A healthy garden has a lot of insect activity, which is fascinating to watch. Most insects in your garden are beneficial, but a few are harmful to your plants. Dealing with these few, it's best to use lots of common sense.
You can reduce pest and disease problems even before you plant by sowing disease-resistant seed varieties, using treated seed and planting a variety of crops. Then plant a little extra for uninvited guests.
Being vigilant and knowing what you're looking for, as well as knowing when you should act, is vital. Some discoloration or chewed leaves on mature plants near the end of the season, for instance, is not as serious as an attack on very young plants at the beginning of the season. The stronger plant is likely to survive, whereas the tender seedling may succumb. Remember that it's natural to share your garden with some insects, so you only need to know when you should act in your garden's defense.
Sometimes Mother Nature takes care of your problems even before you know they're problems. Natural enemies such as parasitic wasps or ladybugs already present in your garden will attack and destroy harmful insects.
You can reduce insect problems by continually working on natural preventive techniques. Keep a close eye on the garden to catch any signs of trouble early, and learn what to look for. Often you can get rid of plants with early signs of disease or handpick small companies of insects before any great damage is done. Keep the garden clean of debris and weeds that can carry diseases or harbor insects. Compost, till or spade under healthy, spent crops.
Mow the grass around the garden to discourage insects and pests. If you feel you want to use commercially available insect controls for vegetables, reach for the least toxic preparation. They should always be used with care only as needed. A useful, nonchemical preparation is bacillus thuringiensis (sold as Bt, Dipel and other brand names), which is available at garden supply shops. It's a natural bacterium that is nontoxic to plants, animals and people but effectively controls tomato and cabbage worms and other pesky worms without being harmful to earthworms.
Other ways to control insects and diseases include tomato/potato spray which prevents insect pests and blights on these two important crops when sprayed every 7 to 10 days starting when you plant. Cutworms, a plague to many young plants, can be controlled simply by wrapping paper collars around the tender stems at planting time.
Things to keep in mind when controlling insects in the garden:
Some chemical products, including Sevin, are harmful to bees. If you use them, do so near evening after the bees are done gathering for the day. Decreased bee activity will reduce pollination and yields in your garden.
Check the label on any commercial product to find out if there is a waiting period between use and harvest. Read the label three times: when you buy the product, when you use it, and when you carefully put it away.
Pay attention to the timing and the life cycle of the insect you're dealing with. If you catch the problem early before the eggs hatch and hundreds or thousands of new insects emerge you'll need less control and there'll be less damage to the crops.
When using a soapy water solution in the garden, use a biodegradable brand of soap (it will say so on the label). Such products contain few or no phosphates. A soapy solution can be used with most commercial control products. Insects are repelled by the bitter taste and the sticky base the soap creates on plant surfaces.
No matter what home remedy or commercial spray product you're using, it will be most effective if you spray both the undersides and tops of the leaves, as well as the stem of each plant.
Copyright NGA
Reprinted with permission HouseNet, Inc.
Controlling Insect Pests