Are there any natural pesticides which are environment friendly?

Yes, there are a select few botanical mixtures which can be considered as the “elite” natural pesticides, for they work well with few drawbacks. These special botanical mixtures do not harm the environment nor do they cause our good bugs any harm.

Whether we like it or not, many natural pesticides are not necessarily kind to the “good bugs”. Such natural pesticides as pyrethrum, rotenone, and sabadilla do not discrimate and do kill pretty well all insects, good or bad, which crawl over the stuff. So wherever possible, one should use one of the following environment-friendly Natural Pesticides.

Five “Elite” Environment-Friendly Natural Pesticides

1. Garlic Spray is an environment-friendly natural pesticide which repels many pests such as aphids, spider mites, and white flies. Not only is it environmentally safe but it is also biodegradable and does not affect flavor. Don’t worry about the garlicky smell when you first spray it. Once it dries, you won’t be able to smell it; however, the pests will and they will stay away from your plants.

2. Hot Pepper Wax is a blend of food-grade paraffin wax, herbs, and capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers. Hot pepper wax is derived from cayenne peppers.

This environment-friendly natural pesticide serves two purposes: 1) Keeps many garden pests such as aphids and whiteflies and other pests which don’t like spicy things away from your plants and 2) protects plants from dry or windy weather.

Since the plants do not absorb this natural pesticide, the flavor of your vegetables are not affected. Before preparing, wash the vegetables under warm running water to clean away any remaining wax.

Caution: When you do your spraying, be careful not to get any of the spray on your skin or in your eyes (wear plastic gloves) because the capsaicin can cause an irritation.

3. Insecticidal Soap is a well known botanical mixture which is most effective on soft-bodied insects such as aphids. To work best, it must remain in contact with the pest for as long as possible, so you may want to use this spray early in the morning or late afternoon/evening when it takes longer to dry.

This environment-friendly natural pesticide a) does not harm most beneficial insects, b) has a low impact on mammals, birds, aquatic organisms, and other wildlife, and c) is damaging to predatory mites and some insects such as hoverflies in their larval stage.

Its main ingredient, potassium salts of fatty acids derived from plants, is what makes this natural pesticide mixture environment-friendly and biodegradable. It works well because the soap spray damages the insects’ cell membranes and causes the vital cellular fluids to leak and the insect to die.

Note: If mixed in water containing high amounts of minerals such as iron or calcium, it may be less effective.

4. Neem, derived from the seeds of the neem tree, has an active ingredient called azadirachtin which blocks the progression of the insect’s life cycle. Although it might take a few days for the effects of the neem to be seen, you will notice that as soon as Neem is applied to the plant, the insects seem to lose their appetite.

As a spray, neem is also extremely environment friendly. It has no effect on beneficials such as butterflies, spider, bees, earthworms, and ladybugs. Moreover, it has little impact on birds, aquatic organisms, fish and mammals, or other wildlife.

You may also use the neem oil insecticidal soap which combines the two products.

5. TOADS: You may laugh because I am including toads as an environment-friendly natural pesticide. However, toads are my favorite “pesticides”, and I will do anything to attract toads into my vegetable and flower gardens.

Toads like to work at night and seem to particularly like slugs and cutworms. However, their meal will include gypsy moth larvae, sowbugs, armyworms, and various beetles, up to 15,000 garden pests a year. Now do you still wonder why I welcome toads to my gardens?

In order to have toads remain in the garden, they will need a cool, dark spot where they can hide in the daytime, a spot from which they can make quick get-aways.

I would take a 5-inch or 10-inch plastic flower pot, cut a big hole on the side and tuck it under a shrub out of sight. Sometimes toads would just make themselves at home under full leaved shrubs without the flower pot.

What is very important is to provide them with fresh cool water every day or every second day. The idea is to keep checking the little container placed out of sight on the ground and refill often to keep the water clean. (A large somewhat deep plastic bottle cover or a small “dip” plastic container works well)

I was constanly amazed at how efficient toads can be! I knew there were toads around when I would check my roses in the morning and find that there were no more aphids on my roses and no ants going up and down the rose stems “farming” and “moving” the aphids around.

Indeed, it is to our benefit to use one of these environment-friendly natural pesticides (spray or otherwise!), wherever possible, to keep the pests out of our gardens. These “elite” environment-friendly Natural Pesticides, the garlic spray, the hot pepper wax, the insecticidal soap, the neem spray, is usually available at any garden nursery or even at Canadian Tire. As for the toads – my favorite type of pesticide — well. . . .good luck!

