Insect pest management can be accomplished in the garden, field, or greenhouse using a variety of techniques. Your best course of action is always prevention, but if that doesn't work, think about using helpful insects or non-chemical pest management. Try your best to deal with issues as soon as they arise because doing so will make controlling pests much simpler, cheaper, and more time and energy efficient.
To keep up with insect numbers, regularly check your greenhouse or garden. You should be able to prevent minor issues from becoming major ones if you exercise caution. It's a quick action that will help keep the garden in good shape.
Bug Spray
If they smell the corpses of members of their own species, many pests, particularly beetles, will not feast on plants. Mexican bean beetles, Colorado potato beetles, and cabbage loopers respond particularly well to this treatment. Avoid using this technique if there are nearby virus-infected plants since it may cause healthy plants to contract viruses from insects that ate the virus-infected plants.
1 cup of insects
water, 3 to 4 cups
1. Use an old blender to grind the nuisance insects. Reminder: Don't use the kitchen blender; instead, get a secondhand blender to use only for making garden treatments.
2. Pour in just enough water to give the ground insects a milk-like consistency. Before adding the bug juice to the sprayer, strain it.
3. Spray the plants thoroughly to cover all of their surfaces. For three to four weeks, this should help keep similar pests away from those plants. If required, reapply in a month.
Soap Spray
Treatment for spider mites, aphids, earwigs, whiteflies, mealybugs, thrips, and scale is accomplished using this all-purpose management technique. Moreover, it might be effective against caterpillars, beetles, and ticks. Insects that are already on the plants are suffocated as well as repulsed by the spray. It works just as well as insecticidal soap treatments sold commercially at garden centers. If you decide to buy a soap spray, prepare it as directed on the packaging and use it as directed.
1-2 teaspoons of dishwashing liquid in 1 quart of water
1. Pour the dishwashing liquid and water into a large spray bottle and shake to combine.
2. To use, spray the entire plant, being sure to thoroughly coat the surfaces. Repeat as often as necessary—every 5-7 days—until the pest problem is resolved.
Garlic Spray
Garlic is often disliked by pests, therefore this is a great management strategy. It works particularly well against young grasshoppers, whiteflies, spider mites, leafhoppers, squash bugs, and aphids. Mineral oil must be used in this recipe because vegetable oil cannot be absorbed by plants.
Do a test patch first because some plants are sensitive to this spray. Spray the garlic oil on one or two plants. Use the spray on that specific type of plant only if the leaves don't turn yellow or brown within 24 hours. Spray the remaining plants if there is no burning. The best time to apply this spray is around twilight because, in hot weather, the oil content can cause a "sunburn" reaction.
6–8 peeled and finely chopped garlic cloves
Mineral oil, 1 tablespoon
Pint of water
1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing
1. Put the mineral oil on top of the garlic in a clean glass container. After sealing the jar tightly, leave it out at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Pour the oil mixture through a strainer that has been lined with cotton. Squeeze the leftover oil off the garlic using the cloth you have gathered. Save the oil that has been infused with garlic; discard the garlic bits.
3. Mix the dishwashing liquid and water.
4. To use, combine a pint of the water-dishwashing liquid solution with 1-2 tablespoons of the infused oil in a spray bottle or mister. Spray the plant liberally.
Ant Bait
All types of ants will be drawn to this bait. When mixing, avoid inhaling the dust and use caution around young children and animals. It is poisonous; please mark the label with a skull and crossbones. Avoid spilling ant bait close to plant bases as it could harm or even kill the roots of those plants.
1 cup sugar and 3 cups of water
Boric acid, 3 tablespoons
Cotton spheres
1. Thoroughly combine the boric acid, sugar, and water together.
2. Place cotton balls halfway into each of the three glass jars. Each jar should contain 1 cup of the mixture. Tightly cap each jar. Make tiny holes in the lids and properly mark the jars.
3. Place the jars in the garden, which has a problem with ants. The combination will be carried back to the anthill by the ants, where it will decimate the colony. Until ants are no longer a problem, change the bait every one to two weeks as necessary.
