Isn't just as simple as 2-3 tblsp of alcohol per gallon of water?

Or maybe a few extra drops of liquid soap or canola oil for extra pesticidal powers?

Hi Cap'n - thanks for responding = )

I found your post in the FAQs (copied it, actually) & saw that the other day - after I posted this question (duh!).

I seem to recall, tho, that this recipe does have soap - & precise measurements.I have some in a bottle - very little left now - & was hoping I might find those measurements again...?

Being lazy, I guess = J

Carolb, what kind of bugs are you targeting?
For aphids and other soft body insects, this works for me:
1 TBS Dr. Bonner's (natural) liquid soap + 1 quart of water.

Here's a website w/ some recipes that include iso alcohol:
http://ethnobotany.yage.net/pestcon.html

Several other recipes are in the link below.
Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Pest Control

I've been using one part alcohol to three parts water. Some people make it even stronger. Works like a charm on mites and other soft bodied critters. Use it in a spray bottle.

I'm kind of surprised this subject and discussion is being tolerated in an organic forum. Alcohol is a disinfectant - meaning it kills "germs," like beneficial bacteria and fungi. The organic approach is to grow healthy plants with a healthy supply of bacteria and fungi that are resistant to the sucking insects. Down here in San Antonio we find that foliar spraying every two weeks with liquid seaweed (3 ounces per gallon of water) strengthens the plants to resist most sucking insects including (if not especially) spider mites. I'm experimenting with a milk spray (3 ounces or less per gallon) to see if it works as well for a whole lot less hassle and cost.

I know the organic approach works on aphids. My roses suffered 8 years of aphids before I went organic. Since 2001 I have not seen an aphid on them. Your mileage may vary, but that's the no-kiddin truth at my house. All I do is topdress the rose beds with an inch of compost every spring and fertilize with a handful per plant of ordinary corn meal every month. We had been composting during the years of aphid infestation, but when we added the corn meal, the aphids disappeared.

Another example of organic approach working is from a local organic experimenter who gave me a tour of his greenhouse. He pulled out three small plants in 4 inch pots. The three plants were all touching pot rims and the plant canopies were intermingled. He slid the tray out and showed me that only one of the three plants had aphids on it. It was pretty well covered while the other two plants were aphid free. The only difference was the soil. All three were growing in Wal-Mart potting mix but the two without aphids had been amended with compost, greensand, and ground basalt sand. I realize that three plants do not make a very serious experiment, but in the entire greenhouse, there was only one plant with aphids. Before that I had assumed that once a greenhouse was penetrated by aphids, the entire place had to be quarantined. Guess not.

There are non-alcohol bug spray recipe's that you can use also. I have 5 actually that I use. Here is one of them. I'm new to this forum so I don't really know how things go here. I don't want to post to much.

Garlic Oil Sprays:
Organic gardeners have long been familiar with the repellent or toxic affect of garlic oil on pests. when it is combined with mineral oil and pure soap,as it is in the recipe that follows, devised at the Henry Doubleday Research Association in England, it becomes an effective insecticide. Some studies also suggest that a garlic oil spray has fungicidal properties.
Protection Offered: Good results, with quick kill, have been noted against aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leafhoppers, sqaush bugs and whiteflies. The spray does not appear to harm adult lady beetles, and some gardeners have found that is does'nt work against the Colorado potaoe beetles, grape leaf skeletonizers, grasshoppers, red ants, or sowbugs.
How to Make: Soak 3 ounces of finely minced garlic cloves in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil for at least 24 hours. Slowly add 1 pint of water that has 1/4 ounce liquid soap or commercial insecticide soap mixed into it. Stir thoroughly and strain into a glass jar for storage. use at a rate of 1 to 2 Tablespoons of mixture to a pint of water. If this is effective, try a more dilute solution in order to use as little as possible.
How to Use: Spray plants carefully to ensure thorough coverage. To check for possible leaf damage to sensitive ornamentals from the oil and soap in the spray, do a test spray on a few leaces or plants first. If no leaf damage occurs in 2 or 3 days, go ahead and spray more.

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Help On Everything About Your Gardening

I got the following recipe for garlic juice spray from the US Patent office records:

2 pounds of garlic
2 pounds of water (32 ounces)

Put the garlic and water in a blender and puree it. Strain off the pulp and use the spray. It should cover 2,500 square feet of turf or lots and lots of shrubs.

Thanks everyone = )

Mites is exactly what I wanted it for.They're infesting my eggplant leaves >= P

I need help with my Euphorbia Milii plants that lately some of them have acquire some small yellow/brown spots on the leaves. Leaves don't curl up or dry up and drop they just stay the same. Plants look healthy but I don't like how the leaves look. Can someone help me?

Thanks.

Post a photo in the Garden Clinic forum. It is virtually impossible to tell what is going on with a plant just by description.