Natural Pesticides

I made some natural pesticides this week. The first is a tobacco spray and the second is a cayenne pepper spray. I'm using the tobacco spray on my ornamentals and the cayenne spray on my produce.

I picked a large colander full of plums yesterday evening and when I blanched them several worms started popping out, so I decided this morning to get up at the crack of dawn so I could go spray the green plums with the pepper spray. I sprayed them a little yesterday after I made a bottle of it, didn't wear protective gear and my face and arms burned the rest of the day. So this morning I made sure to wear some sunglasses, a dust mask and long cleaning gloves, then spray up wind. I was able to get the bottom half of the trees but not the top sadly. I do believe there are plenty of plums down low though to make several batches of plum jam.

Here are the recipes for the pesticides:

Tobacco Spray:

4 cups water
3 Tbs loose tobacco
Drop of dish soap

Cayenne Spray:

4 cups water
3 Tbs cayenne powder
Drop of dish soap

Directions:

Bring water to a boil and turn off heat. Add tobacco or cayenne and let steep about 5-10 minutes. Strain mixutre, then pour water into a spray bottle with the drop of dish soap. Shake and use.

*Note: To strain I use a small colander and line it with a coffee filter, place over the top of a pitcher, then pour from the pitcher into the bottle. This is the same method I use for making iced tea since I use loose leaf tea.

This is very similar to the colander I use: http://www.centralchef.com/storefrontprofiles/processfeed.aspx?sfid=123094&i=185237786&mpid=7714&dfid=1