|
HomeTopics...Gardening TipsInsect Control
Garden Insect Control: Beyond InsecticidesMost gardeners are well aware that insects can cause a lot of damage to plants. While many garden insects are tiny, thousands upon thousands of these pests can swarm over a plant, makes them more than just a nuisance to gardeners.
Insecticides may seem like the answer, but they often cause the garden more harm than good. In fact, insecticides often kill the beneficial bugs that control the pest population, leaving the insect pests to continue their destruction. The remedy depends on the pest, and what you're willing to do. Below, you'll find a description of some of the more common garden insect pests, and what you can do to get rid of them safely.
AphidsAphids (aka plant lice) can be found in virtually every garden and on a wide variety of plants. Aphids are small insects approximately an eighth of an inch long, with long legs, long antennae and a pear-shaped body.
They have a pair of tubes called cornicles protruding from the back of the abdomen. The mouth consists of needlelike stylets, which are used by the aphid to puncture the plant and suck the sap and juices from the plant. Aphids are most commonly found on new growth because those parts of the plant are the softest. The damage done to the plant depends on the number of aphids and the type of plant. Some plants show no visible damage while others may wilt and die. Most plants, however, show an aesthetic change as aphids excrete a sticky substance called honeydew. This honeydew is used by ants and flies for food, but it also serves as a perfect place for black sooty mold to grow. The greatest danger aphids pose, though, is their ability transfer plant diseases through their mouth parts. Aphids move from one plant to another, so the risk of infecting other plants with a disease acquired from an earlier plant is great.
The best way to control the aphid population is to promote the growth of aphids' natural enemies such as ladybugs and lacewings. These natural predators do much to limit the number of aphids in your garden. Insecticides should not be used as many aphids are resistant to insecticides and beneficial insects are susceptible to them. In fact, the use of insecticides often causes an increase in the aphid population as their predators are killed off. If ants are "farming" aphids, it may be wise to control the ant population as well.
SlugsSlugs aren't insects, but they can be found in almost every garden. Slugs prefer damp areas of the garden, and burrow into the ground to escape dehydration. They can cause extensive damage to plants, especially young plants, as each slug can eat several times its own weight each night. Slugs are most active at night and in the early morning.
The easiest way to tell that slugs are doing the damage is to look for a silvery trail. Gardeners can use a variety of techniques to control the slug population. One of the most popular techniques is the "beer in a dish" technique. Basically, beer is set out in a dish near plants. The slugs are attracted to it, fall in, and drown. It's not necessary to use beer. As long as the solution in the dish is sweet, the slugs will be attracted to it. The liquid in the dish should be replenished from time to time. Another effective way to control slugs is to surround plants with a coarse material such as wood ash, sand or eggshells. Slugs don't like coarse materials and avoid not crawling across them.
Spider MitesSpider mites are tiny little creatures that live on the underside of leaves. In fact, they're not insects but belong in the arachnid class with spiders.
Spider mites range in color from green to orange, and often have two black spots on each side of the body, but it's all very difficult to see as these creatures are particularly small—just 1/60th of an inch in size. Like aphids, spider mites suck out the juices of a plant. This causes yellow specks to appear on the leaves, and as the spider mites continue to damage the plant, entire leaves grow brown and fall off. Due to their small size, spider mites are very difficult to detect. One way to detect spider mites is to hold a piece of white paper under the leaf of a plant while gently shaking it. If small, moving dots fall onto the paper, you've found spider mites. Spider mites have a variety of natural predators, including ladybugs, lacewings and other mites. You can encourage their growth by providing them with a natural habitat to live in and by avoiding the use of insecticides. Besides, spider mites are usually not affected by insecticides. Another way to control the spider mite population is to regularly spray plants with a jet of water, taking care to avoid damaging any plants. This will temporarily knock off the spider mites. Do this regularly to keep the population under control. If nothing else works, miticides are available to curb the spider mite population.
ThripsThrips are small insects about 1/20th of an inch in size that suck the juices out of plants. Although small, thrips can cause a lot of damage. Thrips are also known to transmit diseases between plants.
Thrips are especially difficult to see because, in addition to their small size, they tend to feed in unexposed areas of the plant, such as in the bud of flowers, in the fold of leaves or near the base of the plant. The easiest way to identify the presence of thrips is to observe the damage done to the plant as well as to look for thrip excrement that shows up as shiny black specks. Insecticides usually don't work on thrips as they inhabit difficult areas to reach. Thrips also have a variety of natural predators, such as ladybugs, so the use of insecticides will probably hurt the ladybugs more than it will the thrips. At the moment, the best way to control the thrip population is to regularly shoot a stream of water at the plants to knock the thrips off the plants, and to use insecticidal soaps, which have proven to be somewhat effective.
|
|
| Related Searches |
|
|