Gardening: Try These Grasshopper Deterrents

We’ve been noticing a lot of grasshoppers at our place in Cozy Corner. Most of them are small right now. But soon they will grow along with their appetites for the delicious veggies we are trying to grow in the garden.

A few years ago I used a product called Nolo Bait to manage the grasshopper problem. It worked quite well. Nolo Bait is a biological insecticide that employs a microbe called Nosema locustae. This microbe infects grasshoppers and crickets, causing them to become sick and die. This pathogen does not affect any other insects, other animals or your plants. Unfortunately, Nolo Bait has become so popular that it’s nearly impossible to find in stock anywhere.

My wife, Janessa, came up with another possible solution – garlic-pepper spray. This homemade insecticide has been used for years by organic gardeners. Howard Garrett, one of Texas’s most preeminent organic gardening experts, highly recommend this home remedy.

For some reason, I have never tried it until now.

The sulfur compounds in garlic interfere with the sensory organs of many insects. It can even kill some insects. Mostly, though, it confuses the bugs so much that they stay away from anything you spray with it. The sulfur compounds in garlic also act as a fungicide. Garlic sprays can be used to treat powdery mildew.

Capsaicin, the chemical in peppers that makes them hot, is effective at controlling aphids. It also repels mammal pests such as rodents and deer. You will want to use the hottest peppers available such as habaneros, cayenne, tabasco, or chiltepins. I don’t think jalapeños are hot enough, especially the wimpy ones they sell at most grocery stores. Serrano peppers will probably work, though.

So how do you make it? Janessa used this recipe:

2-3 whole bulbs of garlic

1 quart of water

2 large sprigs of mint (we used spearmint from our garden)

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

2-3 drops of Dawn dish soap

First, liquify the garlic and spearmint in the water using a blender. Don’t worry about peeling the garlic. You’ll strain out the solids later. Janessa used ground cayenne pepper, but you can use also whole peppers and blend them with the garlic and spearmint.

Next, bring the mixture to a boil in a pot on a stove top. Allow it to cool.

Use a cheesecloth or some other filter to strain all the solids from the liquid. This is very important. We ended up straining it a couple of times because it kept clogging up the filter in my pump-up sprayer.

Pour the liquid into a pumpup sprayer or spray bottle. Add a few drops of Dawn dish soap and shake to mix.

Now you can spray your plants. Be sure to spray not only the leaves but the stems, too. Also be sure to spray the underside of leaves.

Beware that this mixture will kill or repel beneficial insects as well as pests. I would refrain from spraying when bees are actively feeding. I sprayed our entire garden with the mixture on Tuesday and I could see the results right away. I saw hundreds of tiny grasshoppers and other bugs escaping for dear life when I sprayed the garden. It certainly appears to repel insects.

Be sure to spray downwind from yourself. The hot pepper in this mixture will burn your eyes. I found out the hard way.

Of course, this mixture will not stick around on your plants very long. Rain will wash it off, and the pepper and garlic will fade after a few days even if it doesn’t rain. I’m aiming to use this mix about once a week while the bugs are really bad.

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. You can reach me at andy@fayettecountyrecord.com.