Garlic and Onions insecticide

In this post today, I shall share about this organic insecticide that is useful to protect our garden. It's garlic and onion I am talking about. They taste great in our dishes, add to the nutritional value and best of all, it repells insects and even some animals such as rabbit and moles.

Why garlic and onions?
The garlic and onions are such a useful ingredient as a garden insecticide due to the presence of sulfur volatiles attributed by degradation of Allium tissue. Cavallito was the first who discovered the biocidal properties of Allicin. In general, it is used against insects that chew and suck on your precious plants, such as mosquitoes.

What is the formula for the homemade pesticide?
As the biocidal source comes from the enzymatic degradation of Allicin, you can crush 5 large clove of garlic and boil it with 1 litre of water. When cooled, add another 4 litres of cold water. Home prepared pesticides help you control the chemicals you add to the environment as well as to play the 'Mother nature' game.

The Enhancer
There is a patent on enhancing the biocidal function of garlic oil in particular, using the essential oil. The essential oil is the volatile liquids from flora extracts. To list a few, they include soybean oil, corn oil, castor oil, lemongrass, sesame oil, mineral oil, fish oil and citronella oil (hey this is my favourite one). There is even a concoction to soak the chopped garlic in mineral oil for a day before use and I think it is a great idea too as you do not need to prepare a garlic pesticide stock in a bulk where you might scratch your head for storage space.

Other useful reference

1) Insecticidal and fungicidal potential of Allium substances as Biofumigants

2) Organic Pest Control and Pesticide

3) The Patent - Natural Pesticide