Have you ever wondered how people dealt with problems in the garden long before so many different products were available to us? Well, many times they used products that were common to the household or farm and perhaps designed for other purposes but could have a positive impact on plants.

For example, it was discovered probably quite by accident that throwing dirty dishwater out the back door onto plants could rid them of certain insects. And over time, this practice of using soapy water in this way became fairly common.

I’ve had reasonable success going up against certain insects in my garden by mixing a couple of teaspoons of dishwashing liquid to a quart of water and spraying them. Now, what this solution does is break down the outer covering or cuticle of an insect, making it more susceptible to disease, dehydration and other insects.

If you do this, you need to be careful because the same sort of outer covering or waxy coating is also on plants. Applying this solution can damage young, tender plants in particular if you get too much on them. I recommend spraying a few plants first, wait 24 hours and, if there is no problem, go for the pests.

A simple solution of 1 part rubbing alcohol to 3 parts water can have a similar effect on these little devils.