What type of organic pesticide do you recommend for gardens?

Food grade diatomaceous earth and horticultural oils

Hi Laura!

It depends on what pest you are dealing with. I'm not trying to be a smartmouth about it, it's a fact To garden organically you must be observant and figure out what pest you are finding, decide if the pest is actually harming the plant and figure out the best management.

Often hand picking will do the job, drop the pests (for example: hornworms, squash bugs, various beetles) into a container, seal and discard or drop them into a container with soapy water, kerosene, or something similar to instantly kill the pests.

If dealing with too many to hand pick or very small insects, a mild soapy spray directly on the the pests, on the plants will kill many insects such as aphids and ants. It must be a mild soapy mix or can damage or burn the plants, about 2-4 drops of liquid dish soap (I always use Ivory Liquid) to one cup of water. Pour into a clean spray bottle and spray the affected areas of the plants. Don't reuse household cleaner bottles for this, it's safer to buy a new spray bottle, after all you are trying to grow food or beautiful plants.

One thing I found to be very helpful was a book called "Carrots Love Tomatoes, Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening" by Louise Riotte. My book is very old but you can still order it from the usual companies, such as Amazon and Barns & Noble, etc.

Good luck and great gardening!

You can try Neem Oil.

Thanks so much for the tips, I truly do appreciate your help. Hornworms were a problem on my tomato plants. Also, I'm fairly sure some developed a fungus (leaves turned a brownish tint). My zucchini did really well for awhile, then the base of the plants turned a white color and started to crack! I was so dissapointed.