Herbs as repellants?

[Shawchert]

I read on a few blogs and articles that some plants like cilantro and rosemary, even chives and catnip can be used as bug repellants. Can anyone verify this?

 

[Chuck]

I read on a few blogs and articles that some plants like cilantro and rosemary, even chives and catnip can be used as bug repellants. Can anyone verify this?

I have never had bugs on cilantro or rosemary and catnip is a known insect repellent. As far as chives go they are almost like an onion and onions don't get attacked by much of anyone except snails and slugs when there is enough rain to let them survive, but then I am a totally organic gardener and don't have much of a bug problem anyway

 

[Shawchert]

yeah I want to be organic, I don't want to have to spray some crap on something that I'm going to eat or have it seep in the soil and poison, if you will, my food. I was hoping some of these would be natural repellants as the sites said, because it would help. There have been some bugs eating my cucumbers and others eating the flowers and if I can place some of the herbs in the right spots, I think I can keep my garden bug free in any case. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Chuck]

yeah I want to be organic, I don't want to have to spray some crap on something that I'm going to eat or have it seep in the soil and poison, if you will, my food. I was hoping some of these would be natural repellants as the sites said, because it would help. There have been some bugs eating my cucumbers and others eating the flowers and if I can place some of the herbs in the right spots, I think I can keep my garden bug free in any case. Thanks a bunch!

There are two organic pesticides that are harmless to pets, people and the soil that every serious vegetable gardener should have. The first is Spinosad. This is a product made from a certain type of soil bacteria and is effective against just about everything harmful in the garden. You can safely use it right up to harvest. The next is Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis). This product is also made from a bacteria and what it does is stops a caterpillars digestive system. This product is deadly on all caterpillars especially those found on vegetables. Spinosad will also kill caterpillars but not nearly as efficiently as Bt.
Sure there are plants that discourage insects but are not 100% effective. When really infested with something like beetles or loupers you really need an effective means of quickly erradicating them

 

[Shawchert]

at this point I haven't been excruciatingly effected by insects at this moment. it really is a small garden but those I will keep in mind if things start getting bad!

 

[Sunny]

I haven't used those herbs that you mentioned either. We have been using the citronella lemon grass plants to repel insects. It's the Cymbopogon variety that we have at home since it's the one that's more abundant in our region. Besides, we can also use lemongrass leaves for roasting chicken and cooking seafood, so might as well have a pot of this insect repellent handy.

In our garden we also have the Neem tree. We bought it from a plant nursery for the main purpose of repelling insects. These plants have kept the mosquitoes at bay, particularly during their spawning season.