Preparations for Natural and DIY Organic Pest Control
There are many natural pest control products available, and you can produce some of them yourself. Although not being created from synthetic chemicals, keep in mind that these substances are still pesticides and should be handled and kept with care because they can be quite hazardous.
While using any kind of pesticide, wear protective clothing (long sleeves and pants), waterproof boots and gloves, significant eye protection, and protective footwear. Learn how a sprayer operates in advance if you want to use one so you can safely and efficiently apply any preparation. Applying near play areas for kids or animals or near bodies of water like ponds and streams is not recommended.
Before applying a material, carefully read the label's instructions. Also, never store a substance where children or animals can get to it, in an open container, or in a container that isn't clearly labeled. If you make the preparation yourself, it must be completely labeled with the name of the preparation and the list of all the ingredients. If necessary, properly mark containers with warning information as well. When utilizing a plant that has been sprayed, give it at least 24 hours to dry.
Neem Tree Extract
Neem tree extract functions in a variety of ways, including by killing some insects, controlling their growth in others, and repelling yet others (they seem to dislike the taste). We choose the brand NeemX since it complies with certified organic requirements, and we have found it to be quite efficient against a variety of beetles, including leaf miners, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, and thrips.
As directed by the manufacturer, use neem tree extract. Often, you spray it on plants that certain pests are eating or otherwise harming. It functions somewhat as a repellant, but when insects eat it, it poisons young, frail, or sick bugs. Healthy insects who consume the extract experience reproductive system disruption and are unable to reproduce.
Neem has a systemic effect on plants when it is administered as a soil drench because each plant absorbs the neem into its leaves and stems, which affects the pest when it consumes the plant. Neem does not appear to hurt honeybees or spiders, although it may be hazardous to some beneficial insects. Neem is biodegradable and neither hazardous to humans nor animals.
Nolo Bait
This is a biological suppression bait for use on grasshoppers, locusts, and some species of crickets. Unlike chemical-based insecticides, Nolo Bait contains a naturally occurring spore, called Nosema locustae, that infects these insects. It is not toxic to humans, livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or life-forms other than grasshoppers and closely related insects.
The spore is injected into wheat bran, which grasshoppers like to eat. Most pest species of grasshoppers, particularly younger instars, will eat the bran; the resulting infection helps to control grasshopper populations without adverse effects on the environment. Depending on age and species, a grasshopper that eats even one flake of Nolo Bait can become infected. When sick, the insect eats less and less. Other grasshoppers often cannibalize the sick ones and thus become infected as well, spreading the disease among the population. In addition, infected females can pass the disease through their eggs, thus helping to control future generations.
Nolo Bait does not work rapidly, however. According to the Colorado State University Extension Service, the age and quantity of the insects influence how quickly you’ll see results. Follow-up applications each year that grasshopper populations are on the rise will help manage the problem. Grasshoppers migrate over great distances; it is best to spread Nolo Bait where you need it frequently during the growing season. Ask the neighbors if they would like to participate; this will also improve your success rate.
Slug and Snail Bait
Though I am aware of other strategies for slug and snail management, but potato works very well for us. Large raw potato slices should be scattered on the ground where slugs are an issue just before dusk. Slugs adore these potato feasts and will happily nibble all night.
The drawback of this approach is that you have to rise very early the following morning, soon as the first glimmer of light appears. Potato slices should be collected and placed in a box or can. They ought to be armed with slugs (you may want to wear a pair of gloves if touching slimy slugs bothers you). Throw away the "slug hotels" in the garbage. Repeat this daily until you stop detecting slug-related damage. The slugs will have made their way back into the soil, where they will spend the day if you don't check the potatoes early enough in the morning. Slugs can travel quite a distance, so if you'd like not to harm them, make sure you move them at least 200 feet (60 meters) away from the garden.
Once slugs and snails have become a problem, you can also buy pelletized slug bait and scatter it on the soil in the garden or on the floor of the greenhouse (follow the directions on the package). For those who don't want to get up at the crack of dawn to deal with slug-coated potato slices, the pellets work effectively and are the ideal solution.
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