Organic insecticides are a prime need for those who are into organic farming. In organic farming, you depend on your farming methods to ensure that your plants do not have pests, but even when there are pests, you can learn to ignore some of them as long as they are not enough to cause damage to your plants. However, when you reach a stage whereby you need to get rid of your pests, you need to use organic insecticides to get rid of these pests.
Organic insecticides are thought to be environmentally sound, causing no harm to the earth, humans, or animals. They often consist of such things as fatty acids and plant oils. Natural pesticides act upon pests either through contact, or through absorption by the pests of these chemicals. The advantage of using organic pesticides is more of a reverse strategy, whereby you consider that artificial pesticides can use harmful chemicals (DDT anyone?), with a lot of residue left behind that affects other insects and pollutes through run-offs into rivers and streams.
However, you should keep in mind that using pesticides is part of an overall pest avoidance strategy that employs the usage of traps, and naturally occurring insects / other animals which counter the pests. This is also because artificial insecticides are more powerful than organic ones, and you need to compensate with a more comprehensive pest avoidance strategy. You need to ensure that you are following all these tactics before you start considering the use of pesticides (even organic pesticides). Further, just because an insecticide is organic does not mean that it is totally harmless; you should make sure that you are using the insecticide in the quantities and in the mechanism as directed. Also, be careful about the exact insecticide you are using.
Read this article for how to buy organic insecticides (link).

If you are into organic farming (or if you are following organic principles for your kitchen garden), then it is very important for you to know all about organic insecticides. One of the problems quote in traditional ways of farming is the use of chemical / synthetic pesticides that leave residues that make their way into animals and humans, and also end up polluting the soil and water. So, what is an organic insecticide ? It is a substance made from natural ingredients that is used for repelling insects and pests; you still need to repel pests and insects even if you go organic.
Organic insecticides are also specialized, in the sense that certain insecticides work on different insects / pests, and you need to do the necessary research to ensure that you have identified the pest you need to get rid of, and what insecticide you need to use. Before making that decision though, ensure that you have actually reviewed that you do have an insecticide or pest problem. Just because an insect is eating away the leaves from your plant does not mean that the plant or the produce is getting harmed (plants can take a loss of upto 25-33% of their leaf cover before their growth is harmed).
Further, ensure that you have also checked out that there are no natural predators that you can use; for example, certain bugs eat insects or pests as a part of nature, and using that solution might work out better. However once you have decided that you have a pest problem that cannot be solved by any other means, then you need to use an organic insecticide.

Ad: Click Here to learn how to double your tomato harvest!

The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals

What do you mean by Organic Gardening ?
Organic Gardening primarily means not using synthetic products such as fertilizers and pesticides. It means working much more closely with nature, and using natural means to increase the level of ingredients and essential materials such as nitrogen to the soil, and using natural means to counter pests such as insects.
An important part of going organic is that you need to change your style of dealing with problems. In normal gardening, where you do not have to follow organic principles, you can deal with pests once they occur by treating them with pesticide; you can deal with scarcity of nutrients by adding fertilizer. If you are following organic gardening principles, what you really need to do is to try and prevent problems rather than having to deal with them as they occur. Taking the initial steps to make your garden healthier results in having fewer problems to deal with and healthier plants, fewer pest and disease problems.
As a part of this, you need to make sure that your soil is healthy, has all the required nutrients, that you take care to ensure that the plants you are planting are healthy (and you have enough knowledge of the plants you are planting in terms of their requirements and their growth cycles), that you check your plants on a regular basis and have setup a frequency of checking along with a checklist of what to check. It is very important to have a knowledge of the pests in your garden, as not all insects and animals in the garden are harmful (many insects and animals actually help in pest control); further, the damange inflicted by some pests can be minimal and not really affect your plants.
The insistence of not using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers is an important part of the growth of an organic garden, and not to be compromized with. It is more of a mind set change that you need to rule out the use of such chemicals. This does not mean that you cannot use pesticides, there are a whole range of pesticides and insect repellants that are based on organic ingredients and which are overall of benefit to the environment (the run-off of pesticides and fertilizers into water systems is now a major environmental and health problem).
Finally, let me round off this summary of organic gardening principles with this definition:

“an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony”

Advertisement:

Seems like today is the day to get useful information via email, and then publish the same (since this information is concise and useful)

Garlic Oil Spray Target insects: Aphids, cabbage loopers, grasshoppers, June bugs, leafhoppers, mites, squash bugs, slugs and whiteflies. May also help to repel rabbits! Never use oils sprays on Blue Spruce as it will remove the blue waxy coating on the needles! Because garlic contains naturally occurring sulfur it also acts as an antibacterial agent and fungus preventative.

