Tips & Ideas

A sweet and delicate scent can linger further than any perfume. A spicy, musky aroma has the potential to make the heart skip a beat. A plant’s fragrance is highly suggestive: it can reflect the coziness of charming informal space or the orderliness of a manicured garden. We’ve listed our top ten best smelling plants. Their scents will compel you to stop and breathe in beauty. Place them where they will be most appreciated: in containers by the front door, near windows where the breeze carry their scent through the house, and along walkways where they, upon being brushed by, release their natural essence. It will keep your senses inspired.

Angel’s Trumpet

Known for its aroma, Angel’s Trumpet releases its perfumed scent from its dangling blossoms at night, so its space is guaranteed to smell great in the mornings. Angel’s Trumpet is known to fill an entire apartment. The key to growing these plants are placing them where they can receive the warmest and brightest natural light. They are remarkable to look at when in bloom, showcasing its namesake of trumpet-shaped flowers that cascading down from the plant. 

Jasmine

These beautiful vines with delicate white flowers grow beautifully in the south. It should be noted that not all Jasmine plants have fragrant flowers. Be sure to select the Jasminum Polyanthum plant, whose flowers give off a wonderfully sweet scent in the evenings – you’ll feel like you’re in the tropics! Growing Jasmine will bring you the intensity of its fragrance. They typically flower from spring to fall, and may even bloom in winter if provided with enough warmth and sun. 

Geranium

The Geranium scent is expressive of lemon, lime, rose, and even nutmeg. Like Jasmine, there are Geranium plants with no smell, however, Geranium plants are well-known for having a deliciously overwhelming aroma. When you brush their leaves or touch them, the plant quickly releases a burst of aroma. 

Honeysuckle

The Honeysuckle is a vining plant with unconventionally-shaped flowers. Their flowers are trumpet-shaped, with narrow petals. As a twining climber, Honeysuckle can grow up to 30 feet with the sight support. It grows well in sun or partial shade. Its aroma is sweet and floral, and its flowers also hold potential health benefits! 

Rose

Roses are perhaps the most popular of the scented flowers. Their fragrance offers a mysterious, evocative, and romantic experience. Their lush blooms are so eye-catching that they can be poised as a single stem or indulged as a magnificent bouquet. 

Plumeria

Plumeria is a tropical plant grown for its beautiful fragrance and lovely flowers. Plumeria flowers are commonly used in the making of Hawaiian leis. They are very fragrant and bloom freely from the spring to the fall. They come in various colors: white, yellow, pink, red. While they are typically found growing outside in tropical climates, they can also thrive indoors. With the right care, Plumeria plants can keep blooming year after year. 

Peony

Peonies are large, fragrant flowers that smell as pretty as they look. Peonies have varying hints of rose and citrus. They grow delightfully in gardens for years. They need plenty of suns, and will not flower if they are planted in the shade. 

Gardenia

Another well-known flower with a heavily fragrant scent is the Gardenia. They grow white blossoms that are nestled among dark, glossy leaves. Gardenias are longtime favorites since they adapt to various garden styles like cottage designs or tropical landscapes. The creamy, satiny flowers grow in dozens during the spring. Some species require bright light and high humidity, however, there are other classifications of Gardenia that can go with less care and maintenance. 

Phlox

Phlox is a garden mainstay known to be a colorful and prolific bloomer that performs from late spring to early fall. Their sweet flowers typically bloom from July through September, but some cultivars have been bred to thrive earlier or later. They are versatile plants since they are also high cover crops. Tall Phlox is excellent as a backdrop, and medium-height varieties work great to fill gaps. 

Mandevilla

Mandevilla is also known as Rocktrumpet. It is a tropical, fast growing evergreen shrub-like vine that produces waxy blooms from spring until frost. It has become a common patio place since it’s brilliant flowers add a bright and festive flair to its surroundings. They vary in scent, with some varieties smelling like intense Gardenia or even cotton candy in the warmth. Since the Mandevilla’s big, showy blooms continue all summer and require little maintenance, it is a top choice vine. 

