Alternatives to Pesticides for Garden Plants
As awareness of the environment has increased, many gardeners have become interested in options for minimizing the use of pesticides in their home landscapes. Fortunately, there are many good alternatives for disease and insect control. Understanding what healthy plants require and learning how to manage pests in your climate are the first steps to reducing the need for pesticides. Your local extension office may offer further advice on scientifically proven methods for alternative control of pest problems
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Preventing Pest Problems
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The most important, though often overlooked, alternative to the use of pesticides is to start with a healthy plant. Plant breeders are continually improving plants that are naturally resistant to common diseases such as verticillium wilt on tomatoes or powdery mildew on garden phlox. Picking plants that grow well in your climate and then maintaining them with proper soil, water and fertilizer conditions can often prevent attack from insects and disease. Ensuring good air circulation is also an easy way to prevent fungal diseases. Cleanup of spent foliage from the previous season is another effective preventative method of control.
Physical Controls
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Often insects and diseases can be managed in ornamental and vegetable gardens through weeding, picking off caterpillars or other insects, and providing a barrier to the source of the pest. Examples of such a barrier is mulching to avoid soil splash on the lower leaves of plants, since soils often contain bacteria or other pathogens. Another example of a physical barrier might be putting light netting over broccoli and strawberries to exclude insect pests.
Biological Controls
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Nature provides many options to pesticides through enemies of common insects and diseases. Predatory insects such as lacewings and ladybugs and beneficial fungi or bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are effective control methods against common aphids and caterpillars. Addition of compost to the soil is known to have natural tendencies to prevent some fungal and bacterial diseases.
Organic Pesticides
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Where preventative, physical and biological controls have not been effective, organic substances can be used as an alternative to conventional pesticides. Organic pesticides are usually naturally occurring substances in the environment, but gardeners should note that just because a pesticide is organic does not mean it cannot be toxic. For example pyrethrin-type pesticides are based on naturally occurring chemicals found in mums. They are effective agents used against insects but must be used according to the directions on the product label. Neem, insecticidal soap and horticultural oil are other organic products used against pests.
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