Indoor Pests:

Ants: Locate the place of entry, squeeze a lemon onto it and leave the peel. Ants will also retreat from lines of talcum powder, chalk, bone meal, charcoal dust and cayenne pepper.

Cockroaches: Plug all small cracks along baseboards, wall shelves, cupboards and around pipes, sinks, and bathtub fixtures. For a trap, you can try lightly greasing the inner neck of a milk bottle and putting a little stale beer or a raw potato in it.

Fruit Flies: Pour a small amount of beer into a wide-mouth jar. Put a plastic bag across the mouth of the jar with a rubber band. Poke a small hole in the bag. Flies will enter through the hole and not be able to find their way out again. Change the beer when necessary.

Flies: Sunny windows are flies' most common entrance into your home, so close windows before the sun hits them. Use regular sticky flypaper to catch unwelcome flying guests. You can make your own with honey and yellow paper.

Moths: Keep vulnerable clothes clean, dry and well aired - moths are attracted to your body's oils on the clothing. Camphor can be used, as it is the major, non-toxic, ingredient of moth balls. To trap moths, mix 1 part molasses with 2 parts vinegar and place it in a margarine or yogurt container. Clean regularly. Cedar chips or black pepper also work well as all-natural moth deterrents. Cedar chips can be placed in cloth bags and hung in the closet or placed in drawers.

House Plant Pests: Blend 2 or 3 very hot peppers, 1/2 onion and 1 clove garlic in water, boil, steep for two days and strain. Used as a spray, this liquid is good for indoor and outdoor plants and can be frozen for future use. Also try spraying 2 Tbsp (30 ml) liquid soap, or 5 grams dry soap, diluted in 1 quart of water. Remember to spray with fresh water a few days afterwards (the shower can be used for this).

Silverfish: Traps can be made with a mixture of 1 part molasses to 2 parts vinegar. Place near cracks and holes where pests live. Silverfish can be repelled by treating baseboards, table legs and cracks in cupboards with a mixture of borax and sugar or honey.

Spiders: Under ideal conditions, do not kill spiders because they help to control pests.

Stored Food Pests: Keep mites and moths out of your staples by drying food in a warm oven for one hour or by freezing for 2-3 days. Always store food in air tight containers.

Weevil's favorite foods are beans and grains. To keep weevils away, hang small cloth sacks of black pepper in your food bins or around your food storage area. A few soap berries per bushel of stored wheat will also drive out weevils.

Ticks and fleas: If your pets are infested, wash them well with soap and warm water, dry them thoroughly and use this herbal rinse: Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) of fresh or dried rosemary to a quart of boiling water. Steep 20 minutes, strain, and allow to cool to body temperature. Spray or sponge evenly onto pet and allow to air dry. Do not towel down as this will remove the residue. Make sure pets are dry before letting them outside.

Outdoor Pests:

Natural ways to rid pests

    * Companion planting is the practice of placing plants which pests dislike around those plants which pests relish. For instance, aphides hate chives, so chives are a great companion plant for roses.
    * Hand Picking is time-consuming but unbeatable. Use gloves and remove all visible offending pests.
    * Put a cone of birdseed in your garden. Birds are much more efficient than people at killing bugs. Flickers, warblers, finches, jays, robins, grackles, sparrows, cedar waxwings, starlings and many other birds will consume thousands of insects every day.
    * You can also plant flowers that attract birds: pincherry, white flowering dogwood, honeysuckle, holly, white pine, Russian olive, sunflowers, marigolds, or ask your local nursery for other examples. The birds will come for the berries and seeds, but they'll stay for the bugs.

Organic Pesticides
Tobacco water: place a large handful of tobacco into 4 quarts/litres of warm water. Let stand for 24 hours. Apply with a spray bottle. This tobacco water is also poisonous to humans, so use caution when handling it.

Hot Peppers: Blend 2 or 3 very hot peppers, 1/2 onion and 1 clove garlic in 4 quarts/litres of water, boil, steep for two days and strain. Can be frozen for future use.

Garlic: Mix 4 quarts/litres of water, 2 Tbsp (30 ml) garlic juice (do not use garlic powder as it will burn the plants), 1 and 1/5 ounces (30 grams) of diatomaceous earth (see below), and 1 tsp (5 ml) rubbing alcohol. Can be frozen for future use.

Soap: Use only pure soap, as detergents will damage your plants. Liquid soaps: 2 Tbsp (30 ml) per quart/litre of water. Dry soaps: 1/5 oz (5 grams) per quart/litre of water. If it has not rained after a few days, remember to rinse plants.

Barriers
Collars: To stop hatching larvae from burrowing into the soil surrounding your plants, use "collars" made of stiff paper, heavy plastic or tar paper. Cut a piece a foot square and fit it snugly around the base of the plant on top of the soil. Use a paper clip to hold it in place.

Netting: Fine netting such as cheese cloth, placed over the bed, will protect seedlings from chewing insects, keep cats and birds away, and prevent flying insects from laying eggs.

Pyrethrum Dust: Very effective against soft bodied insects such as caterpillars, with a low toxicity to mammals. Avoid inhaling.

Diatomaceous Earth: made from the skeletons of tiny organisms, this dust controls pests by causing dehydration and death. Can be used indoors and out. Please follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Note: diatomaceous earth can be processed in a variety of ways. Please be sure that the diatomaceous earth that you are using in your home is not the crystalline or chemically produced variety (which is manufactured for use in swimming pools). Avoid inhaling.

Insecticidal soap: This soap is available in gardening, hardware and drug stores.