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Getting Started: Controlling Pests
(by Alexandra Heath - July 13, 2009)
Every garden has insects if it is healthy. The goal of the conscious gardener is to help keep the garden in balance--not too many destructive pests and not too many beneficial bugs. Even the good bugs can become a problem if they overpopulate.As a good steward of the land, a gardener needs the skills of being able to identify which bugs are which, determine if the current population mix is beneficial overall, and how to deal with destructive infestations without “overkill.”
Spraying toxic and deadly pesticides hither and yon at the first sign of a pest is an example of overkill. Pesticides are by their nature indiscriminate. They kill everything—good, bad and indifferent. So, although the destructive pests are gone so are the insect defenders and protectors that could have made the garden safe and balanced in that perfect dance of just the right number of both. So, before you buy the latest “mega-death” product from Monsanto or Dow Chemical, let’s take a look at what’s really going on in the garden and assess some less toxic solutions.
Let’s start with an example from my own garden this year. I have about half of one bed planted to carrots. They are lush and green, but some of the stems are black with aphids. Aphids suck plant juices, so even if they don’t kill the plant, it doesn’t grow well, looking sickly and stunted. What’s going on? If you look closely you’ll see that the carrot tops also play host to many bright red and orange ladybugs. Ladybugs feast on aphids, consuming thousands of the soft-bodied plant suckers each day. So although I have a fairly large population of aphids, I also have a healthy (and hungry) collection of aphid-eaters. If the population of aphids explodes and become more than the ladybugs can manage, I spray the carrot tops with a strong jet of water, knocking the aphids off. They don’t return.
What does maintaining this balance in the garden require of the gardener? Attention, time, and patience. As a conscious gardener the garden is your laboratory as well as your playground. Walk around and observe, not just the beautiful flowers and ripening vegetables, but what’s really going on at the ground level. That’s right, slap on those knee-pads and get down in the dirt. Look under leaves, hold them against the light to look for insect damage. Educate yourself so you can identify not just the problem pests, but your good buddies, the beneficial insects.
If you identify a problem, treat only that specific problem. Blanket solutions to the many micro-climates in your garden is like using a nuclear bomb to clear out a garbage dump. Overkill. Here are some safe and sane solutions to tackling pest infestations:
1. Water—yep, good, ol’ plain water, sprayed in a strong jet can dislodge and remove some insects (especially aphids!)
2. Dish soap—just the regular kind you keep in the kitchen. Add about a teaspoon to a spray bottle of water. Spray directly on the unwanted pests. The components of soap disrupt the feeding ability of some pests. If you need a bit more “oophmff” to the soap, you can add a bit of pyrethrum (a plant-based natural toxin). Or you can purchase commercially made insecticidal soap. I use this in my own garden when I figure I’m on the verge of losing the battle and my carefully tended vegetables. It is the ONLY spray product I use. The trick with this method is that you must apply it directly to the insect. It is a contact poison. If you apply to your beneficial friend insects, they’ll die too. Be careful!
3. Hot peppers—habaneros too hot for you? Whiz them up in the blender with a bit of alcohol (the drinking kind—vodka is best) so that the volatile compounds are extracted from the peppers. Strain out the plant material (use gloves for this since the capsicum in peppers is an irritant, and don’t touch your face until you have removed your gloves.) Pour the liquid into a spray bottle and fill the remainder of the bottle with water. Spray directly onto the plants. This will make plants unpalatable to chewing insects. You’ll need to wash the vegetables if they’ve been sprayed or you may get more spice than you wish from your zucchini!
4. Hand-picking—not for the squeamish, but extremely effective. After you’ve squished a few bugs, you’re not very squeamish anymore. For insects with no predators, this is the only solution. Harlequin bugs, stink bugs, snails and slugs (unless you have ducks, which can be destructive, too), tomato hornworms, and such need to picked off by hand and destroyed (drop them in a can half-filled with water and soap or water and alcohol.)
Most of all get to know your garden. Intimately. Down in the dirt intimate. Observation and analysis are the hallmarks of the conscious gardener and are vital to growing balanced gardens that serve both ourselves and the other creatures with which we share this fragile and beautiful planet.
| Comments (1) |
On August 2, 2009 said:
ALEX? I keep wanting to ask her why her E-mail Address is not included in her columns? I mean she is good...very good! Her columns are informative and directed to this part of the world and climate. She has changed her hair-do, so I don't recognize her downtown...How do I leave a message? How do I know if she got it? I have pests...lots of pests...need more info. (giggle) |
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