Making fertilizers and pesticides from herbs.

(Baonghean) - Guided by and through research and learning, many farmers in Anh Son district have developed innovative methods of using garlic, chili peppers, ginger, betel leaves, etc., as fertilizers for their crops, resulting in safe products for consumers and being environmentally friendly.

Betel leaves are chopped into small pieces to be used as fertilizer.

Making fertilizer from betel leaves

For the past two years, using readily available materials from his garden, farmer Bui Van Cuong in Thang Tam village, Dinh Son commune (Anh Son district) has successfully created a foliar fertilizer for orange trees from the stems and leaves of betel plants. This fertilizer not only helps orange trees grow well and have green leaves, but also increases the trees' resistance, and is safe for people and the environment.

Mr. Cuong said: “After watching the program “Friend of the Farmer” on VTV2 television channel, I learned that extracts from betel leaves and stems contain a full range of foliar fertilizers such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and macro and micronutrients such as Fe, Zn, Cu, Mg, etc. Therefore, I experimented by using finely chopped or crushed betel leaves soaked in clean water for about 1 week to 10 days. The ratio is 1 kg of betel leaves mixed with 10 liters of water. After soaking, the betel leaves will turn dark brown, then I will mix them with 200 liters of water to spray on the orange trees.” According to Mr. Cuong, the best time to spray is in the morning because that is when the trees are photosynthesizing sunlight, which is the time when the trees absorb fertilizer best. The next spraying should be done after about 15-20 days.

Starting in 2013, Mr. Cuong boldly experimented with this homemade fertilizer on his family's 1-hectare orange orchard. The results showed excellent growth, with green leaves and resistance to several pests and diseases. Currently, the nearly three-year-old orchard has begun bearing its first fruits. Compared to other foliar fertilizers, this homemade fertilizer has advantages such as: promoting good plant growth, increasing resistance, developing a strong root system, and keeping leaves green. It controls pests like leaf miners and leaf rollers, and improves soil fertility. Importantly, it does not pollute the environment or water sources and is safe for users. Furthermore, using natural plant leaves reduces costs by 40-50% per production season.

Pesticides made from garlic, ginger, and chili peppers.

In Anh Son district, the family of Mr. Nguyen Viet Bay in Hamlet 9, Tao Son commune, boldly used crushed garlic, chili peppers, and ginger, soaked and fermented, to make a pesticide for their pumpkins. After crushing and fermenting the ingredients for 20 days, Mr. Bay sprayed it on nearly 0.5 hectares of pumpkins. After a week of testing, the plants and leaves developed well, the fruit setting rate was high, and most importantly, no pests or diseases appeared. Therefore, he proceeded to spray on nearly 2 hectares of green pumpkins. Mr. Bay's method has been adopted by more than 50 households in Tao Son and has proven very effective.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huong, Deputy Head of the Plant Protection Sub-Department, said: "This is a new but very practical method that reduces costs for farmers, and more importantly, creates clean agricultural products. Farmers need to apply and expand this method further. It's a good method, easy to do, environmentally friendly, and anyone can do it. People can also spray pesticides themselves without worrying about health effects."

HOW TO PREPARE PESTICIDES FROM HERBS

1. Shallots

Shallots and chili peppers can be used as safe pesticides. - Phuong

- Effects: Antifungal, insecticide, mild insect repellent.

- Target pests: Aphids, cabbage moths, mites, tomato flies, ticks, whiteflies, seedling blight due to overwatering, late blight, tomato leaf spot, mice and moles.

- Preparation method: Crush 10-100g of shallots with 1 liter of water, let it sit in a covered container for 4-7 days before spraying.

2. Chili peppers, garlic, ginger

- Effects: Chili peppers, garlic, onions, ginger, etc., contain acids that affect parts of the body such as the eyes and skin of plant-damaging insects, and can kill or repel them.

- Preparation method: To make your own herbal pesticide, you will need the following ingredients: 1 kg of garlic, 1 kg of chili peppers, 1 kg of ginger, and 3 liters of alcohol. Crush the garlic, chili peppers, and ginger. Then, soak them in sealed jars or containers, adding about 1 liter of alcohol and sealing them tightly. During the soaking process, avoid placing the containers in overly hot or sunny areas, or leaving them open to prevent the alcohol from evaporating.

- You can soak each ingredient separately or soak all three together in one container. If soaking separately, use 1 liter of alcohol for every 1 kg of ingredient; if soaking all three together, use 3 liters of alcohol. This can be considered the concentrated liquid for mixing when spraying.

- The chili peppers, garlic, and ginger are soaked in alcohol for 15 days to allow the pungent compounds in the ingredients to mix evenly into the alcohol. This ensures the highest concentration of these pungent compounds in the soaking solution, which is effective in killing pests.

3. Tobacco plant

- Effects: Tobacco-based insecticides can eliminate thrips, stem borers, long-horned stink bugs, small leaf-rolling caterpillars, various types of corn aphids, soybean aphids, leaf miners, and tortoiseshell caterpillars on water spinach, leaf miners on apple trees, and red spider mites on citrus fruits, etc.

- Preparation method: To prepare the medicine, the leaves are soaked in plain water for one day at a ratio of 1 kg of leaves to 20-40 liters of water. Then, they are removed, crushed into a fine powder, filtered, and used for spraying.

Reporters' Team