Organic Pest Control – DIY Guide
Organic Pest Control come to life when we want to have our own garden or maybe small backyard vegetable garden. There are many pests relating to gardening like root maggots, flea beetles, slug, squash bug, aphid, cabbage worm & … the lists goes on, the thing is how we can deal with these pests in an organic & natural way. In this article we are going to discuss some green pest control strategies you can use on your own.
The Best solution for pest control is pest prevention in the first place & the most important thing is to build good soil so that the plants get the food they need & grow stronger and healthier. Biological pest control like adding bacterial compost, fungal compost, the trace minerals like rock dust, C90, applying compost tea, the worm casting, the insect frass and all the other biologic agents that actually put the bacteria and fungi and other microorganisms into your soil so that they can ensure your plant thrive.
What types of Organic Pest Control are the best?
To answer this question, you need first to identify which types of pest you are dealing with in your garden so you can apply the best organic pest control accordingly. Assume you find out the pest type now we are showing you how to control them naturally.
- Garlic-pepper spray (make out of garlic, oil, dish soap plus added water)
- Milky spore disease (also know as Paenibacillus popillae, is mostly effective in killing & controlling Japanese beetle grubs.)
- Poultry predation (buy chickens and grow them in your garden, this solution is among the best to control many bugs naturally)
- Iron phosphate bait for slug & snails (Actually this one is not organic, but claimed to be natural, search more in google)
- Diatomaceous earth (Kind of a soft, porous sedimentary layer produced from the fossils leftovers of diatoms)
- Crop rotation (is a practice designed to minimise pests & reduce inorganic pesticides use & maintain healthy soil.)
- Beneficial nematodes (such as a roundworm or threadworm)
- Good garden sanitation (keep your garden always clean)
- Neem
- Handpicking the pests (works fine with some slow producing pests in small quantity)
- Row covers (cover you crops for pest control)
- Insecticidal soap spray (Mostly are pure liquid soap like Castile or all-natural soap plus water)
- Attracting beneficials (Like Birds & Insects that can help you with this Organic process)
- Horticultural oil (are made out of 2 cups of vegetable oil + 1/2 cup of dishwashing detergent)
Here we list the common garden pests & the way to treat them naturally (although there are many other ways for organic pest control, here we list some of the most efficient ones):
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Aphid: Insecticidal soap, attracting beneficial insects like ladybugs and use of horticultural oil, remove physically for minor infestations. |
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Armyworm: handpicking, row covers, First remove their eggs (white dots on the plants), use pheromone traps for the moths, attract birds & beneficial insects |
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Asparagus beetle: Poultry predation (it means you buy chickens for example & let them be in your garden to eat your unwanted insects), use neem & handpicking |
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Blister beetle: Neem, use of poultry & attract birds, handpicking (although hand picking is not a great solution but in small backyard gardens it is recommended that you use this solution) |
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Cabbage root maggot: Crop your rotation seasonally (use your land for different types of plants each time), beneficial nematodes, diatomaceous earth |
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Cabbage worm: Bacillus thuringiens, handpicking, covers for your rows, you can also use Trichogramma Wasps (small parasitic wasp that attacks the eggs of other insects) |
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Carrot rust fly: Crop your rotation, beneficial nematodes, use diatomaceous earth on your garden, attract birds (birds love these insects) |
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Corn earworm: Bacillus thuringiens, use horticultural oil, attract birds to your yard or garden, beneficial nematodes |
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Cucumber beetle: Poultry, neem & handpicking, attract bug-eating birds by building nests & providing food in it. |
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Cutworm: Rigid collars, Bt (Bacillus thuringiens), diatomaceous earth, Using beneficial like blue birds & goldfinch |
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Flea beetle: Insecticidal soap, manymake & use garlic-pepper spray, Buy row covers for covering your plant base
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Harlequin bug: Handpicking, good garden sanitation will help you a lot, use of neem is advisable |
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Japanese beetle: Handpicking, row covers, milky spore disease, there amuchother unique treatment for this hard shell pest |
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Mexican bean beetle: Hand pick the adults, remove the bright yellow eggs, Beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, green lacewing , Apply diatomaceous earth to plants and/or to keep pest populations under control. |
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Slugs & Snails: Handpicking, iron phosphate slug bait (although nit advised by some professionals), diatomaceous earth |
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Squash bug: Handpicking, continuous & good garden sanitation will help to prevent having this bug, neem
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Squash vine borer: Growing resistant varieties, crop rotation as always is the best strategy, beneficial nematodes |
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Stink bug: Handpicking (even though they stinks), good garden sanitation will repel them anyway, neem |
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Tarnished plant bug: Handpicking, good garden sanitation, neem again is a good choice of solution |
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Tomato hornworm: Bt (Bacillus thuringiens), handpicking, row covers |
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Whitefly: Insecticidal soap, attracting beneficials, horticultural oil |
You can give us a call for any other pest control, termite inspection, termite treatment & termite repair problems.
