Garlic tea

[Chuck]

I guess by now that most gardens are in and growing, getting closer to when all those pesky insects start to show up. Why not get a little jump on them and make your plants a little disagreeable to their taste buds. Garlic tea is a good organic insect preventer and when used with extremely hot peppers like habenero a pretty good insecticide as well. Get 2 bulbs of garlic and put them in a blender about 1/2 full of water and blend them until liquified. Strain this into a gallon jug and fill the rest of the way up with water. Use about 1/4 cup of this concentrate to a gallon of water adding 1/2 oz of molasses. If you want an insecticide add 2 very hot peppers when you liquify the garlic. To make it even better add 1 oz of liquid seaweed

 

[headfullofbees]

Thanks Chuck.
I'm going to give this a try.
Won't be today, probably Tues.
My molasses has been delivered, and I'm going to get a batch of a-a compost tea on to brew later.
The only thing I'm concerned about is its effect on bees. Does it harm them or deter them for long?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks Chuck.
I'm going to give this a try.
Won't be today, probably Tues.
My molasses has been delivered, and I'm going to get a batch of a-a compost tea on to brew later.
The only thing I'm concerned about is its effect on bees. Does it harm them or deter them for long?

It won't affect the bees at all unless sprayed directly on them. What this does is coats the leaves of the plants with an extremely thin coating, kind of like wax on a car, that chewing insects find unplesant so they go to the allotment next to yours and eat those plants instead.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks Chuck.
I'm going to give this a try.
Won't be today, probably Tues.
My molasses has been delivered, and I'm going to get a batch of a-a compost tea on to brew later.
The only thing I'm concerned about is its effect on bees. Does it harm them or deter them for long?

Plain garlic tea is a deterrent but when hot peppers are added it is a good insect killer. What it does is literally burn the soft parts of an insects body. A sweet pepper will have no effect at all but a scotch bonnet or habenero will. Effectiveness depends on the level of Capsaicin in the pepper. Have you ever handled really hot peppers and forgot to wash your hands and later on in the day rubbed your eye? Well, on a bug their "skin" is much more tender than ours so I imagine what it does to them.

 

[claudine]

When I read this thread's title, I thought that you'll try to encorage us to drink garlic tea, Chuck
I must say that this method sounds really interesting! Can I use this tea on potted plants too? Will it scare away spider mites?

 

[firelily99]

Thanks for the recipe, I certainly will give it a try as soon as I can. It will be awhile before my garden is up and running but I may try it as a deer repellent.

 

[Chuck]

When I read this thread's title, I thought that you'll try to encorage us to drink garlic tea, Chuck
I must say that this method sounds really interesting! Can I use this tea on potted plants too? Will it scare away spider mites?

It is good on any plants. The garlic pepper tea will kill spider mites but is not the preferred method for dealing with them is with liquid seaweed and molasses.

 

[headfullofbees]

Have you ever handled really hot peppers and forgot to wash your hands and later on in the day rubbed your eye?

Worse than that, I've been for a pee.