Introduction
Not all pest controllers are the monsters that some purport us to be. Most of us believe we are making a worthwhile contribution to society with what we are doing. In many cases, we are also health care specialists. Without adequate control of rodents, fleas, flies and mosquito's, the world would indeed be a sorry place. The contribution pest controllers make in this area is immense.
Please understand that by legislation, we are unable to use any potion, brew, concoction or home cure etc that isn't’t registered for that purpose, and the insecticide must also have an appropriate label with specific directions and toxicity rating. .The penalties, including jail, are staggering. I don’t know of a single pest controller that doesn't’t advocate IPM (Integrated Management) and doesn't implement the ethos into every single area of their work. Most will adopt the least toxic, safest product available that will adequately perform the job in controlling its target pest.
Granted, many of my clients would rather that they did not have to have pesticides used on their properties unless absolutely essential, (I don’t spray my home for spiders for that reason) and for that very reason I have always taken notice when anyone has a home cure they claim works. Some of these I have gathered from others, some I have learned from my grand parents (many years ago) and others I have read about and collected in various publications. Some have been downright silly and a lot were far more dangerous than any pesticide, but offered up on the basis that because they contained no pesticides, then they must be ok. (Most of us know what happens when diesoline and fertiliser are mixed together!!). I can’t guarantee that any will work all the time, every time. If they were that terrific, pest controllers would have joined the dinosaurs decades ago!!

Traps:

There is a multitude of different traps that target many kinds of pests. Some examples are sticky traps for cockroaches, glue-boards for mice, flypaper, bug zappers for flying insects and traps specifically for rats and mice.

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Pheromones:

Pheromones are essentially insect scent hormones that have been adapted and used in traps as bait. By emitting the scent of the female insect, pheromones can be used to lure males into a trap, where they are caught in a sticky glue. Insects are almost always only attracted by pheromones emitted by their own kind, so you need to know exactly what kind of insects you're trying to eliminate and plan accordingly.

Biological Control:

Biological control is more often used in agriculture but can sometimes be used in home and garden situations as well. The basic concept is to utilise more desirable organisms to eliminate undesirable organisms.

Gardeners the world over, are aware that planting certain plants in your garden can deter certain pests. For example, spearmint repels ants; garlic repels Japanese Beetles.
Indoors, spiders are natural predators of fruit flies and houseflies, so it there may be some value in leaving some of those webs around.
In turn, wasps are natural predators of both spiders and caterpillars.
Bugs of various types are available commercially to serve as predators of many garden pests.
Nematodes have been used (with limited success) to control termites. (Ed.)

Repellents:

There are non-toxic repellents available for pest control. Mosquito repellents such as citronella is one of the most popular, but if you look around, you can find repellents that target other pests. Some herbs, like eucalyptus, tea-tree oil and wormwood, are known for repelling animals and insects.

Companion planting is one of nature’s very own forms of pest control. Essentially, it is the deliberate growing of plants that repel certain pests, along with the regular plants in your garden. In some instances, pest insects will move on if confronted with plants that have odours or tastes that are offensive to those pests. Finding the right plants is something of a matter of trial and error depending on your geographical location. Some are believed to work well, while others will work to varying degrees. (Some are just plain medieval folklore, and never did work, although the myth persists. Ed.)

Suggested Companion Plantings

Been Leaf Beetle (Paropsines) -- onion, turnip, potato
Codling Moth - common Oleander (toxicity of Oleander may present its own problems Ed.)
Flea Beetle (Longitarsus echii) -- onion, mint, garlic (Oddly, echii was introduced as a biological control for Patterson’s Curse Ed.)
Harlequin Bug -- turnips, onion, radish
Japanese beetle (Popilla japonica) -- garlic, larkspur, red buckeye
Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp) -- French marigold
Spider Mites -- onion, cloves, garlic
Squash Vine Borer -- cloves, garlic, onion, corn
Stink bug (Pentatomidae spp.) – radish
Tomato Hornworm Agrius convolvuli -- marigold, sage
Whitefly -- marigold, nasturtium.

Natural Pest Control In The Home

HOME MADE CHILLI SPRAY
Blend together half a cup of fresh chillies with 2 cups of water. Add a dash of dishwashing liquid as a surfactant to improve sticking. Chillies can be substituted with 2 tablespoons of Tabasco sauce. Be cautious of leaf burn. Check after 24 hours and if there is no damage spray all the plants you want to protect. Leaf burn with any spray is more likely to occur during hot weather.