Fragrant plants enliven your space and bring a gratifyingly sensual existence to your decor. With this list of beautiful smelling plants, you’ll be enjoying their beauty and benefits from the comfort of home! 

Like most succulent obsessed people, I hate to bring beautiful succulents home and have them die within a few weeks. So let us discuss 10 reasons why your succulents are dying and how you can save them. Believe it or not, with a few fixes you can enjoy them for years to come.

     Succulents can be found in just about any garden center, big box store, and even the glossary. These plants are easy to care for, but sometimes they may not look so healthy even when they are very green. Here are a few tips to help keep your succulents healthy.

1. You Are Giving Them Too Much Water.

Unlike other household plants, succulents don’t need to be watered frequently; they enjoy very little water with well-drained soil. The soil should feel moist and fresh but never saturated or muddy. You might want to mist the soil instead of feeding directly.

  It is understandable you want your succulents to grow, so you tend to water them often, but this is the primary reason why they are dying. Too much water can cause root rot, development of disease and over roll stunted growth of your plant Take a step back.

2. The Planting Container Is Too Small.

When you find a cute teacup that you want to grow your succulent in, make sure that it is twice as deep as the roots of the succulent, and the width is three times bigger, to ensure the plant has room enough to spread out. Spreading out your succulents also reduces pest infestation and depletion of soil nutrients in one area.

3. The Planting Container Doesn’t Provide Drainage

People are drawn to planting succulents into cute containers without considering drainage. Make sure to have holes around the container. You can include a net around the holes to restrain the earth from being eroded. Succulents, unlike other household plants, require sandy soil, the more the drainage of the soil the better for your succulents’ healthy growth. Using soil with poor water retention means that there is not enough oxygen in the soil. It restrains the plant from having proper aeration which will defiantly cause your lovely succulents to suffocate.

4. Your Succulents Aren’t Warm Enough

Succulents love warm weather so keep them in a warm space not out in the cold. They are naturally meant to be in dry and hot environments. A cold environment can cause the leaves to be flaccid which is a sigh of a dying succulent is. Always check the temperature of your succulents to make sure that it is optimum for favorable growth; otherwise you will have dying succulents.

5. Your Soil Isn’t Nutrient rich

Succulents love a nutrient-rich soil; you can add fertilizer which has been diluted to ¼ strength into the water, for each watering during the growing season.

6. You Choose The Wrong Color

Although a rainbow of colors seems like fun, you should stick to streamline green plants if you’re new to succulent growing. Bright green plants are easy to grow compared to a variety of colors that require being in their habitat that is out in the heat.

7. You Need To Transplant Them

To avoid your succulent dying due to getting crumbled in its own roots, you have to transplant it into a larger container. A small container can be contributing to your succulent dying by not allowing growing space of the roots which can lead to stunted growth.

8. They Are Too Compacted

Another reason your succulents are dying is that they are smothering each other, your succulents need space between them to allow them to grow freely and naturally feel the planter. When your plants are not evenly spaced some of the plants do not get adequate sunlight which can cause etiolating.

9. Your Succulents Are Too Cold

A common reason for succulent death has to do with keeping them in a cold environment. Succulents are natively arid plants designed to thrive under hot and dry environments. When you put them under a shade where they are not exposed to sunlight you are causing your beautiful succulents to die.

10. Pests

We all have that sunken feeling when we see pests on our plants. A number of factors contribute to pests on your succulents but they are factors you can avoid, ensuring that you drain all stagnated water and good plant hygiene which involves cleaning up the plant environment from rotting leaves, and another decaying matter is very crucial plus ensuring you use clean water when watering is a sure way to keeping your plant pest free.

 However, if your plant is still infested with pest despite your efforts, relax it’s not the end. The presence of these pests is not a guarantee of your succulents dying; we have written a guide about how you can deal with them.

  Some pests such as mealy bugs or spider mites can be rinsed off, just ensure you cover the dirt to prevent washing away the dust. You can use flypaper to kill fungus adults that lay eggs in the soil and end up damaging the roots. Although the scale is harder to deal with covering the entire plan with a dilute alcohol solution will remedy the problem. You can also use a more natural remedy that is, Neem oil, a general cure for all kinds of plant pests.

