9 Plants That Repel Moths (Plants Moths Hate)

Tens of thousands of moth species grace the planet’s forested mountains, moist meadows, and flowery parks. These members of the order Lepidoptera are distinguished by their powdery wings, feathery antennae, and their highly evolved capacity for flight. Like butterflies, they have complex life cycles with distinct stages of growth. Some moths spend the majority of their lives as larvae, which take on the form of caterpillars until they are mature enough to metamorphose into their winged forms.

Moths are often associated with plants. Winged adults usually lay their eggs on or close to carefully selected species, which eventually become a chief source of food for their hatched young. In the process of growth, some kinds of caterpillars may heavily forage on and cause significant damage to herbaceous crops. As a result, their infestations can lead to irreversible agricultural losses.

For example, the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) relies on host plants in the Brassicaceae or cabbage family to sustain the nutritional needs of its larval and adult stages. Their caterpillars mine through leaf surfaces and inhibit the plant’s capacity to produce floral heads and seeds. While pesticides should help keep this pest’s numbers at bay, their use may have ecological consequences. Intercropping with moth-repellent plants would be a more environmentally-friendly means of controlling moth populations.

1) Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

In terms of its uses in both the kitchen and home garden, rosemary may be unrivaled as an incredibly beneficial plant. As an ornamental shrub, its upright shoots and spring-summer blooms can add vertical structure and dramatic color in sunlit and well-draining plots. As a culinary herb, it produces tough, fragrant leaves which impart a lasting flavor to complex dishes. One of its most wondrous benefits, however, is its ability to repel a wide range of pests.

The essential oil of rosemary leaves, which includes potent phytochemicals like rosmarinic acid, camphor, and carnosol, emits a strong fragrance and is notably bitter. Scent-sensitive pests, like moths and their larvae, tend to avoid the leathery leaves. Moreover, rosemary blooms attract a wealth of parasitoid wasps, which can aid in naturally decimating populations of pesky Lepidopterans.

Apart from dissuading troublesome moths from laying waste to your garden, rosemary can also be used to control their indoor spread. Notorious for consuming plant byproducts and fabrics in closets, indoor moths are usually repelled with unpleasantly-scented mothballs. Instead of using this artificial repellent, try using bags of freshly harvested rosemary sprigs instead!

2) Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

A low-growing, fragrant shrub with wonderful ornamental qualities, garden thyme can be used as a low-maintenance ground cover, border plant, natural edge, or potted specimen around an herb garden. Distinguished by increasingly woody yet delicate shoots, it bears tiny, greyish-green leaves and dense spikes of spritely blooms. The sun-loving, fragrant leaves can serve as a soft cushion that competes with weeds and repels many pests.

Intercropping vulnerable herbs with containers of garden thyme should help attract beneficial insects while keeping scent-sensitive moths away. Practically disease and pest-free, this species is resistant to grazing and is seldom ever targeted by the leaf-eating larvae of moths. The essential oil, which contains compounds like thymol, linalool, and carvacrol, can serve as an ecologically friendly insecticide and antimicrobial.

To create a moth repellent from your garden’s own sprigs of common thyme, harvest a few robust shoots. You may spread these around key parts of the home or incorporate them into sachets containing other fragrant herbs. You may also use store-bought extracts of thyme to target larvae that may already be boring through the leaves of any nutritious vegetables or ornamentals.

3) Lavender (Lavandula spp.)

There’s nothing quite like an expanse of lavender stands in full bloom, especially in open landscapes throughout their native range. These valuable plants are truly some of the most ecologically powerful aromatics. With an alluring scent that can relax the human nervous system, they contain a wealth of pharmacologically valuable chemicals with culinary and environmental applications.

English lavender (L. angustifolia), one of the primary sources of lavender essential oil, is a rich source of linalool, camphor, caryophyllene, and limonene. The insecticidal effects of these individual compounds on various small pests, like ticks, flies, and caterpillars, have been the subject of a number of scientific studies. Their collective impact on both the flavor and scent of lavender oils highlights the herb’s capacity as a natural pest repellent. It can be used to prevent the codling moth (Cydia pomonella), for example, from attacking fruits.

As the leaves of lavender plants are distinctly bitter, moth larvae are unlikely to rely on them for food. There are a few species that may have evolved defenses against the oils, but the majority are likely to keep away once they get a strong whiff. In fact, lavender is effective as an alternative to mothballs. You can use sachets of its fresh leaves to keep your home free of moths.

4) Peppermint (Mentha x piperita)

For moisture-rich parts of the garden, such as the borders around ponds and rain gardens, peppermint would be ideal as a pest-repellent ornamental. Relatively low-maintenance and disease-free, it can quickly spread to create a live, fragrant border of tender leaves. Crushing or rubbing the leaves releases their overwhelming aroma and signals the presence of toxins to both leaf-eating insects and larger grazers.

 A natural hybrid between water mint (M. aquatica) and spearmint (M. spicata), peppermint contains one of the most potent and valuable combinations of phytochemicals in the mint family (Lamiaceae). Both the fresh and dried leaves are usually aromatic enough to repel moths in both indoor and outdoor locations. Menthol, menthone, limonene, and 1,8-cineole tend to dominate the chemical composition of their oils.

Pantry moths, which lay their eggs in sacks of grains, can quickly infest entire kitchens and food storage areas. One way of controlling their spread is by lining the pantry with peppermint oil. As food items should not be directly exposed to mothballs, peppermint oil can serve as an effective and safe alternative. Pots of peppermint can also be grown in between vulnerable herbs and grains outdoors. The scent emitted by the leaves should dissuade moths from laying eggs in intercropped areas.

5) Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus)

Named for the lemon-like scent of its lengthy fronds, lemongrass favors warm climates with fairly humid conditions. This fragrant member of the Poaceae family of true grasses is traditionally cultivated for culinary purposes. It also has many herbal uses and is believed to have antibacterial, antifungal, and, interestingly, hypnotic properties. While the latter belief remains to be somewhat anecdotal, there’s no denying that this plant can bring a wealth of natural benefits to the garden.

Lemongrass essential oil, which is responsible for imparting the plant’s citrus flavor, is rich in citral, geraniol, citronellal, and citronellol. These bioactive compounds collectively generate a scent that is strong enough to aid in the control of insect infestations, especially in grain storage areas and fields with cash crops.

Moths with sensitivities towards citrus fragrances can be expected to stay away from lemongrass-scented items like candles, diffusers, and sprays. Other species under the Cymbopogon genus also have potential as they emit strong scents. Citronella grass (C. nardus), for instance, can play the same insect-repellent roles as lemongrass.

6) Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.)

Dubbed the ‘deadliest flower in the insect world’, the chrysanthemum is best recognized by its petal-heavy flower heads. These come in a wide range of colors and densities, with some having dozens of vivid petals on just a single head. To humans, chrysanthemum flowers are virtually harmless. To bugs, on the other hand, they contain volatile chemicals with potentially fatal effects upon contact.

Chrysanthemum flower heads contain pyrethrins. These are complex chemicals with pesticidal effects on ants, mosquitoes, flies, spiders, fleas, adult moths, and moth larvae, among many other pests. Usually extracted from flowers in a powdered form, these chemicals can be incorporated into organic moth repellents and toxic sprays. They can also be sprinkled on the foliage of vulnerable crops.

Pyrethrin-based insecticides can be used either indoors or outdoors. They are often lauded as one of the safer insect repellents for use in closets and storage areas (as opposed to mothballs and other artificially-produced insecticides) as they are unlikely to leave dangerous residues. Note that only the flowers of chrysanthemums contain pyrethrin, however. The rest of the plant does not possess repellent properties.

7) Garlic (Allium sativum)

Widely cultivated for its immensely flavorful and pharmacologically-valuable bulbs, garlic is now one of the world’s most popular root crops. Having been incorporated into culinary dishes for thousands of years, it’s no surprise that it is easy to grow, fairly disease-resistant, and naturally repels dozens of types of pests. Of course, it’s the scent of the oils of both the bulbs and leaves that hold the secret to this plant’s repellent nature.

Damaging the cells of garlic cloves induces a cascade of chemical interactions that lead to the production of sulfur-containing compounds (e.g. allicin, ajoene, S-allyl cysteine, etc.). Among members of the Allium genus, garlic produces the highest concentrations of these compounds. These likely evolved to protect the bulbs against subterranean pests and herbivores. Nonetheless, they also work splendidly for insects and grazers above ground.

Intercropping vulnerable crops with garlic has been shown to repel some types of moths, including the diamondback moth. When grown in between rows of cabbage heads, garlic can be just as effective against the diamondback moth as chemical pesticides. This goes to show that it can be an incredibly beneficial and environment-friendly crop in cabbage farms, where the use of organic repellents can go a long way in terms of finances and food safety considerations.

8) Pepper (Capsicum spp.)

Pepper plants are flowering, herbaceous herbs that produce bright red fruits. When consumed, some of these fruits create a distinctly hot sensation as they come into contact with the walls of the digestive system. Their juices may also be hot enough to cause unpleasant symptoms upon contact with the skin or eye. Many of the hottest kinds (with Scoville units in the millions) are products of careful breeding and are grown in dedicated farms throughout Mexico and the southern US.

Most members of the Capsicum genus contain capsaicin, the chemical compound responsible for the burning sensation of peppers. This compound can be extracted by finely crushing red peppers into a pulp and adding the liquid into a water-based solution. The solution can then be brushed onto indoor surfaces or sprayed onto the leaves of vulnerable crops, like low-growing leafy vegetables.

As the diamondback moth has become resistant to many modern and artificially-developed insecticides, capsaicin-based repellents have been highlighted as potential forms of crop protection against their larvae. Moreover, as this compound naturally breaks down over the course of a few days, it gives beneficial insects, like parasitoid wasps, a chance to revisit crops and target any surviving moth eggs and larvae.

9) Tick clover (Desmodium spp.)

Tick clovers belong to a group of plants under the Fabaceae or legume family. Largely inconspicuous in the wild, these typically occur as small herbs and may develop weed-like growth patterns in both tropical and temperate environments. Usually beneficial as long-term pasture plants, they can be grown as ground cover or as fillers in between crops. Agriculturally, they have potential as a form of “living mulch” or as sources of anti-insect compounds.

Tick clovers have shown promise as major components of ‘push-pull crop protection strategies’. This involves growing them as intercrops to suppress the development of various Lepidopteran life stages. When grown in between trap crops and main crops, they aid in producing allelopathic compounds that target both weeds and troublesome insects like the stem-boring grass moth (Chilo partellus).

The chemical compounds produced by Desmodium species are usually highest in concentration around the roots of the plant. As the larvae of stem-boring moths typically work their way toward the base of stems and into root systems, they inadvertently expose themselves to these compounds. When grown around grass crops (like maize and sorghum) that attract stemborers, tick clovers also lure the natural enemies of moths.