Marcie

What are unsurvivable surroundings for Bugs?

“Unsurvivable Surroundings” used to mean using insecticides or pesticides to spray plants the minute bugs began making their appearance. However, we have come to realize that spraying plants with insecticides or pesticides was creating other problems, not the least being that we were poisoning ourselves and our environment plus killing the soil’s microorganisms so necessary to plant growth. Finally other methods have been revived or created, methods which will [tag-tec]create unsurvivable surroundings for those unwanted bugs[/tag-tec] without putting people or other insect species at risk.

Different Ways To Create Unsurvivable Surroundings Which Gets Rid Of Unwanted Bugs:

1. Handpicking beetles or slugs or caterpillars.

The first way you may create unsurvivable surroundings is to handpick the unwanted pest. For example we know that the Colorado potato beetle usually lays its shiny golden brown eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves. By regularly checking the undersides of leaves and picking off these clusters of eggs before they even develop is one way to stop an epidemic of Colorado potato beetles. You may want to offer a beetle bounty to young children in your neighborhood — say at 1/2 cent for each beetle.

As for slugs, they feed at night and hide in the daytime. Put boards or pieces of tubing where you think you have slugs. In the morning, fill a pail of water about 1/4 full, add dish soap or detergent to the water, then lift the boards and remove the slugs by dropping them into the soapy water.

(I personally hate picking up slugs with my fingers, so I would use a trowel to carefully peel off the slug from the board and drop it into the soapy water.) Most slugs will remain at the bottom of the pail and drown, but the odd one will make its way to the side of the pail and try to crawl out. Just send these back into the soapy water.

If you use the tubing, just point one end of the tube towards the center of soapy water in your pail and dislodge the slugs by tapping on the side of the tubing.

You can use the same idea for caterpillars but using a can of water with a bit of detergent soap in it. You can easily carry the can around with you as you handpick the caterpillars.

2. Use Living Organisms (biological control) To Create Unsurvivable Surroundings

a. Beneficial nematodes: Not all nematodes are garden enemies.

One year I bought nematodes at a garden center and sprayed my lawn for grubs. Years after I sprayed (you must follow specific instructions), I never saw a grub, yet my neighbor had plenty of them. The nematodes did not bother with the grass roots or the earthworms. I was so pleased with the results.

The nematodes sold in gardening centers feed on soft-bodied, soil-dwelling pests such as grubs, wire-worms, and root maggots. To apply them to the garden, you suspend them in water and use a spray attachment on your hose. They may be expensive but are so worth it!

b. Milky Spore: Milky spore is a bacteria which when swallowed by grubs will cause them to die within two or three weeks. The white spore filling the grub’s body will then reenter the soil waiting for more grubs to come along. It can take two or three years for milky spore to become established in a treated area.

When applying nematodes or milky spores, avoid applying chemical pesticides to the same areas.

c. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt): Bt is often used to get rid of cabbage worms, hornworms, corn borers, and the like. When Bt is ingested by these worms, it paralyzes the gut and gives the worms a case of indigestion from which there is no return. Different strains of Bt are used for different pests, so read your label.s

Note: If you see pale green caterpillars with a series of yellow and black rings from its head to its tail chewing on your parsley, dill, celery, or cilantro, you are probably looking at swallowtail caterpillars often referred to as parsleyworms. Handpick these parsleyworms and relocate them in another area away from the garden so that they can become the beautiful swallowtail butterfly. Then you can apply your Bt to your garden.

When you are applying your Bt, make sure you are spraying only your garden plants and not those plants adjacent to your garden

3. Attract the creatures that prey on pests

A third way to create unsurvivable surrounding for bugs is to plant garden plants that attract beneficial insects. Did you know that morning glory vines attract ladybugs and hoverflies, that goldenrod attract not only ladybugs, but also the assassin bugs and parasitic wasps. You could plant some grasses, perennial alfalfa, goldenrod, or hairy vetch in front of a row of fruit bearing shrubs or near your garden as a perennial garden. You can intersperse fruiting bearing shrubs such as swamp holly or cranberry bush. The grasses and the flowers can attract beneficial insects and the birds can use their shrubs as their home. You could even include some aromatic herbs such as dill and thyme which attract beneficial insects that prey on pests.