If you have limited garden space, and you want to grow plants or herbs for either their beauty or food, a DIY tower garden is for you. It can go from simple planter ports stacked vertically to intricate designs that can support more abundant food and flower plants. Here are some ideas that will get you started.

1. PVC Pipe Tower

It is perfect for small space design. Here is a phased guide.

• Select 2 PVC pipes of 4 inches in diameter and length.

• Use a drill with cutting attachment to make a hole on the tubes

• Use smaller 1-inch pipes to support larger pipes.

• Secure it upright in the ground or against the fence.

2. Terra Cotta Vertical Planter

Attractive, simple and easy to create different 5 Tera cotta planter, a rod and polling soil are all you need.

• Five terra cotta planters in incremental sizes from 14 inch to 6 inches.

• Long rod to spam the height of the stacked planters.

• Build in a permanent location, will be heavy we done

• Fill the larger planter with potting soil and insert the rod at the center, slide it through the underlying planters to the top of the ground in the first planter.

• Fill the second planter with plotting soil and continue filling and stacking.

• Plant desired seeds or plants in the exposed soil of each planter.

3. Pyramid Tower Garden

Ideal for germinating seeds or growing strawberry plants. Use these free plans for building a lifelong DIY pyramid wood tower.

4. Strawberry tower

Perfect for growing strawberry and similar running vine, with a hidden reservoir that keeps the plants hydrated. Below are simple stapes to build it.

 • Use 5-gallon planter

 • One ¼ inch holes drainage holes on the bottom and around the sides for plants to grow through.

• Insert a bottomless water bottle upside down in the planter drainage hole, then fill the remaining space of the top with potting soil, this is the reservoir.

• Plant strawberry plants in the side holes and exposes soil on top of each container.

5. Spiral Herb Garden

Downsized herb growth in this sizeable spiral garden, all you need is a 6-foot space.

6. Trash Can Tower

Know how to transform a 15 or 55 gallon round trash can, into a productive plant tower that can be used on a porch, rooftop, patio or the landscape from this YouTube video.

7. Aeroponics Growing Tower

This YouTube video walks you through a complete DIY process of transforming a 55-gallon food grade plastic barrel and some PVC pipe elbows to create this aeronautics growing tower that can support vast vegetable plants.

8. Sweet Potato Garden

Dig a tasty harvest of fresh sweet potatoes by discovering how fun and straightforward growing sweet potatoes can be in a potato tower by following this YouTube video.

9. Miniponics Vertical Garden

Make any sunny location inside your home an exciting addition and grow plant and fish in this attractive miniponic vertical garden.

10. Recycle Bottle Tower Garden

Discover how to turn various bottles and buckets into a tower garden from this DIY vertical garden.

11. Herb Tower

Plenty of growing space for a variety of herbs from this idea of a herb tower with long-lasting cedar wood.

12. Garden Tower Under $10

An economical, functional and beautiful tower that you can create under $10 .

13. Stacked Tower

This beautiful stacked planter garden tower will amaze e guest at your front.

14. Flower Tower

End up with this lush flower from a little fence wire, potting soil, and flower under an hour.

15. Hooded Tower Garden with Glow Lights

For those willing to spend some money on quality and efficiency on a homestead, this is a great option.

16. Pallet Vertical Garden

Get a variety of edible herbs and flowers from recycled pallet wood. Check out these fantastic pallet garden ideas.

17. Rain Tower Garden

A straightforward and spacious idea of vertical gardening.

18. Petunia Flower Tower

Make a stunning Petunia Flower with a wire fence.

19. Mini Aquaponics Tower Garden

This Aquaponics Tower Garden allows you to have a mini fish and plant farm in your living room but also s fantastic outdoor idea work if you keep the principles of aquaponics.

20. Stacked Square Foot Garden

This square foot garden will keep your plants organized and save space.

21. Half Pint Homestead Garden Tower Barrel Construction

Scrape garden barrel has to compost warms for the acceleration of herb and food growth in a limited space.