Vinegar

Vinegar spray may be useful in controlling caterpillars and sap-sucking insects such as stink bugs, aphids, and mealybugs.
Vinegar spray recipe
Mix 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water and add 5 g of pure soap flakes.

Ants

Observe where the ants are coming from and block their entrance, gap filler or duct tape work well, use soapy water to kill the ants and wipe out their trails. (Might work for a couple of hours)
To repel use drops of orange essential oil, a line of cinnamon powder or mix it with water and squirt into gaps, scatter leaves of pennyroyal, spearmint, or slices of cucumber. Pour left over tealeaves on pot plants.
To repel, rub a cut lemon over ant trails, or wherever ants are a problem. (This might work for a day)
To kill mix 3 cups water and 1-cup sugar with 4 teaspoons of borax, place in dishes along ant trails, refresh every couple of days. (Should work for weeks) NOTE: Borax is toxic, not recommended for use in homes within reach of children.

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Ants

Spearmint, tansy, pennyroyal as companion plants. Crushed tansy will assist in discouraging ants indoors.

Cockroaches

Screen windows and doors, seal up cracks and crevices and don’t leave food scraps lying around. Ensure all cupboards and other dark places are thoroughly dry. (All common sense, but will not prevent cockroaches transported in on grocery packaging. Ed.)
To repel wipe benches, floors, shelves, cupboards, drawers, bin, etc with a mixture of 100ml water to 10 drops of eucalyptus oil. Wipe straight eucalyptus oil around drain holes and external doorframes.
Place cucumber peelings and / or bay leaves in cupboards where cockroaches are a problem. Replace when dried out.
Take a thick slice of raw potato and sprinkle it with borax. Slide under fridge. Replace when potato dries out. (Grandma told me about, and used this method. She said it works! Grandma doesn't’t lie Ed.)
Cockroach baits. Mix together equal parts of borax (*see note on borax) and sugar and place in lids wherever cockroaches are a problem, will last up to 1 year.
Mix 2/3 cup of mashed potato (boil potato in water and mash in its own juice) with 1/3 cup of baking powder, roll into marble sized balls and place in cupboards. Cockroaches will eat the balls and gas will build up in their guts from the baking powder / potato mix. Because cockroaches can’t burp, their stomachs explode and they die. (Cockroaches with flatulence? We know termites contribute to the methane problems, why not roaches? Ed.)

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Caterpillars

Lightly dust with flour or white pepper

Cats

To repel place orange peel cut face up near your plants. Mix 10 drops of lavender oil and/or 10 drops of eucalyptus oil in 200mls of water and spray on mulch and rocks in the garden as needed. ( My USA friends tell me catnip works Ed.)

Dogs

To repel mix 10 crushed garlic cloves with 1 tablespoon of cayenne or 1 teaspoon of Tabasco in 4 cups of warm water, steep for 2 hours then strain into spray bottle and use where needed (may also be used to repel cats and possums).

Earwigs & Millipedes

10 ml Eucalyptus Oil
10 ml Biodegradable Hair Shampoo
80 ml water
Mix all ingredients together and spray around on the ground at night

(Earwigs love to live in rotting vegetation, and are not really a huge threat. They are sometimes accused of nipping off seedlings. Not known to be disease vectors, harmful to humans Ed.)

Fleas

To repel, grow mint, fennel and wormwood in the garden or in pots on the veranda. Place mint, fennel and wormwood leaves (separately or a mixture of) under rugs, mats, sheets, mattresses, dog baskets, whenever there is an infestation.
Mop floors with 2 Litres of warm water containing a teaspoon of peppermint, tea tree and eucalyptus oil. (A good dose of borax in the water would not go astray Ed.)
A branch of Tansy placed inside the dog’s kennel has a some effect. (Ed.)

Flies Fly

The most important method is to prevent flies from breeding. They lay their eggs in decomposing organic matter. Always cover up food scraps in the kitchen. Use screens on windows and doors. Invest in a fly swat.
To repel grow basil in pots where flies are a nuisance or place fresh cut basil in vases and place where needed. (Grandma tells me Shaster Daisies also achieve the same result Ed.)
Burn eucalyptus leaves on the BBQ to repel flies and mosquitoes. (What about the neighbours? Ed.)

Flies, Mosquito's, Sandflies

1 part methylated spirits; 1 part cider vinegar; 1 part eucalyptus oil. (This one works, I recall my grandfather using it Ed.).

Grasshoppers

Canola oil has been found to be a grasshopper attractant, it could be used to make baits more attractive to grasshoppers, combined with organic insecticides to make them more effective and floated as an oil on top of water traps.

