Getting Rid of Pests With Lemons

General Garden

• Oregon State University's extension program suggests adding lemon juice to other household ingredients to repel garden pests. Aphids, spider mites, earwigs and pillbugs represent a few of the flying and crawling insects that damage flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees. Vegetable oil or dishwashing soap help homemade repellent ingredients such as lemon juice adhere to the plant. Use about 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil or liquid soap to 1 cup warm water, mixing in the juice of one lemon. Add the liquid to a clean spray bottle before spraying the mixture on plant foliage.

Indoor Moths

• Moth larvae damage clothing by eating holes through wool and other stored fabrics. Often you won’t know you have moths until you find the tell-tale holes. Make lemon peel and herb sachets to place in closets, drawers and storage bins. Combine dried lemon peel and cinnamon with dried mint, sage and rosemary. Stuff these ingredients into cheesecloth squares or decorative fabric and cinch it with rubber bands or ribbon.

Large Pests

• Whether it’s your own or a neighbor’s cat, the last thing you want is for your edible or ornamental garden to turn into a litter box. Vegetable and fruit gardens are an especially dangerous place to host cat prowling and depositing waste, because feline fecal matter contains potentially dangerous pathogens. Because cats are repelled by the smell of citrus, thwart their prowling by scattering small pieces of fresh or dried lemon rind throughout your garden.

Organisms

• Tiny organisms contribute to the decay of plants, notes the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. To discourage the proliferation of wilt-causing bacteria on cut flowers, combine 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of sugar and one-quarter teaspoon of bleach in 1 quart of warm water. Pour the solution in a single bucket to transport cut flowers for sale, or divide it among vases when displaying flowers at home. Place the flowers in this solution, and add a small amount of bleach every 4 days.