Natural Baby-Insect Repellent

Rotenone, Pyrethrum and Horticultural Oils

• Most insects go through a metamorphosis process during their life cycle. Simple metamorphosis insects include leafhoppers, aphids, earwigs, thrips and scale. During the immature stages, baby insects or nymphs, periodically shed their skins during the molting process. It is during the final molt that they develop into the adult stage. Natural baby-insect repellents include rotenone, made from the roots of subtropical plant species Lonchocarpus or Derris; pyrethrum, made from chrysanthemums and vegetable-based horticultural oils.

Stinging Nettles Tea or Comfrey Tea

• Another old-time favorite in the garden to repel baby insects includes using stinging nettles or comfrey, both important herbs in organic gardening, as a tea. Take the greens from either plant for use together or alone. Halfway fill a 5-gallon bucket with chopped greens. Next, fill the bucket with untreated water. The water cannot contain any chlorine, which would kill the microbes in the plant needed for the repellent. Use as a spray on leaves or directly in the ground surrounding the plant after the greens sit in the water for about a week.

Composted-Manure Tea

• Composted-manure tea provides multiple benefits. Besides repelling baby insects it helps the plant to grow. After composting manure until it turns into mulch, add a cup of compost and a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses to a gallon of water. Allow the tea to steep for approximately two weeks before applying to foliage as a spray or soaking into the ground at the plant's base.

Beneficial Insects

• Though not technically repellents, unless there's enough of these predators to scare away adults keen on multiplying in your garden, several beneficial insects will do the work for you. Big-eyed bugs eat caterpillars and leafhoppers, damsel bug nymphs take on aphids, thrips and more, ladybugs are well known for their insect control, and minute pirate bug nymphs eat thrips, spider mites, small caterpillars, corn earworms and the eggs of many insects. Attract these natural predators by growing plants that provide nectar and pollen for beneficial insects. Herbs, flowering plants and legumes are some of the garden plants that attract these beneficial insects.