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.
Organic Garden Pest Control 2: Spray homemade remedies on your plants The simplest one is this: Add 1 dl of natural soap to 1 liter of water. Pour into a spray bottle and spray your plants. Note that you must spray on the whole plant, as the bug will suffocate when covered with the soapy water. Repeat frequently to kill of the bugs that hatch in the next few days.
This works well with aphids, and sometimes with spider mites, but not always.
A mixture of 2-3 garlic cloves, 3-4 large chili peppers and 2 tablespoons of some vegetable oil, blended well in your blender, then strained and added to 1 liter of water plus 1 tablespoon of natural soap (or dishwashing soap) makes a stronger homemade solution for fighting bugs. When spraying this on your plants, avoid spraying during mid day or in really hot weather, because that may harm the leaves on your plants by burning them.
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
Tips 3 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Introducing the good bugs This is professionaly called biological pest control. There are several bugs that do the job, the ladybug for one is a really good worker eating aphids with a healthy appetite. Others that are also good at this are the lacewing and the praying mantis. They can be cajoled to move into your garden by growing plants that attract them, or bought in egg sacks or live from a company specialised in this area. Using biological pest control is totally environmentally friendly, as you use the good bugs to establish an ecological balance between them and the ones you that harm your crop.
Tips 4 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Growing plants that deter the pests Lavender, wormwood, marigolds, onions and garlic are all good plants to choose for scaring off some of the pests in your organic garden. Lavender are wonderful as border plants and as companions to roses or other flowering bushes. Wormwood is actually good for the same purposes, and of course in your herbal garden. When you plant onions amongst your carrots, you will scare off the carrot root fly!
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.
Tips 5 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: How to get rid of ants, fleas and other crawling insects An environmentally friendly way to get rid of small insects like ants is spreading a thin layer of Diatomaceous earth on the ground. This mineral dust pierces the exoskeleton of these small but annoying creatures, leaving them to dry out. You need to repeat the process after watering or heavy rain.
Extra tip for hollyhocks! Hollyhocks often suffer from fungus attacks causing the leaves to become all reddish brown and then fall off. The plant itself usually survives, but it looks terrible with the naked stem and the flowers at the top. But here is a remedy for this nuisance:
Fill a kettle with horsetail, add water to cover and boil for at least 10 minutes. Then filter, dilute 5 to 10 times with water, pour into spray bottle and spray your plants all over, including under the leaves.
I wish you good luck in keeping a heatlhy and beautiful garden!
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.
Organic Garden Pest Control 2: Spray homemade remedies on your plants The simplest one is this: Add 1 dl of natural soap to 1 liter of water. Pour into a spray bottle and spray your plants. Note that you must spray on the whole plant, as the bug will suffocate when covered with the soapy water. Repeat frequently to kill of the bugs that hatch in the next few days.
This works well with aphids, and sometimes with spider mites, but not always.
A mixture of 2-3 garlic cloves, 3-4 large chili peppers and 2 tablespoons of some vegetable oil, blended well in your blender, then strained and added to 1 liter of water plus 1 tablespoon of natural soap (or dishwashing soap) makes a stronger homemade solution for fighting bugs. When spraying this on your plants, avoid spraying during mid day or in really hot weather, because that may harm the leaves on your plants by burning them.
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
Tips 3 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Introducing the good bugs This is professionaly called biological pest control. There are several bugs that do the job, the ladybug for one is a really good worker eating aphids with a healthy appetite. Others that are also good at this are the lacewing and the praying mantis. They can be cajoled to move into your garden by growing plants that attract them, or bought in egg sacks or live from a company specialised in this area. Using biological pest control is totally environmentally friendly, as you use the good bugs to establish an ecological balance between them and the ones you that harm your crop.
Tips 4 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: Growing plants that deter the pests Lavender, wormwood, marigolds, onions and garlic are all good plants to choose for scaring off some of the pests in your organic garden. Lavender are wonderful as border plants and as companions to roses or other flowering bushes. Wormwood is actually good for the same purposes, and of course in your herbal garden. When you plant onions amongst your carrots, you will scare off the carrot root fly!
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.
Tips 5 for Your Organic Garden Pest Control: How to get rid of ants, fleas and other crawling insects An environmentally friendly way to get rid of small insects like ants is spreading a thin layer of Diatomaceous earth on the ground. This mineral dust pierces the exoskeleton of these small but annoying creatures, leaving them to dry out. You need to repeat the process after watering or heavy rain.
Extra tip for hollyhocks! Hollyhocks often suffer from fungus attacks causing the leaves to become all reddish brown and then fall off. The plant itself usually survives, but it looks terrible with the naked stem and the flowers at the top. But here is a remedy for this nuisance:
Fill a kettle with horsetail, add water to cover and boil for at least 10 minutes. Then filter, dilute 5 to 10 times with water, pour into spray bottle and spray your plants all over, including under the leaves.
I wish you good luck in keeping a heatlhy and beautiful garden!
About the Author:
Amelia Lathyrus is an experienced organic gardener who has been gardening and producing her own food for a number of years. She shares her and other gardeners knowledge on how to start an organic garden on her site Organic Garden Tips!
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