How to repel and kill garden pests
Pests are always a threat in the garden. It’s a reality that we must accept. Your garden is full of fruits, flowers, and veggies after all your work, but then those annoying garden bugs appear. There is no greater satisfaction for a gardener than a plot full of beautiful flowers or veggies. Many garden bugs utilise our flower and vegetable beds as a salad bar, which is the problem, but by using these straightforward, natural and reasonably priced techniques to deal with garden insect pests, you may still have a lovely garden without resorting to pesticides. Here are some suggestions on how to repel and kill garden pests.
Beginning with “Clean” soil
Harmful garden insects might be discouraged by good soil. However, preparation takes time. This approach is effective. When the growing season starts, turn organic stuff like compost into the soil first. By including natural components and pest-repelling substances, will help keep your soil clean.
After tilling, cover your garden for six months with cardboard or black plastic. The majority of garden pests, including their eggs, weeds, parasites, and a variety of other dangerous germs, will be killed by the heat that accumulates underneath them. Lightly cultivate the soil after removing the plastic. You are now prepared to plant.
Purchase disease- and pest-resistant seedlings
Pests and diseases are simpler to prevent than to remove after they have entered your garden. Look for letters like V, F, N, or T after a seed’s name when browsing through a seed catalog; these letters denote the issues to which the seed is most resistant. The letters V and F stand for the tomato illnesses verticillium and fusarium, respectively; N is for nematodes and T stands for the tobacco mosaic virus, which causes the plant’s leaves to wilt and turn yellow as well as causing harm to the roots.
Plant flowers and herbs that are pest-repellent
Strong odors are generally disliked by garden pests. As a result, when you plant fragrant flowers and herbs, it irritates pests and keeps them away without much of your effort.
You can grow fragrant plants in little pots and scatter them over your landscape. These plants are pest-resistant and won’t hurt your garden. You can grow a variety of herbs and flowers that are pest-repellent, such as:
- Basil
- Garlic
- Chives
- Thyme
- Marigolds
- Petunias
Plants should be thinned out strictly and quickly
This is crucial because the disease is more likely to spread among small, frail seedlings. They might then transmit the virus to healthy plants. So make sure to remove any branches and dead shoots that are blocking ventilation. To breathe and be healthy, plants require good airflow.
Water your plant early in the morning
Watering plants is the first thing you should do early in the morning. The primary function of watering plants is to support photosynthesis, which takes place during the day. Additionally, watering later in the day will result in damp leaves during the chilly nighttime, which is excellent for the growth of fungus and other illnesses. When you water, make sure to drench the roots rather than the foliage. Hoses that drip or soak is a wise investment.
Moving row covers
To protect your plants from some common garden pests, you can install moveable row covers over them. They are made of white polyester. They also stop adult pests from laying eggs in the soil or on your plants and are adaptable to all four seasons.
A further benefit of moving row covers is that they don’t prevent sunlight from reaching your plants.
Rotation of Crops
Rotating the crop varieties in your garden is known as crop rotation. It is a highly effective management strategy that has several advantages for a farm. Garden pests who used to only eat one kind of plant are compelled to leave the garden or go extinct when their food supply is cut off when you grow different crop types.
Partner planting
A popular gardening technique is partner planting, which involves placing specific plants adjacent to one another. These plants can serve as organic pest deterrents.
Radishes next to lettuce are a good illustration of companion planting. Radishes deter earth flies, which feed on lettuce. Crop rotation also improves the physical, nutritional, and tilth aspects of the soil. It also makes weeds easier to fight.
Aromatic oils
Aromatic oils are the bane of common garden pests, just as garlic sprays. They are all-natural and can be combined or used individually.
Remove pests manually
Some garden pests are easier to manage because you can quickly detect them and eradicate them by hand. Given that garden pests don’t have much resistance, this is a good and quick way. Caterpillars, slugs, Japanese beetles, and tomato hornworms are typical garden pests that are simple to eradicate by hand. The greatest time to use this technique is in the evening as the sun is setting. These pests emerge to feed at this time.
Use traps, barriers, and fences
Larger garden pests can be directly controlled with fences and other barriers. Such pests typically invade your garden continually, kill it, and then go. Some of them even avoid your plants’ foliage. To keep off larger garden pests, you can build mesh wires, or you can use electric fences to keep them out.
These techniques can be used to deter more common garden pests including raccoons, moose, skunks, and squirrels. You can trap smaller squirrels and skunks in cages because they frequently jump fences.
Bug traps are another option
Almost all garden centers sell yellow “adhesive” cards. They will capture a lot of garden bugs that are scurrying around your garden if they are placed on the ground and in between the shoots or branches of plants. To learn how to distinguish between beneficial and harmful garden bugs, get in touch with your neighborhood garden center or county extension agent.
Keep your garden tidy
It’s crucial to get rid of weeds, fallen leaves, and faded blossoms since decaying plant detritus makes an ideal habitat for fungus, garden bugs and diseases. Every time you enter your garden, bring a small pail or bucket with you and use it to gather garden waste.
Conclusion
Common garden pests can be an embarrassment, but with the methods outlined above, you can manage to repel and kill them. Depending on your area, the size of your garden, and the particular pests that have infested it, some of these methods for controlling common garden pests can be supplemented or combined to produce more notable effects.