There are loads of beneficial insects: Assassin bug, green lacewing, hoverfly, ladybug, minute pirate bug, praying mantis, spined soldier bug, and the trichogramma wasp to name a few. You can find information on these in your library.

To sum up, by diligently handpicking such pests as Colorado beetle or the caterpillars/slugs, by using bacteria or nematodes, and by attracting the beneficial insects to you garden, you are Creating Unsurvivable Surroundings For Bugs.

In the previous post, we’ve covered 4 methods that can be used for creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs. Let’s recap — Method 1: Timing Your Plantings, Method 2: Weeding Your Garden Regularly, Method 3: Interplanting Your Crops, and Method 4: Using Crop Rotation. (Full explanation can be found at “Creating Unfavorable Surroundings For Bugs (Part 1)). Let’s continue with [tag-tec]Creating Unfavorable Surroundings for Bugs (part2)[/tag-tec], methods 5, 6, and 7.

Method 5: Rotating Your Crops

For centuries farmers have rotated their crops in order to create unfavorable surroundings for bug control. All backyard gardeners should rotate their crops from year to year. Why?

There are two reasons why rotating is good for crops. First of all different crops need different amounts of certain nutrients to remain healthy. So by rotating your crops, you give your soil a chance to replenish.

The second reason is that moving plants to different areas from year to year makes it more difficult for insects to find their favorite food. Like the game hide-and-seek, one never hides in the same place twice. Similarly, never plant the same crop in the same place two years in a row. Create unfavorable surroundings for bugs by moving your plants to different locations from year to year.

Also, certain plants may be attacked by certain fungus. For example eggplants may be attacked by the rot fungus which survives in the soil for more than one year. Replanting eggplants in the same spot is asking for trouble, for the second crop will also be infested by this fungus.

Let me give you another example. In this day and age, many big farmers plant a huge crop of a certain plant year after year after year. I have driven past huge fields which contained only cabbage. Year after year the cabbages must find their nourishment in the same soil, so year by year, the soil contains less and less of the necessary nutrients to create a completely healthy cabbage. Synthetic fertilizer cannot replace the micronutrients and the macronutrients needed to grow healthy and nutritious plants. Only natural compost/fertilizer can do that. As a result, cabbage becomes less healthy and more vulnerable to insects.

Another example is how the big potato farmers in Prince Edward Island have lowered the health and nutritional value of the potato by planting only potatoes year after year in the same soil. Unlike the potato growers, our goal is to avoid creating the same environment which promote sickly and inferior crops. Our goal is to keep our soil and our plants healthy and strong thus creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs. Therefore, crop rotation should be practiced by every gardener. Read more about crop rotation at my plantsandgardeningtips.com blog.

Method 6: Rethink Spacing Between Plants

Strangely enough and contrary to popular belief, you’ll get better vegetables when you plant them closer together. Certain plants such as broccoli, cauliflower, and other members of the cabbage family seem to attract more pests when there is a lot of space between them. To create unfavorable surroundings for bugs, leave less space between the plants than what is recommended on the package. This method should reduce pest problems.

Method 7: Use Row Covers (Plant Covers)

What are row covers? As an example and providing you have hula hoops around, imagine this. You have planted a 5- foot row of spinach and you know certain bugs love spinach. You cut 2 hula hoops in half so that you’ll have 4 halves of a whole circle. Use one of the halves on one end of the row another half at the other end and the remaining 2 halves evenly spaced between the end hoops.

Next, you push the two ends of one hula hoop half down into the soil so that you have one leg on one side of the row and the other leg on the other side. Once all halves have been installed in a similar manner along and at the end of the row, you have a row of 4 hula hoop halves all in a row from one end of the row to the next.

Then you take an old long window curtain made of see-through material and drape this curtain over the hoops from one end to the other and let it drape down evenly from the top of the hoops to the ground on both sides of the row and on the edges. Your next step is to weigh the ends and edges down securely with soil or boards or with special row cover staples so that nothing can creep underneath and to prevent the wind from blowing the fabric off the plants. You have now created a row cover.

Here’s an example of a row (plant) cover.

Although an old curtain would work, there are all types of horticultural fabrics available on the market. Row covers create a physical barrier between the crops and the critters, discourages bugs, bunnies, and birds and even excludes airborne weed seeds. To create unfavorable surroundings for pests, apply row covers right after planting.

