Natural Repellent to Keep the Bugs Off My Basil

Companion Plants

• Companion planting entails planting compatible plants together to increase nutrient content in the soil, improve flavors of fruits or vegetables and repel pests. Companion plants for basil include borage, catnip, chives, marigolds, mums, garlic and nasturtiums. When grown alongside basil, these plants repel beetles, flies, gnats, aphids and nematodes among others. Grow any of these plants in the same container as basil or nearby to act as a natural insect repellent. A bonus is that you will harvest extra herbs or flowers from your garden.

Dusts

• Dusting plants helps repel and eliminate pests from the garden. Popular dusts include garlic powder, cayenne pepper, red and black pepper, chili powder and dill. Sprinkle any of these substances onto the basil leaves to repel insects such as beetles, aphids, grubs, gnats and flies. Watering basil often washes away the dust, so a repeat dusting is needed after each watering to ensure insects are effectively repelled.

Sprays

• Natural sprays are easily concocted in the kitchen with the help of a stove and blender, and sometimes both. Citrus sprays made of the peels or flesh of citrus fruits repel beetles, aphids and gnats. Garlic sprays repel most insects and even help protect plants from disease. Hot pepper sprays also repel most insects, and they often repel birds, rodents, deer, dogs and cats. These sprays are made of the natural ingredients, and occasionally oil and/or soap, then combined with water and sprayed onto basil every few days to drive away unwanted pests.

Liquified Insects

• If a specific insect is plaguing your basil, one of the best ways to repel it is to make a liquified version of the insect and apply it to the plants. Collect as many dead insects as possible from the basil or from around it. Combine the insects with water in an old blender and pour the mixture over the plants to repel living insects of the same kind.