your food with them, though. There are several natural ways that you can rid your garden of pesky, food-munching bugs.

Garlic and Hot Pepper Spray

Strong scents are often effective in deterring garden-destroying bugs, so making plant spray using a mixture of garlic and hot peppers is a simple solution.

1. Place three garlic cloves, four cayenne peppers, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, one tablespoon of liquid Castille soap, and two cups of hot water in your blender.
2. Blend on high for several minutes.
3. Pour the mixture in a bowl, and allow it to set overnight to intensify the garlic and hot pepper smell.
4. Use a cheesecloth to strain the liquid into a glass jar, and toss the solid part of your mixture in the trash. The liquid spray can be stored in a glass jar with a lid on it until you're ready to use it.

To use your garlic and hot pepper spray:

1. Fill a 16-ounce spray bottle with warm water.
2. Place two tablespoons of the garlic and hot pepper spray into the spray bottle.
3. Shake the bottle to combine the garlic and hot pepper spray with the water.
4. Spray directly on your plants.

Combination Planting

When you plant specific plants together in order to help specific plants thrive and deter garden pests, it's called combination planting. A few good examples, include:

• Plant garlic bulbs, onions, tobacco, fish, or rhubarb throughout your garden to deter pests. Many insects don't like strong scents.
• Plant aromatic plants, such as celery, onion, mint, or dill to keep pests away from cabbage.
• Plant onions throughout your garden to deter pests. They are especially helpful in keeping pests away from tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries, cabbage, peppers, and cucumbers. Radishes can also be planted throughout your garden to deter pests -- plant them under cucumbers to deter cucumber beetles.

Row Covers

Row covers are lightweight sheets of fabric that are used to cover plants without smothering them. They are often used to protect garden plants from squirrels, rabbits, birds, caterpillars, and above-ground insects. Because sunlight can shine through row covers, you can keep your plants covered throughout their growth cycle if you want. Alternatively, you can cover your plants while they are young, and keep them covered until they mature -- when their stems harden.

Getting rid of garden pests naturally doesn't have to be difficult. Once you discover which natural pest deterrents work for your garden, all you have to do is repeat the process. If you don't want to make organic pest sprays at home, visit your local pest control supply store, such as ASE Pest & Weed Supplies.