Every garden has its fair share of annoying drawbacks, one being various kinds of pests. And dont think for one minute that organic gardens are without them!
What is different in an organic garden as opposed to a conventional garden is the way you fight these pests. In our organic garden we want to fight them in an environmentally safe way, and not use strong chemicals that will cause harm to plants, good insects, your soil, and to you and your family. And they will often accumulate and also trickle down into the ground water.
Tips 1 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Handpicking For bugs big enough to be seen and picked, this is by far the most easy and least costly way. Enjoy your garden in the early morning and in the evening, and while doing that scrutinize your plants and remove all the little fellows you can see that are doing harm to your plants. Drown them in soapy water or just squeeze them.
Tips 2 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Homemade solutions to spray in your garden Bugs will suffocate when covered in soapy water, so a simple solution of 1 dl of natural soap added to 1 liter of water will do the trick. Spray your plants every other day for a week or two with a spray bottle to get rid of all the bugs that hatch. Make sure you spray the whole plant, even under the leaves.
Aphids are easily removed by this, but sometimes spider mites are slightly harder to get rid off.
A stronger remedy is this: Put 2-3 garlic cloves, a few large hot chili peppers and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a blender and mix well, then strain the mixture. Add 1 tablespoon natural soap or dishwashing soap (may get bubbly!) and 1 liter of water and mix well once more. Pour into spray bottle and spray frequently, though not during mid day or in really hot and sunny weather, as this can burn the leaves of your plants.
This scares away most animal pests in your garden, even mice and moles if you spray near their holes. There is one major back draw with both of these remedies though: They will get rid of the good insects as well, which leads us to
Organic Garden Pest Control 3: Biological pest control Let the good bugs do the job! The ladybug is very efficient, it eats plenty of aphids (and is pretty to watch!). Lacewings and praying mantis are also good at this, and can be lured into your garden by plants that attract them. You can also buy these good bugs or other parasites (that is, parasitic on your pests) to establish an ecological balance among your garden bugs. These bugs or parasites can be bought in egg sacks or live, and are very efficient and a really environmentally friendly way to pest control.
Organic Garden Pest Control 4: Choosing scary plants and maintaining good plant health Note, the plants are supposed to be scary for the pests, not for you! Good plants for this are wormwood, lavender, marigolds, garlic and onions. I believe all of these are easily fitted into both your flower garden and your vegetable garden. For example, onions can be planted amongst carrot plants to prevent the carrot root fly from harming your carrots (companion planting), and marigolds can be planted anywhere!
Make sure your plants grow in healthy soil, rich in nutrients, in order to keep them vigorous and strong. By doing that your plants will be able to flourish even if they are attacked by one pest or another.
Step 5: Organic Garden Pest Control by Spreading Mineral Dust Not any old dust will do however, it has to be Diatomaceous earth, which will penetrate the hard exoskeleton of insects like ants, fleas or small beetles. This will cause them to dry out. Spread a thin layer of the mineral on the ground, and repeat after heavy rain or watering.
Hollyhock saviour! Many are the gardeners giving up on hollyhocks because of the fungus that makes the leaves turn reddish brown and eventually fall of. However, if you use this homemade solution your hollyhocks will be able to keep their leaves and look the way they should.
Horsetail, enough to fill a kettle and covered with water, should boil for a minimum of 10 minutes. Having done that, filter the contents of the kettle, dilute the fluid with 5-10 times of water. This homemade remedy is to be sprayed all over on your hollyhocks and under the leaves.
The best of luck with keeping pests off and your plants healthy and beautiful!
What is different in an organic garden as opposed to a conventional garden is the way you fight these pests. In our organic garden we want to fight them in an environmentally safe way, and not use strong chemicals that will cause harm to plants, good insects, your soil, and to you and your family. And they will often accumulate and also trickle down into the ground water.
Tips 1 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Handpicking For bugs big enough to be seen and picked, this is by far the most easy and least costly way. Enjoy your garden in the early morning and in the evening, and while doing that scrutinize your plants and remove all the little fellows you can see that are doing harm to your plants. Drown them in soapy water or just squeeze them.
Tips 2 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Homemade solutions to spray in your garden Bugs will suffocate when covered in soapy water, so a simple solution of 1 dl of natural soap added to 1 liter of water will do the trick. Spray your plants every other day for a week or two with a spray bottle to get rid of all the bugs that hatch. Make sure you spray the whole plant, even under the leaves.
Aphids are easily removed by this, but sometimes spider mites are slightly harder to get rid off.
A stronger remedy is this: Put 2-3 garlic cloves, a few large hot chili peppers and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a blender and mix well, then strain the mixture. Add 1 tablespoon natural soap or dishwashing soap (may get bubbly!) and 1 liter of water and mix well once more. Pour into spray bottle and spray frequently, though not during mid day or in really hot and sunny weather, as this can burn the leaves of your plants.
This scares away most animal pests in your garden, even mice and moles if you spray near their holes. There is one major back draw with both of these remedies though: They will get rid of the good insects as well, which leads us to
Organic Garden Pest Control 3: Biological pest control Let the good bugs do the job! The ladybug is very efficient, it eats plenty of aphids (and is pretty to watch!). Lacewings and praying mantis are also good at this, and can be lured into your garden by plants that attract them. You can also buy these good bugs or other parasites (that is, parasitic on your pests) to establish an ecological balance among your garden bugs. These bugs or parasites can be bought in egg sacks or live, and are very efficient and a really environmentally friendly way to pest control.
Organic Garden Pest Control 4: Choosing scary plants and maintaining good plant health Note, the plants are supposed to be scary for the pests, not for you! Good plants for this are wormwood, lavender, marigolds, garlic and onions. I believe all of these are easily fitted into both your flower garden and your vegetable garden. For example, onions can be planted amongst carrot plants to prevent the carrot root fly from harming your carrots (companion planting), and marigolds can be planted anywhere!
Make sure your plants grow in healthy soil, rich in nutrients, in order to keep them vigorous and strong. By doing that your plants will be able to flourish even if they are attacked by one pest or another.
Step 5: Organic Garden Pest Control by Spreading Mineral Dust Not any old dust will do however, it has to be Diatomaceous earth, which will penetrate the hard exoskeleton of insects like ants, fleas or small beetles. This will cause them to dry out. Spread a thin layer of the mineral on the ground, and repeat after heavy rain or watering.
Hollyhock saviour! Many are the gardeners giving up on hollyhocks because of the fungus that makes the leaves turn reddish brown and eventually fall of. However, if you use this homemade solution your hollyhocks will be able to keep their leaves and look the way they should.
Horsetail, enough to fill a kettle and covered with water, should boil for a minimum of 10 minutes. Having done that, filter the contents of the kettle, dilute the fluid with 5-10 times of water. This homemade remedy is to be sprayed all over on your hollyhocks and under the leaves.
The best of luck with keeping pests off and your plants healthy and beautiful!
About the Author:
Hopefully you grow now learnt something about organic garden pest control. Do you plan to begin with or do you already grow an organic garden? Then you need to know how to avoid the traps that will make you go wrong and lose your self-confidence. Learn about this and much more http://organicgardentips.org!
No comments:
Post a Comment