22. DIY Onion Tower

Onions are a staple ingredient you cannot do without; grow onions on your windows with onion towers. Enjoy recycling plastic bottles to make towers.

23. Grow Potato Tower In A Wire Cage

If you have good soil, this idea will work great. Here are quick steps on how to make it.

       • Cut 3 deep wire fence and blend the ends to make a circle.

       • Fill with grass or hay

       • Push the hay to the side and fill the center with good soil mixed with compost and worm casting

       • Place some seedlings or seeds right in the top

       • Cover the top with a garbage can to protect it from frost

       • Cover top and sides with tulle to protect plants from pets

24. Composting Garden Tower

Most homesteaders love this gardening innovation on a tower planter which also works as a composer. Finally, an excellent way for you to dispose of the kitchen scraps.

25. Bean Pole Teepee

Take care of your family and garden with this exciting project of a playhouse, Plant climbing flower or vegetables once the children are done with it.

Perhaps you have a hankering for fresh herbs for your homemade food dishes? Unfortunately, you might live where there isn’t enough room for a traditional garden. Let that stop you no longer!

To have succulent fresh herbs hanging gently on your walls giving you easy access can be a dream come true, plus it’s simple, affordable, and they will look so stylish that you’ll be wishing you’d done it before now.

Vertical, wall hung herb gardens don’t just look spectacular with your decor; they also have many benefits.

Space saving

Easily accessible

Make an attractive natural decor

Inexpensive

They smell wonderful

Taste better than  store-bought

By tapping into your creativity, you could even make a gravity-fed watering system that will use all of the water fed through it keeping your herb garden moist and plentiful. Here are 35 great ideas for creating your vertical wall herb garden.

1.  Mounted Mason Jars

Glass mason jars are the best choice, not plastic ones. Try pairing them with an old piece of old barn wood or pallet wood for a cute little herb garden for the kitchen.

2. Wall Box

Mount a box on your wall to keep fresh herbs within your grasp.

3. Pocket Shoe Garden

One of those shoe organizers that hang on the back or front of any door. The pockets are perfect for your fresh herb garden. On a side note, your shoes may finally get organized!

4. Herb Wall

Look around your house, do you see an empty wall? Alternatively, one that is just sitting there dividing rooms? Give it an overhaul by hanging little terra cotta pots on it and planting your fresh herb garden.

5. Curtain Rods

This one already sits in an optimal place for growing, in your kitchen window, providing natural light. Perfection indeed with easy cooking access!

6. Rustic

Rustic furniture and decor give you that ‘at home’ feeling. Wooden pallets make excellent three-tiered planters for your herb garden.

7. Food Cart Hack

Maybe you have a food cart in your pantry? Roll it out and transform it into your fresh herb garden. Works wonderfully for ladies night because you can have that fresh mint handy so that you and the ladies can imbibe on freshly made mojitos!

8. Recycled Bottles

Turn your used plastic bottles into herb gardens. Here you can create a self-watering garden where the first bottles drain into the bottom ones, watering made easy! How’s that for functional use?

9. Framed Herb Garden

This sleek and modern method can turn an empty frame into a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, no painting needed.

10. Vertical Pallet Garden

Wooden pallets are used for many things, tables, desks, dressers, and are especially fantastic as vertical herb gardens. Plus, they’re easy to work with, and mounting doesn’t take much time. Use chalk paint for labeling and decoration.

11.DIY Shelf-Style Hanging Garden Planters

DIY projects are all the rage. They offer beauty, functionality, and they can add warmth to your decor. Create your DIY garden planter and add terra cotta pots or recycled bottles to your new shelf for planting. One type of DIY planter is a three-step box-like wooden shelf that is held together by ropes, and making is useful indoors or outdoors.

12. Hanging Metal Planter

Fresh herbs will grow best when you place them in a sunny location. You can create this with a metal cone cut in half and attached to a pole by ropes on either side.

13. Painted Pots

Get yourself some containers you want to use for your herb garden and decorate them with paints to match your decor or your kitchen. This project would be fun for the kiddies to do, enlist their help, they’ll be thrilled.

