The Common Kitchen Ingredient That Can Help Keep Pests Out Of Your Garden

Dealing with pests in your garden is frustrating. It can be tedious and even expensive when trying to keep aphids, spider mites, cabbage worms, beetles, and other insects away. Whether you are sick of experimenting with expensive pest control methods, want to switch to more natural measures, or just do not want to leave your house to go to the store, there is a common ingredient in your kitchen pantry that could be the solution you need: flour. If you do not have this on hand, a 5-pound bag only costs a couple of dollars, making it an affordable pest control method. If you do not use the extra flour for baking, you might be able to use it to deter ants from your kitchen. 

Flour is made from the endosperm of wheat kernels, and there are many types such as whole wheat, all-purpose, self-rising, and bread flour. Although it is commonly used for baking, it has long been used to manage garden pests. When it is applied to leaves where they congregate, the pests will ingest the flour, which can negatively affect their digestive tract. Gardeners back up this claim and have reported that dusting plants with flour resulted in a decrease and eventual elimination of aphids. However, keep in mind that these theories are not scientifically proven.

As previously mentioned, evidence supporting the use of flour for pest control is not entirely conclusive, but it may be worth a try. The easiest method involves sifting flour over the affected plants. You can also mix flour and water or add those items with other common kitchen ingredients as a DIY pest control. For the flour and water mixture, combine approximately one part flour with 10 parts water. Be sure to use fine flour so that you can put the mixture into a spray bottle for easy application. Apply the mixture by spraying plants directly, particularly on the bottoms of leaves. It is best to do this in the morning when the leaves contain dew, and the pests are actively feeding.

While this method is pretty low stakes in terms of potential consequences, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One is to avoid using too much flour during the application process. Flour can attract some pests, so if you overapply it in your garden, you may find yourself gaining pests instead of preventing them from attacking your plants. Another is to avoid the common mistakes everyone makes when dealing with aphids. Finally, if this flour method is not an effective solution for your pest problem, you should explore other measures to protect your plants.