Mosquitoes

Use nets and flyscreens, clean up any water lying around, and then look at repellents. Only female mosquitoes bite, they breed in any small puddle of water and are most active at dusk and night.
To repel 5 drops of eucalyptus oil mixed with 40 ml's of water in an oil burner. Eucalyptus oil burns like kerosene so try the oil alone in flares and lanterns.
Mosquitoes hate lavender. Hang small bunches of lavender outside doors. It lasts for months, plant lavender near and around verandas and BBQ area to keep mosquitoes from biting.
Grow basil in pots and place around the house to repel.
Rub crushed pennyroyal leaves on skin.
Rub the leaves or flowers of lavender on your skin to repel mosquitoes or make mild lavender oil and rub on skin. To make the lavender oil place 10 drops of pure lavender oil with 50 ml of a plain oil such as almond, light olive oil or sunflower, alternatively cover a handful of lavender flowers with plain oil in a jar, and stand in the sun for a few weeks (shake occasionally) then strain and use.

Moths

Lavender flowers have been used for centuries to repel moths from clothes, dry the flowers and place in small bags amongst clothes, effective for 6 – 12 months. (I recall my mother using lavender sachets in her clothing drawers, now I know why Ed.)
Mix equal parts by volume Cloves Nutmeg Mace Cinnamon Caraway seeds Lavender Add the same amount of orris root (as a fixative for the fragrance). Store in small muslin bags or sachets

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Possums

Temporary trapping and blocking entry points is the most effective way of stopping them entering the roof void.
Blood and Bone - place at the base of plants

Egg Powder - Mix 200g dried egg powder per litter of water with wetting agent, then spray plants.

Quassia Chips - add 100g of chips to 400ml boiling water. Stand 5 minutes, then add one litre of cold water and allow soaking for 24 hours. Strain, add a wetting agent, (Wettasoil) and spray onto plants.

Unpalatable Plants to Brushtails Brushtails tend to dislike plant species that are prickly and spiny, such as Grevilleas and Hakeas. Also consider tough and woody plants such as Banksias and Melaleucas.
Brushtails also tend to avoid strong smelling foliage plants such as Chrysanthemums, Mint Bushes, Geraniums and Daisies.

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Silverfish

To repel wipe the insides of drawers and cupboards with pure eucalyptus oil. Place cotton balls with 2 drops of eucalyptus oil on them in amongst linen, clothes and books, or where needed.
Silverfish commonly found in the house feed on paper and glue. See cockroach controls as they also work for silverfish.
Fresh bay leaves in books will protect them from silverfish.
Talcum sprinkled in linen shelves also has some effect (Ed.)

Snails

Sprinkling sharp sand, wood ash or hydrated lime around the base of susceptible plants acts as an effective barrier to snails and slugs as they will not travel over rough surfaces or desiccants

Spiders

Spiders are natural predators of silverfish, flies, mosquito's, moths and many other common household pests BUT if you must have them removed from your house you can try repelling them using a spray that you apply to their favourite web building sites (usually corners of rooms and furniture legs).
Spider repellent spray, mix together 200mls of water, 10 ml's of alcohol (gin or vodka), 5 drops of eucalyptus oil and 5 drops of lavender oil, shake well and spray (note this will not kill the spiders, just repel them).
Very cheap diluted detergent in a squirter bottle sprayed on webs can cause them to dissolve (Ed.)

Termites

There are no real natural remedies that effectively control termites. Termite baiting systems have advanced incredibly and are now very good. They do have the ability to eradicate nests, however in most cases, a chemical application of some type would still be advisable. Even the termiticides available these days are very safe, and need not be insecticides in the true sense of the word’s meaning. Some are Insect Growth Regulators. The best advice that can be given if termites are discovered in the home is to definitely not to disturb them, and call a pest expert.

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Weevils

Fresh bay leaves placed into containers of flour and grains will repel weevils.
Freeze bags of grains and pasta for 24 hours to kill eggs before placing in containers in the cupboard.
Common sense tells me it may be best to place infested food in the garbage. (Ed.)
Microwaving will destroy all eggs, larvae and adults. (See our for stored food pest section. (Ed.)

NOTE
There has been little to no scientific testing on the listed hints. Most methods are old time favourites, traditionally used by our great grandparents. They are offered in good faith but RID Pest Control makes no guarantees, and takes no responsibility for the effectiveness or results or outcomes of these suggestions. All chemicals, even natural ones, need to be used with care. Always use personal protective equipment when using chemicals and store leftovers out of reach of children.

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