14. Driftwood

Find yourself a fresh piece of driftwood and hang some little painted or non-painted pots from it for planting your herbs.

15. Galvanized Gutters

These are made to hang from the side of your house with a rope. Feel free to paint them to make them even more attractive for your herb planting.

16. Toolboxes

You can find used tool boxes at the thrift store or inexpensive ones at department stores also. Grab yourself one, two, three, however many you want for your little garden. Please give them a fresh coat of paint, add some containers, and away you go with your herb planting venture. Cautionary note: you might want to get this done before the husband decides he needs a new place for his tools!

17. Fence Boards

Maybe you have an old privacy or garden fence just laying around in pieces? Grab some of those wooden slats and create your herb garden. You probably need a hammer and some nails to turn them in rectangular boxes, perfect for your herbs.

18. Modern and Space Saving

If you have a tiny porch or balcony, try using small banana boxes, shoe boxes, small plastic totes, or another container to plant your herb garden.

19. Hex Wire Wall

This planter can be created by turning hexagon wire netting into a fresh herb garden. With a little imagination, you can make this work for your needs.

20. Buckets on Your Wall

Most people have metal buckets of different shapes and sizes laying around the house or yard. Why not put them to use? Aged metal buckets and even metal lunch pails can be recycled into neat little containers to plant your herbs. If you’re looking for new instead of used, check your local dollar store, they often have stylish buckets you can purchase that won’t break your budget.

21. Wall Mounted Herb Garden

Those extra pieces left over from your last DIY project can come in handy in creating your unique wall mounted herb garden. Tap into your imagination and creativity to see what you can come up.

22. Minimalist Design

This design uses a window sill as a planting location or a flower box. Plant herbs in the flower box instead of flowers, and use small containers on your window sills for your indoor herb garden.

23. Small Cups

Build yourself a wooden shelf or purchase one for your wall. Then add small cups, coffee mugs, even red solo cups to create your fresh herb garden.

24. Ammo Cans

If you happen to be a geocacher, you probably have one of these already. Otherwise, you can find them at army surplus stores as well as thrift shops for reasonably low prices, and they come in several different sizes.

25. Nautical

Even if you don’t have a cottage on the water, used dock cleats make great herb garden planters. Go a little further and decorate them with nautical themes.

26. Self-Watering Jars

Colorful Mason jars are excellent to use for this method. Stick them on your counter or build them a decorative shelf. They’re eye-catching and self-watering, easy peasy! Your herb garden will be the talk of the town.

27. Crates, Crates, Crates

Did we mention crates? Add your beautiful herb garden to wooden boxes in whatever manner you wish.

28. Painted Plastic

Recycled plastic bottles again, but this time you and your kids can decorate them in some fun, pretty designs that will make your herb garden a one-of-a-kind success. You could even paint them to blend in with your walls and make them self-watering!

29. DIY Basket Hanging Herb Garden

Did you kill one of your hanging plants? Don’t let the container go to waste; turn it into space for your herb garden. You could even build a basket out of extra craft materials you may have to lay around. If all else fails, visit your local discount store and see what they have.

30. Macrame Wall Hanging

Small, medium, or large, the choice is yours. Ask the employees at your local home and garden store for such a wall hanging. Remember to continuously water your garden to keep it looking beautiful when using this method, but it’s worth it in the long run.

31. Copper Rack Hanging Gardens

Just what it says, a copper rack turned into a hanging herb garden. These racks can give your kitchen the oomph you’ve been looking for, and your herb garden will look splendid!

32. Makedo Hanging Herb Garden

Never heard of a makedo hanging herb garden? Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated and consists of yogurt containers and can be placed anywhere in your home. Look it up online to see how to decorate with these containers. You will also need string or other material for hanging.

33. Indoor Herb Garden

No need to plant your herbs outside any longer, especially if you don’t have the room. You can grow indoor herb gardens all year round and no worries about climate changes. Plant an indoor herb garden for easy access to fresh herbs and the aroma they will fill your home.

