Is your rose plant under stress due to a pest infestation?
Yeah…that’s bad… As a matter of fact, excessive pest damage can be fatal to your roses!
In this article, we’ll review a few natural remedies to combat pest takeover and minimize the likelihood of serious damage happening to your rose plant.
Let’s dive right into it, shall we?
5 Eco-Friendly Pest Control: Keep Your Roses Pest-Free Naturally
5 – Use Diatomaceous Earth Powder
Diatomaceous earth or DE powder is made from fossilized remains of diatoms, which are small sea creatures.
Upon contact with pests and insects, this powder damages the exoskeletons of these destructive little plant eaters and dehydrates them, leading to death.
The application process of this natural pesticide is rather simple and straightforward. Just sprinkle some DE powder on top of your affected rose plant, coating the base as well as the leaves, and let it do its thing.
4 – Introduce Beneficial Insects
Yes, insects like ladybugs and lacewings could be useful in your garden!
Unlike destructive pests and insects that damage plant parts and feed on developing fruit, beneficial insects target pests and eliminate them.
These insects improve the overall garden ecosystem and promote growth by eliminating a major limiting factor like pest infestation.
3 – Spray Peppermint Oil
Menthol in peppermint oil repels pests and insects like nothing else. It’s strong and works amazingly well. Aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites can all be kept at bay if peppermint oil is used as a pesticide in the garden.
Quick Tip
Simply add a tablespoon of peppermint oil to a gallon of water and spray it thoroughly on the affected rose plant every 1-2 weeks. You don’t need much more than a tablespoon of peppermint oil per gallon of water as the extra strength is just unnecessary and will only affect the plant negatively.
2 – Set Up Beer Traps
Pests like slugs and snails are particularly drawn to beer because of its yeast and fermentation. This gives you the advantage to lure them away from your roses and trap them in large numbers.
Many people create beer traps by cutting plastic bottles in half or using shallow containers like tuna cans and filling them with beer.
When the snails come close enough, they’ll usually fall into the beer and drown.
1 – Neem Oil Application
Neem oil is perhaps the best natural pesticide you can use!
It’s similar to peppermint oil in terms of repelling bad pests and insects away from plants.
Quick Tip
Because of its strong scent, you only need a tablespoon of neem oil mixed with a gallon of water to create the perfect homemade pesticide spray. Spray the solution on the leaves and base of your rose plant once every 1-2 weeks for the best results.
Final Words
There are many other hacks and “ultimate pest solutions” people on the internet will give you. But, do those hacks really work? Well, definitely not as effectively I would say.
Truth be told, there’s only so much that can help you combat pests and insects in the garden.
Eventually, it all comes down to the method of pest elimination that’s the most effective and least harmful to the plants. The five methods we discussed today fit this description really well.
