

Add 1 TB dish soap and 10-15 drops of peppermint oil. Add 10-15 drops of peppermint essential oil and mix.įill a spray bottle with water. Peppermint Garden Bug Repellent Recipeįill a spray bottle with water. Essential oils can actually deteriorate plastics over time. When working with essential oils, the best choice for container is glass. Dishwasher detergent won’t help your bug problem and may actually kill your plants instead.Īgain, remember to spot test your plants to ensure they don’t react negatively to the spray. It’s a key ingredient in my favorite DIY ant spray too!īe sure to use dishwashing liquid and NOT dishwasher detergent, which is completely different formulation. The dish soap penetrates insects’ exoskeleton and kills ’em dead. In this case, I added 1 Tablespoon of dish soap to my spray bottle, along with the water and peppermint. I also needed to get rid of the bugs that were already there. You’ll need something a little stronger! For example, my pea plants that were covered in aphids were past the repellent stage. (Remember to spot test first!) If Your Plants are Already Infested… I apply every month or so (or after a drenching rain) to keep potential insect pests away from my garden.įor this method, simply fill a spray bottle with water and add 10-15 drops of peppermint essential oil. I’ll show you two different recipes and you can chose the one that works best for your needs: If You Just Want to Repel Potential Pests… Dish Soap (optional – if needing to stop an infestation).You only need a couple simple ingredients to make this natural garden pest repellent. Note: We’ve included shop-able ad links to products we love and use read our disclosure policy here. Diluted peppermint oil is safe for most plants, but you always want to make sure first. Diluting with water allows you to make enough spray to apply to your entire garden, or the plants that need help.Īs with any pesticide, natural or otherwise, it’s important to spot test before applying to the entire plants. Peppermint oil has a strong fragrance, so you really only need a few drops. It’s usually not advised to apply directly to human skin, so it makes sense that you wouldn’t want to apply directly to plants either.Īlso, diluting helps a little bit of peppermint oil go a long way. Pure peppermint essential oil is quite strong, so you don’t want to risk damaging plants. You’ll want to dilute peppermint oil before you apply to plants. It makes a wonderful natural deterrent if you’re looking to avoid pesticides.Īn interesting fact I learned while researching my peppermint bug spray is that stick bugs use a peppermint odor to repel predators! They’re already onto the peppermint repellent trick! Is Peppermint Oil Safe to Use on Plants? Peppermint has a strong odor that most insects will avoid.

Peppermint oil is a gardener’s best friend! That’s because most bugs HATE peppermint!

That’s when I knew it was time for some of my trusty peppermint oil spray! Why Do Bugs Hate Peppermint? I tried both of those methods, but the aphids continued to thrive.

Some of the recommendations for getting rid of aphids include spraying them with water or smashing them by hand. Last year’s pea crop had no issues, but unfortunately this year the aphids discovered them! And if you’ve ever dealt with aphids, you know that they multiply rapidly and can quickly overwhelm your crops.
Peppermint oil for bugs outside full#
My garden was in full bloom a few weeks ago when I noticed them…tiny green specks on my pea plants. All you need are two simple ingredients! This is my go-to bug repellent recipe when I want to avoid harsh chemical pesticides! Get rid of garden insect pests quickly and effectively with this all natural peppermint oil bug spray.
