non-edible recipes for your garden

here are some non edible recepies use in your garden:

ALCOHOL
Alcohol kills mealybugs, scales, aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, slugs, and earwigs by acting as a surfactant, or wetting agent, that can penetrate an insect's waxy coat of armor and kill on contact with the body. Methanol (wood alcohol) evaporates a bit too fast. Isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) works fine and is easy to find, but be sure it doesn't have additives. Ethanol (grain alcohol) seems to work best. Alcohol usually comes in 70 percent strength in stores (or 95 percent strength purchased commercially). To make an insecticidal spray, mix equal parts 70 percent alcohol and water (or if using 95 percent alcohol, mix 1 part alcohol to 1-1/2 parts water). To kill mealybugs, dip a cotton swab or cotton ball into alcohol and wipe off the infestation.

BAKING SODA
Black spot disease causes the leaves of roses to wilt, turn yellow, and drop off. To combat this, mix 3 tablespoons of baking soda into 1 gallon of water and spray the roses. Pick up any fallen rose leaves and burn them or take them to the dump.

BORAX
Blisters on geranium leaves, a condition called edema, may be caused by a boron deficiency. If the blisters do not clear up as spring advances, mix 1/8 teaspoon of borax into 1 gallon of water and use it to water the plants two or three times.

CANNED FRUIT
You can buy Japanese beetle traps of all sorts, but most are no more effective than a can of fruit cocktail. Open the can and let it sit in the sun for a week to ferment. Then place it on top of bricks or wood blocks in a light-colored pail, and fill the pail with water to just below the top of the can. Place the pail about 25 feet from the plants you want to protect. The beetles will head for the sweet bait, fall into the water, and drown. If rain dilutes the bait, start over.

OLIVE OIL
Prevent mosquitoes from breeding in rain barrels by floating 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the water's surface.