Read on for more information about how you can use hot peppers for fruit trees.
Hot Peppers for Fruit Trees
A chili pepper fruit tree spray can keep hungry bugs and mammals from your orchard. It is considered a deterrent rather than a pesticide because it keeps the critters away from the trees and doesn’t kill them. While many people love hot sauce, few animals do. The naturally occurring substance that makes the peppers taste hot is called capsaicin, and this is an irritant to most pests. When a rabbit, squirrel, or mouse comes in contact with foliage or fruit doused in hot pepper spray, they stop eating immediately.
Hot Pepper Bug Repellent
Chili pepper fruit tree spray repels animals that might chew or eat your trees and fruits, including squirrels, mice, raccoons, deer, rabbits, voles, birds, and even dogs and cats. What about insects though? Yes, it also works as a bug repellent. A spray made from hot chili peppers repels bugs that suck the fluids of fruit tree leaves. These include common pests like spider mites, aphids, lace bugs, and leafhoppers. Remember, though, the pepper spray repels bugs, but it won’t kill off an infestation already in place. If your tree is already under insect attack, you may want to smother the current bugs with horticultural oil sprays first, then use hot pepper bug repellent to prevent new bugs from arriving.
Homemade Chili Pepper Fruit Tree Spray
While fruit tree pepper sprays are available in commerce, you can make your own at a very low cost. Design your recipe with products you have on hand or those that are readily available. You can use dried ingredients like powdered cayenne pepper, fresh jalapeno, or other hot peppers. Tabasco sauce also works well. Mix any combination of these ingredients with onions or garlic and boil in water for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture when it cools. If you are including hot peppers, don’t forget to wear rubber gloves. Capsaicin can cause severe skin irritation and will definitely sting your eyes if it gets in them.