34. Custom Potted Hanging Herb Garden DIY

If you want to make something unique to keep kids or pets away from your garden, consider creating an herb garden that hangs from your ceiling. Research this DIY project and see what designs you can come up.

35. Crooked Pot Herb Garden

Create your twisted pot herb garden to sit on a wall shelf, kitchen counter, kitchen table, the ideas are endless! Put your creativity and imagination to use in planting your fresh herb garden indoors.

Make an impression on your friends and family with some of these vertical herb garden ideas. Not much compares to having fresh herbs available to you all of the time, and any of the items listed here could help you in your planting endeavors. Enjoy!

Clematis is a favorite plant that can vary quite considerably in terms of color and form. There are several different classes of clematis, and it is essential to know which one you have so it can be cared for correctly.

How Will I Know Which Variety I Have?

If you have been given a clematis but have no information about it, then the first thing to find out is what class it is. Different types have different levels of growth from which they start to bloom. Class 1 will bloom on old wood whereas Class 3 blooms will be on the new wood. If you prune the wrong area, then you will not get any fresh flowers growing. Class 2 bloom twice a year, once on old wood and once on new. If you are not sure which variety you have, then you may have to wait until it blooms so that you can see where the flowers are growing.

Varieties Of Clematis By Form

Gardeners will be most familiar with the climbing vines of the clematis, but they can also grow as bushes and shrubs, such as Mongolian Snowflakes. The height that these types of the plant will grow to will depend on the species. You can also get trailing clematis that will produce stems that grow along the surface of the floor, and Mongolian Gold is an excellent example of this.

The following information may be useful in identifying the type of clematis that you have in your garden.

Group One – Spring Bloomers

You don’t need to prune these types of flowers unless space becomes limited. If the wood is old or dying, then it can be removed after the bloom has finished. You can find some examples of this type of flower below.

1. Clematis Montana

This flowers for a period of about four weeks and the flowers are small and white with four petals. It is a climbing plant that usually blooms in late spring.

2. Clematis Aplina

A very fragrant flower which blooms early in the spring. The leafage of the plant is evergreen, and so it will look great in your garden the whole year round.

3. Clematis Armandii

A very fragrant flower which blooms early in the spring. The leafage of the plant is evergreen, and so it will look great in your garden the whole year round.

Group Two – Large Flowered Hybrids

These flowers will begin to bloom in June. You need to prune them when the wood becomes old and is not productive anymore. You can cut it down until there are just a few strong buds left and it will continue to bloom with no problems in the next season. The following plants are examples of this type of plant.

1. Bees Jubilee

2. Nelly Mosser

It produces pink and mauve flowers that have petals 8cm in diameter. If you keep in the shade rather than the sun, the flowers will last longer. It blooms twice a year. The first bloom in May and June will be the most proficient, but there will be another bloom in August.

3. Ramona

This type of plant has been popular since the 1800s and produces blue periwinkle flowers. The blossoms can reach 7″ in diameter. It will start to bloom at the start of the summer and may bloom again in the autumn.

Group Three – Late Flowering Species

This group will not bloom until after June, and they will need to be cut right back every winter if you want them to thrive the following year again. There are many different species of this type of plant and some of these can you found below.

1. Clematis Viticella

It is a very tough plant that can survive freezing temperatures. They generally grow in trees and bushes and can thrive in places where other plants would struggle to build. They can also develop in pots as long as they are large enough.

2. Clematis Texsensis

The plant will produce hundreds of flowers when it blooms. They flower late in the year but can change the whole appearance of your garden. Not only are they very colorful but they all grow in different directions which can create something that looks unique.

3. Hagley Hybrid

If you only have a small garden, then this plant is an excellent choice because it doesn’t take up too much room. It will need to be pruned right back in February so that it can bloom to its full potential from May until September. It is also an excellent choice to grow against a fence.

If you are still unable to identify the variety of clematis that you have, then you may be able to find help online. There are online gardening communities with very knowledgeable members. If you post a photo online, then someone should be able to tell you what plant it is.