To make: Combine 3 ounces of minced garlic cloves with 1 ounce of mineral oil. Let soak for 24 hours or longer. Strain. Next mix 1 teaspoon of fish emulsion with 16 ounces of water. Add 1 tablespoon of castille soap to this. Now slowly combine the fish emulsion water with the garlic oil. Kept in a sealed glass container this mixture will stay viable for several months. To use: Mix 2 tablespoons of garlic oil with 1 pint of water and spray.

When working with oil sprays you want to monitor the climate conditions so your plants won’t get phytotoxic burn. Use this simple equation: Take the current outdoor Fahrenheit temperature then add to this the percentage of humidity, if the total is more than 140 don’t spray.

Example: Temperature of 80 degrees plus humidity of 67 percent equals 147, don’t spray. You also do not want to spray when temps are above 80F.

Horseradish Pesticide

How about some alternative uses for this invasive plant?
Target insects: Aphids, blister beetles, caterpillars, Colorado beetles, whiteflies and soft-bodied insects. Maybe even slugs.
To make: Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add 2 cups of cayenne peppers, a 1 inch piece of chopped horseradish root, and 2 cups of packed scented geranium leaves, any kind. Let mixture steep for 1 hour, cool, strain and spray. Note: this can be made without the scented geranium leaves if you don’t have them to spare.

NOTE: Penn State University announced in 1995 that minced horseradish holds promise in decontaminating wastewater and now says it may clean contaminated soils as well! Penn State’s center for Bioremediation and Detoxification reports that minced horseradish combined with hydrogen peroxide can completely remove chlorinated phenols and other contaminants found in industrial wastes. Experiments involve applying the mixture directly to tainted soils or growing horseradish in contaminated soil and rototilling the roots just before applying hydrogen peroxide!

The cleansing properties of horseradish have been known for more than a decade, however treating a purified form has been far too expensive. This method has proved to be just as effective, but at a fraction of the cost!

Lime Spray

Target insects: Cucumber beetles, mites and general purpose.

To make: Mix 1 ounce of hydrated lime, 32 ounces of water and 1 teaspoon of castille soap. Use up to twice a week.
Marigold Spray (use pot marigold: Calendula officinalis)

Target insects: Repels asparagus beetles, tomato hornworms, leaf cutting and chewing insects, like leaf cutting bees on your roses and lilacs.

To make: Mash 1 cup of marigold leaves and flowers. Mix with 1 pint of water. Let soak for 24 hours. Strain through cheesecloth. Dilute further with 1 1/2 quarts of water then add 1/4 teaspoon of castille soap. Spray target areas.

Orange Peel Spray

Oranges and other citrus fruit contain natural ocurring pesticide compounds called limonene and linalool. These compounds can be used as a treatment for soft bodied pests such as aphids, fungus gnats, mealy bugs and as an ant repellant.

To Make: Pour 2 cups of boiling water over peelings of one orange. Let this steep for about 24 hours. Strain the mixture into a glass jar and toss the peels into the compost. Use this liquid as a spray mixing in a few drops of castille soap on target insects or on ants and their nests. Smells nice too!
Pepper and Herb Dusts

Target Insects: General

Peppers and certain herbs contain the compound “capasaicin” which will irritate and repel many insects. Cayenne, chili, dill, paprika, red and black peppers can be used as dusts. Purchase the cheapest you can find, or grow hot peppers and dill in your garden. Dry them and pulverize them in a food processor. Sprinkle on moist plant foliage and the surrounding soil.

Pepper Spray

Target insects: All-purpose

Just like the pepper dusts a spray made from hot peppers will release the capasaicin compound to repel insects.
To make: Mix 1/2 cup of finely chopped or ground hot peppers with 1 pint of water. Let this sit for 24 hours. Use as is for a soil drench application or strain the mixture through cheesecloth until you have a clear liquid. Add a few drops of castille soap and use as a foliar application. Keep away from your eyes and skin when using.

Tomato or Potato Leaf Spray

Target insects: Repels asparagus beetles and flea beetles.This will kill earworms and maggots and acts as an antifeedent for other insects.