Chemical Free Pest Management

Every garden season is filled with beautiful or tasty surprises and a few challenges. Prevent or reduce challenges and damage caused by insect pests and still be kind to the environment.

Remove small populations of insects by hand or use a strong blast of water to knock aphids and mites off plants.

Barriers of floating row covers can keep cabbage worms, onion maggots and other insects from laying eggs on their favorite plants. Cover the plants with the fabric at planting, anchor the edges and leave enough slack for plants to grow. Uncover flowering plants if bees are needed for pollination

Or set out a yellow bowl filled with soapy water. The yellow attracts aphids and other harmful pests, they crash into the water and drown.

With minimal time and a bit of creativity you can keep your garden looking good all season long. 

A bit more information: Traps, barriers and hand picking can keep insect populations and their damage to a tolerable level. If the insects are winning the battle you may be tempted to reach for chemical controls. Check out the many natural solutions that help keep pests under control with minimal impact on the environment.

Insecticidal soaps have been formulated to be tough on mites, aphids and other soft bodied insects and soft on the environment. Neem is a plant derived pest control product. One formulation controls insects while another manages plant diseases. And dont forget some of the old favorites like Bacillus thuringiensis that kills the larvae of true caterpillars. Different strains of this bacteria are available for controlling the larvae of mosquitoes, fungus gnats and potato beetles.

And as always read and follow label directions for safe application and effective control.

Tags

sustainable-gardening mites floating-row-cover problems-pests-weeds aphids

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