How to Kill Aphids, Scale Bugs, etc. Without Harmful Chemicals

I recently noticed that I had aphids in my basil planter and scale bugs on the bottoms of my bay laurel.  Since these herbs are things we consume, I didn’t want to use anything with harmful chemicals.  I remember seeing a report that talked about Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Pepperment Soap and how to use it to safely eliminate bugs on your plants.

I mixed 1 1/2 caps of the soap with a sprayer full of water and sprayed my basil and bay tree making sure to get the underside of the leaves on the bay since that is where the scale bugs live.  Within a few day, both the basil and the bay were bug free.  The Castile soap dissolves the bugs exoskeleton on contact but is safe for the plants.

  Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap

  This shows a leaf what the Scale Bugs.  They are a flat bug that attaches to the bottom of the leaf.  They don’t seem to harm the plant and are scraped off easily but it isn’t pretty to look at.

  Here is a leaf after treatment.  The bugs fall away.

I have been treating the basil and the bay laurel about once a week and have noticed a decrease in the scale.  Hopefully, I will be able to totally get rid of it soon.