How to Control Pests Organically

Take small steps early to prevent big pest problems later in your organic garden. Know what to use against common invaders, and when to let go of a sick plant.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rotenone And Pyrethrin Concentrate
• Floating Row Covers
• Garden Sprayer
• Horticultural Oils
• Liquid Bleach
• Sticky Traps
• Insecticidal Soaps
• Neem Oil

1. Walk through your garden every day and keep a watchful eye out for pests. Ants crawling up stems, leaves sporting blackened spots, and plants wilting frequently can tell you that insects or fungal diseases have arrived.

2. Put insect traps and monitors such as yellow sticky bars in the garden and check them weekly. Grow vulnerable vegetables under floating row covers and keep a garden calendar to note seasonal and repeat problems.

3. Observe any damage to plants on your garden walk, then look to see what's causing it. Turn leaves over to see webs underneath and scratch in the soil for caterpillars.

4. Control the first pests you see by hand: Stomp or squish bugs, and pluck sickly leaves off the plant. Squeamish? You can pluck and drown insects in a jar of bleach.

5. Use only organic pest controls for bigger or chronic problems. Become familiar with organic pesticides: insecticidal soap, oil sprays, pyrethrins, rotenone, and garlic or red pepper sprays.

6. Spray or dust only the affected plants and repeat as directed on the label or recipe (when mixing your own). Spray or dust only when bees aren't working.

7. Use parasitic insects to combat your garden's pests whenever possible - look for mixtures of Bacillus that infest common caterpillars. Encourage beneficial insects by planting a diversity of flowers and herbs that attract them.

8. Stop trying to control the pests when the cure overwhelms your time or the plant's worthiness for your garden. Change your expectations and live with some damage, or take out the sick plants and grow something else.

Tips & Warnings

• Learn about companion planting to deter pests.
• Practice garden cleanliness to prevent pests - clean up and compost all debris.
• Avoid spraying or dusting a wilted plant.
• Even organic pesticides are toxic substances. Wear protective clothing when spraying or dusting.

[MrsLizzy]

on 7/15/2007 My mum recommends crushed eggshells (previously washed and dried, obviously!) sprinkled around plants. She says slugs don't like crawling over them because they get cut on the sharp edges. But if you have many plants you'll need a lot of eggshells, and the foul little beasts have a way of crawling up walls and dropping on plants from above. I'm currently using some rainfast slug pellets that are organic. They're bright blue and you put them out in the early morning and late evening when slugs are most active. You moisten them with a sprinkling of water to make them more attractive to the slugs but you have to be careful to keep pets away from them as they are still dangerous.

[dja21149]

on 7/7/2007 Beer in a small container will help control snails, slugs and slaters; I promise.

[vanston27]

on 4/28/2007 Dishwashing Soap and water is just as effective as bleach, and a lot less toxic.

I doubt that Diatomaceous Earth does anything for slugs, but is great for controling other soft bodied organisms.

Niban Granular bait is organic, and it controls slugs, snails, roaches, ants, and is great for silverfish.

on 6/30/2006 Diatomaceous Earth for pool filters is processed for filtering water and is far less effective for pest control than unprocessed DE. Get unprocessed DE from a garden supply store. I wish I had known this before I bought a 25 pound bag of DE from the local pool supply!

on 11/22/2005 Go to a pool store and buy some diatomaceous earth - organic, fossilized plankton thousands of years old. Sprinkle a little around the base of each plant. This stuff is like glass or minirazor blades - it will cut pests to pieces.