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Onion Insect Repellent for Plants

Onion Insect Repellent for Plants

Updated 2 January 2020 02:31 PM


This recipe is easy to use and better yet, it gets rid of some of your onion scraps



  1. Drop all your onion off cuts - skins, peels and ends into a container, until it is full. If you live in a warmer climate, you might want to refrigerate the container to keep smells at bay. 
  2. Once the container is full, place the contents in a bucket and fill with warm water
  3. Soak this for up to a week, then simply strain the onion bits out and store the onion water in a spray bottle

Spray the plants that are prone to pests with this mixture. It can be used for household and garden plants. (Tip - the onion trimmings can also be mixed with garlic.)
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Science Notes

Onions are a natural insect repellent because of their antibacterial sulphide components - the thing responsible for their odour. The outer layers which are usually thrown away are the richest layers.

Bear in mind that you need to use raw onions, not cooked onions for this 'home brew' pest killer.

Related Tip

The onion bits left over from this brew can be buried around the plants in your garden that are prone to e.g. aphids, spiders and other pests.

Consider introducing beneficial bugs into your garden. This will help improve your plants as well as act as a natural deterrent to the peskier insects. See also Chilli Garden Pest Control Spray.

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