One of the frequent complaints we hear about practicing organic farming is that it’s difficult to manage pests without the use of chemical pesticides. However, there is a home remedy that can be used to get rid of pests in your backyard garden leaving your plants healthy and toxin-free.
Below we share the ingredients and the method used when making the botanical spray in the comfort of your home. One can make quantities depending on the size of your backyard garden or the affected area.
Ingredients
- Garlic
- Chillies
- Lipia Javanika (Umsutane)
- Cooking Oil
- Onions
- Liquid soap
- Warm Water
- Bucket
Method
- Chop all the ingredients into small or medium pieces
- After chopping all of them put them in the bucket
- Mix all the ingredients inside the bucket and leave to ferment, the bucket tightly closed.
- After some days or week use the botanical and spray your organic vegetables, repeat this method after every week until you see the difference.
This type of spray is recommended for all vegetables and it is very organic and good for plants and not harmful to humans in any way. There are other home remedies through the experience of smallholder farmers which they have tried and are very effective. PELUM Eswatini will be compiling a booklet with various integrated pest management techniques and bio-pesticide recipes in the coming weeks.