Garlic alcohol: here’s how to make a natural insecticide

Garlic alcohol is a natural plant insecticide you can easily make at home with just a few ingredients. With this organic product, you can fight the harmful insects and parasites that threaten the health of your plants, without using chemical substances. Following, you will find the garlic alcohol recipe and some advices on how to use it.

What is garlic alcohol

As mentioned above, this is a 100% natural product, with no chemical components. This pesticide has a repellent action against most of the plant insects, but it is harmless to pets.

It is important to take care of what we grow, whether it is a vegetable garden which provides fruits and vegetables, a garden or just a few plants on our balcony.  Garlic alcohol is an eco-friendly, low cost insecticide, since it is made only of ingredients you can easily find at the supermarket.

Snails, ants, scale insects, worms, aphids and stink bugsdo not endure the repellent effect of garlic. This natural pesticide is particularly efficient against phytophagous insects (those which feed on leaves and other parts of plants).

How to make garlic alcohol

The recipe for this product is very simple: it only requires a few ingredients. For 1 litre of insecticide, you need 5/6 cloves of garlic, half a liter of water, half a liter of rubbing alcohol, a few drops of dish soap or a piece of grated Marseille soap.

Soak the peeled garlic cloves in a closed container with the alcohol, and let rest for a day, stirring occasionally. After 24 hours, add the water and the soap and stir again carefully to mix everything.

Put this solution in a spray bottle. It is not necessary to store your garlic alcohol in the fridge: if you keep it in a cool place and away from the sunlight, you can use it for several months.

How to use garlic alcohol

To better use its repellent properties, spray this product directly on the leaves and on the branches of your plants. The soap will help the solution to adhere to the surface of the leaves, while the alcohol will increase the garlic effect.

This pesticide ingredients do not harm plants. Just avoid contact with your eyes, since this product stings.

Photo source: https://pixabay.com/it/aglio-spicchi-d-aglio-cucina-545223/