Homemade Hot Pepper Spray - Any Recipes?

[Brandywinegirl]

I am looking to make pepper spray for my garden to deter animals & bugs. I don't want to use Sevin. I have heard habenero peppers are the best one to use. Does anyone have recipes to share?

Thanks!

[rainbowgardener]

Type garlic-pepper spray into the Google Custom Search box above and you will find a number of threads about it.

The garlic is important as a pest repellant.

I don't have any particular recipe I follow, just blend up some mixture of garlic, onions, various peppers, maybe some tansy or other aromatics and whatever else repellant I have on hand. Let it sit for a little while, then strain all the solids out, add a few drops of dish soap and a few drops of vegetable oil (to help it stick better), dilute, and spray.

The straining is important. I always have sprayers clogging up because there were still fine particles left.

Your garden thanks you for not using the Sevin!

But even using all edibles, it is important not to just go spray your whole garden. You don't want to drive away all the beneficial insects. Just spray where there is some problem getting out of hand. For four-footed animals, squirrels, raccoons, woodchucks, etc, really you need to fence.

[Brandywinegirl]

Thanks for the tips!

[TZ -OH6]

The membrane that connects the seed together holds the most heat, and the chemical dissolves in alcohol very easily. After extracting the heat with rubbing alcohol (for pesticide purposes) you can dilute it in water so the alcohol won't burn the plants. It very easy to do. And you can squirt the plants with any old hand sprayer without the mess of oil. You could mix it in with neam oil or other thing you mix water with to spray on plants.


I make pepper extract for culinary purposes and use vodka or 151 white rum or Everclear mixed with dried crushed habanero types that don't get fully ripe by the end of the season. That extract can be evaporated down quite a bit in the dehydrator to concentrat it even more. A drop in this or that (red wine-sangria, bourbon, chocolate milk etc.) adds heat without noticable flavor.

[Brandywinegirl]

Wow!! I learned a lot! Thanks!

[rainbowgardener]

A drop in this or that (red wine-sangria, bourbon, chocolate milk etc.) adds heat without noticable flavor.

Chocolate milk? I've heard of hot chocolate, but I don't think that's what they meant.

[TZ -OH6]

Anything chocolate, which has a subtle bite anyway.

I use my hottest powder in brownie mix. It is the redried ground stuff from making the extract. There are recipes for mixing ancho-chile powder with brownies, but that is different. That is for flavor, my way is for kick.