Natural Pesticide From Local Plants

How do you keep your vegetables in your organic garden pest-free? Let me tell you, it is impossible to have no damage in your vegetables. However, I can share with you a cheap, fun and effective method to deter those mean insects that come your food’s way.

Firstly, see and observe the surroundings around you. Observe what leaves, flowers, roots and fruits do not get touched at all by any insects. When you found a plant like that, it most probably that the plants contain a natural chemical that insects do not like.

Some local plants that can be used to make natural pesticide are ginger (jahe), galangal (lengkuas), kencur, kunyit (turmeric), temulawak, temugiring, lemongrass (sereh wangi), shallots (bawang merah), garlic (bawang putih), mindi, brotowali.

All these ingredients can be found in traditional market and some grow wildly in your garden. Gather as many ingredients as possible. However, you can omit some ingredients you cannot find. Here are the steps to make the natural pesticide concentrate:

1. Blend a little of all the ingredients mentioned above with the 1 liter of used water from rice washing.
2. In a pail, mix in the blended materials with 100ml of vinegar of any kind, 100ml of 40% alcohol, 100ml of molasses and 100ml of organic liquid fertilizer.
3. Cover pail and keep it in room temperature.
4. Stir the mixture twice a day for 5 minutes for 15 days. Remove the cover once in a while to release gas from the fermentation.
5. After 15 days, leave the mixture for about 7 days before use.

Application:

1.     Add 10ml of the natural pesticide concentrate to 1 liter of water.
2.     Mix well.
3.     Spray to infected plants (recommended time of spray: late afternoon to night time)

*Source taken from: Pestisida Organik by Winarti & Redaksi Cemerlang Team