Becky McElhinny, a horticulturist and owner of Deener's Farm Market in Cranberry Township, said gardening home remedies can be effective for repelling insects, but the solutions must be used with care.

Home remedies can be just as effective as traditional pesticides, herbicides and fungicides when treating plants for bugs and fungus, but local gardening experts warn gardeners that there are things to think about before going green.

Boiling water can be used to kill weeds, although Dennis Culley, a Butler County Master Gardener, said to watch out for splashing the water on plants you want to keep. He also said it may not get down to kill the roots of the weeds.

Vinegar is also effective at killing weeds. The University of Florida recommends using one part apple or grain vinegar to five to 20 parts of water to spray on weeds

A pepper spray can keep insects off plants. Becky McElhinny, owner of Deener's Farm Market in Cranberry Township, said she had someone come in to the market recently to purchase ghost peppers for that purpose.

The University of Florida recipe calls for two tablespoons of ground red pepper, six drops of dish soap and one gallon of water. Mix the ingredients, let it sit overnight to dissolve the pepper and then spray it on weekly to repel insects.

A mixture of soap and water for bug control can work, as the soap suffocates the insects, McElhinny said.

However, gardeners should be careful not to use it in hot weather and not to leave the mixture on the plants for too long because the soaps and oils could burn the plants, Culley said.

“If it's 80 degrees or hotter, you don't want to use any of this stuff,” Culley said.

Oregon State University recommends using three tablespoons of dish soap in one gallon of water for mites and aphids. Wet the leaves of the plant and rinse off the mixture using a garden hose after a few hours.

While home remedies are effective, they are not long-lasting and only treat the insect or disease that is there currently. The soap and water mixture needs to be reapplied every few days to keep working, Culley said.

Traditional chemical insect and disease control treatments leave a residue on the plants that is not meant to harm the plants in extremely hot temperatures and will continue to work for days after it is applied.

“It's a lot more work than you think,” Culley said of using homemade remedies.

Culley also warned not to go overboard when mixing your own concoctions. Follow the recipes and follow instructions carefully.

“If it says one ounce, use one ounce, not two,” Culley said. “More is not better. Stick to the recipe, whether it's an organic or inorganic chemical or homemade. You can damage your plants by using too much.”