Natural Insecticide: Tomato Spray for Aphids

Fall is harvest time for the outdoor garden. It also signals a time to transplant crops which can continue to grow indoors in my Aquaponics systems.

Last fall I transplanted some Swiss Chard and Parsley indoors to extend their growing season. Little did I know that I had also transported aphids from the outside, which ate my veggies and caused me to start over. You can read about it here:
http://markcrowther.blogspot.com/2013/10/extending-growing-season.html

harvested tomato leaves for insecticide spray

Organic pest control can be tricky with Aquaponics because what is good for your plants isn't necessarily good for your fish. When I found this organic spray using only tomato leaves and water I thought I'd give fall transplanting another shot. Since tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, perhaps I could have substituted rhubarb, pepper or eggplant leaves for tomato? Has anyone tried those leaves with positive results? I've also read that aphids hate garlic, but didn't try that as the spray called for liquid dish soap, which could easily harm my fish.

two cups of tomato leaves

two cups of tomato leaves with water added = organic aphid spray

After I soaked two cups of leaves in two cups of water, it made a dark brown liquid, which I diluted with another cup of water or so after straining it into a spray bottle. It couldn't have been easier to make.

Then I transplanted the basil, wild mustard greens, and kale.

 I sprayed them thoroughly before planting them and have sprayed them almost every day for a week. But, the tomato spray started to ferment. I used it last night and it made the whole room stink so I dumped it out. On the upside, I haven't seen any sign of aphids, or any other bugs for that matter, and the transplants are looking okay.

As an experiment, I kept the overhead lights off for a couple of months before transplanting. In the second picture below, you can see the spacing is fairly wide between the nodes of the Rosemary plant (a node is the space between the each leaf and the plant stem). The Rosemary received its late summer light only through the adjacent window. The west-facing window provided only a few hours of direct light. Still, it grew substantially, demonstrating that this herb is well-suited for Aquaponics.

Aquaponic Rosemary planted last fall

Same Aquaponic Rosemary 1 year later