Arts &Crafts, How-To's, Upcycling & Repurposing

The weather is finally nice enough to bring our plants outside. I decided to put my hibiscus tree out back this year for more sun. The next day, my hibiscus 🌺 was full of bugs. Aphids and some other bugs that I call yard bugs. Most of the leaves were covered in these bugs. I couldn’t figure out where they came from. I figured out later that my neighbors tree is covered in these bugs.

So, I made my concoction. Getting rid of aphids.

See post below 👇

https://craftingforlife.blog/get-rid-of-aphids-for-good/

Spraying my plant with the concoction helped, but the bugs kept on returning within minutes. I knew it was because of my neighbor tree.

Later on, I saw this big beautiful butterfly. I’ve never seen one like this one and I wanted a picture of it. It kept moving so I got an orange, cut it in half and put the halves outside in my flower garden.

The butterfly never came. However the orange attracted the bugs. I was shocked really. I’ve tried many other things to get rid of the pesky bugs fast and not once did I think of an orange!The bugs left my hibiscus alone!

It’s the sweetness of it. The longer the orange sat there it started to ferment and was collecting more and more bugs.

I’m not one to waste food, but I’ve had this hibiscus for over ten years!

A online summary-

Insects are often drawn to oranges because the fruit contains high levels of sugar, acids, and aromatic oils that serve as strong sensory cues for food. While the scent of citrus peels can sometimes act as a deterrent, the sweet juice and volatile compounds released by ripe or damaged fruit are highly effective at luring various pests

Supplies needed:

*1 orange

*Knife

*An area outside with bugs. – scale insects, white flys, mealy bugs, aphids.

Step 1:

Cut the orange in half.

Step 2:

Place the orange halves in an outdoor area in your garden where the bugs will attract to it.

My hibiscus is now aphid free! I hope you will have as much luck as I have!

Till next time ~

Mel