Now it seems strange that people who prefer to grow organic products would want to use organic insecticides to protect their vegetable crops. Some of the insecticides in this list will merely deter insects and other pests from consuming vegetables while others could prove to be fatal. These insecticides will help you to keep the pests at bay.

1. Oil Spray

A simple oil spray will deal with sap-sucking insects, those annoying aphids for instance. Create a do it yourself insecticide spray by adding 1 tablespoon of dish soap to a cup of cooking oil (it works best if it is taken from a newly opened bottle). To use mix four teaspoons of the concentrate with a pint of water.

The concentrate you can store for relatively long periods, and just add water to it when it needs to be used.

2. Baby Shampoo Spray

Despite being gentle to people, the baby shampoo contains things that insects are not partial.

To prepare the spray put two tablespoons of the shampoo into a gallon of water. Do not use the spray in sunlight. Apply the spray thoroughly over all the vegetables and leave it for a few hours before using a hose to wash it off.

3. Use Garlic Spray

Some insects are put off by a strong smell of garlic. Take 10 to 12 cloves of garlic, and a quart of water then mix it up in a blender. Allow the mix to settle for 24 hours then add a cup of cooking oil to it. When you need to spray mix 1/2 cup of the concentrate into a gallon of water. If the mix is not strong enough, you can add a tablespoon of cayenne pepper and blend it into the concentrate. It will need to stand for a further 24 hours before you can use it.

4. Red Pepper Spray

Red pepper powder can be a central part of an effective homemade insecticide spray. Take a tablespoon of red pepper powder, six drops of dish soap and add to a gallon of water. Apply the spray once a week until the insects have gone away.

5. Citrus Oil and Cayenne Pepper

This insecticide can be particularly useful when used against ants.
Add 10 drops of citrus oil, a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a cup of warm water then spray the plants.

6. Tobacco Spray

Insects do not like tobacco, it is poison to them. It was widely used as an insecticide before chemical formulas became widely used. To make the spray add a cup of organic tobacco into a gallon of water and allow it to settle for a day. Use it as a spray once it has gone light brown (if it is still dark add more water).

7. Use insecticide soap to wash plants

This type of soap based insecticide is most effective when used against soft-bodied insects like aphids and mealybugs. The premade sprays are better than homemade versions as they are safer to use on plants. Overall these sprays are mostly safe for plants though they may burn peas.

8. Set some traps

There are two types of trap you can try to protect your vegetables or fruits. For best results put the traps in a fruit tree, as insects find it difficult to resist fruit. Ask a local plant store for advice.

9. Bacillus thuriengesis (Bt)

This insecticide kills the larvae of both butterflies and moths. It is best to use it exclusively against the worms of the Lepidoptera family. Bt is a highly effective insecticide yet it kills all forms of larvae so do not it use in areas or on plants frequented by butterflies and moths that do not eat your vegetables.

10. Use iron phosphate against slugs

There is nothing as effective at stopping slugs than iron phosphate. The pellets contain a substance that attracts slugs and snails. Once eaten the iron phosphate is deadly to slugs and snails but nothing else.

11. Neem oil works

Neem oil is extracted from the tropical Japanese Neem tree, and the oil deters insects from eating and mating. The oil is natural, organic and non-toxic to plants, people and pets. Just about the ideal non-lethal insecticide.

12. Chrysanthemum Flower Tea

These plants contain pyrethrum, and that makes insects immobile. To make your own spray boil 100 grams of dried flowers, put in a liter of water then boil for 20 minutes. Strain the mix then strain before putting a spray bottle. The mix will last up to two months. For an extra kick, you can add Neem oil.

13. Salt those snails

Snails do not like salt; it dries them out and is fatal. It works in an instant. If it is a choice between cabbages and snails, then the snails get sprinkled with salt.

14. Use Spinosad

This bacteria was discovered in Jamaica and allowed sugar cane to grow before being used to make rum. It kills chewing insects so spray when you know bees are not around.

15. Add floating row covers

This concept is simple, place a cover over all your plants so that insects cannot crawl or fly on to them. Insects cannot get through the cover yet light and water can, so the plants get enough nutrients to continue growing. The covers can even protect plants from ground frost as well.