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Recipe 1: Baking Soda and Liquid Soap Spray
This first method uses baking soda in combination with liquid soap to create an easy-to-apply spray that will help eliminate aphids and scale insects.
Ingredients:
1 liter of water
1 tablespoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of liquid soap (preferably organic and unscented)
Instructions:
In a clean container, mix the baking soda into the water, ensuring it dissolves completely.
Add the liquid soap and stir gently to combine the ingredients.
Using a funnel, pour the mixture into a clean, 1-liter spray bottle.
Spray the solution onto the undersides of the leaves, where aphids and scale insects tend to congregate. Make sure to coat the affected areas thoroughly.
Apply the spray every other day and always after sunset. This is important because applying it during the day, especially under direct sunlight, can cause the soap to react with UV rays and potentially burn the plant’s leaves.
This solution works effectively because the soap helps the baking soda stick to the leaves, allowing the mixture to suffocate the pests and alter the pH to make the plant less appealing to them.
Recipe 2: Baking Soda and Vegetable Oil Spray
For particularly stubborn infestations or when dealing with pests that produce a protective waxy coating, such as scale insects, adding vegetable oil to the mix can increase the pesticide’s effectiveness.
Ingredients:
1 liter of water
1 tablespoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (sunflower, rapeseed, olive, etc.)
Instructions:
Mix the baking soda into the water, ensuring it is fully dissolved.
Add the vegetable oil and stir the mixture until well-combined.
Transfer the solution into a 1-liter spray bottle.
Spray the mixture on the affected areas, focusing again on the undersides of the leaves where pests often hide.
As with the first recipe, apply the spray every other day and after sunset to avoid damaging the plants under direct sunlight.
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