Becky McElhinny, owner of Deener's Farm Market, stands in one of her greenhouses. McElhinny, a horticulturalist, said gardening home remedies are effective, but should 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, said she had someone come in to the market recently to purchase ghost peppers for that purpose.

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