Remember that insects and pests are drawn to weak and sickly plants. Having a healthy soil ( use compost, compost, compost) and growing healthy vegetables is the first step to creating an unfavorable environment for bugs; however, using one or all of these seven methods will certainly reduce the bug population by creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs.

Happy gardening!

Marcie

How can Creating Unfavorable Surroundings help the gardener avoid insect infestation?

Different garden insects have their favorite plants and favorite times to appear on the scene. Creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs requires careful observation, planning, and a good deal of trial and error. In this post I will cover 4 of 7 methods which are good for [tag-tec]creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs. [/tag-tec]. The other three will be covered in “Creating Unfavorable Surroundings For Bugs Part 2).

Method 1: Timing Your Plantings

Choosing the right time to sow or transplant is an easy way to create unfavorable surroundings for bugs and pests. Many people plant their crops as soon as they can in the spring in spite of the fact that many times the temperature drops dramatically during the night.

Because of the fluctuation in the weather, the crops that are planted too early become stressed, become weak and sickly, and attract insects or disease.

Here in southern Ontario, while certain crops such as onions and garlic can be planted in early spring (even in the fall), most crops should not be planted before May 24 unless they are planted in a cold frame and protected from weather fluctuations. (Read your directions before planting)

A second timing plan is to keep seedlings covered with a light row cover and small transplants in the cold frame for a while to keep flea beetles from eating the leaves. Once the plants are bigger, flea beetles won’t damage them as much.

Another idea is to observe and keep notes on what types of insects appear and when they appear. You can then better plan to spoil the insects’ feeding.

For example, if you know that the striped cucumber beetle will be out in early May, you can delay setting out your transplants for a few weeks. Bugs do not stick around where there is no food.

Another example is if you wait until the peonies flower to plant cabbage family crops, you’ll have little damage from cabbage worms.

Another option when creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs is to plan the release of your insect predators at the right time to gobble these unwanted insects that make their entry into the garden.

The idea here is to be observant and patient. If you know exactly when pests will be bursting on the scene, you can plan your planting, transplanting, and release of beneficial insects much more readily thus creating unfavorable surroundings for insects.

Method 2: Weeding Your Garden Regularly

How can weeding your garden create an unfavorable surrounding for bugs? Weeds also need the soil’s nutrition to grow; in essence, they are using the nutrition that should be used to keep your garden plants strong and healthy. As a result plants are not as healthy as they should be and insects are attracted to them.

Weeds can be anything that grows without you planting it; that includes those plants which you think are from last year’s crop, but you’re not that sure and you’re curious. Well, yank those out too. Leave the nutrition to your crop to keep them unfavorable to pests.

In addition, some of these unwanted plants may attract pests that love to munch on your garden and can be a good hiding place for unwanted visitors. So keeping weeds out of your garden does create an unfavorable surrounding for bugs.

Method 3: Confuse The Bugs By Interplanting Your Crop

Interplanting your crop is another way to create an unfavorable surrounding for bugs. As it is, we often plant our crops in neat rows: all the carrots together, all the beets together, etc. Once pests gets to the preferred “row,” they can have an uninterrupted feast from one end of the row to the other end.

If plants are interplanted, it is more difficult for a crawling bug to get from feast one to feast two and more likely to become prey before they reach the next feeding nest. The more difficult it is for bugs to feed the more you are creating unfavorable surroundings for bugs.

Method 4: Make It Even More Difficult For The Bugs With Crop Rotation

All plants give off a certain smell which bugs can detect and hone into. Planting a number of different vegetables in the same bed diffuses the plants’ attractive odors.

Intermingling the odors by planting different vegetables in the same bed creates unfavorable surroundings, for bugs and pests have a more difficult time finding their lunch.

Companion planting is the answer to creating unfavorable surrounding for pests. You may want to read What is Companion Planting? to become more familiar with this process. On the same blog you can find Companion Vegetable Planting Guide for Vegetable Gardening.

Methods 5, 6, and 7 are explained in Creating Unfavorable Surroundings for Bugs (part 2)

Good luck!

Marcie

Creating Unacceptable Habitats To Repel Garden Insects

is one way to keep insects and diseases under control. But before I explain [tag-tec]how to create unacceptable habitat to repel garden insects[/tag-tec], it would be wise to understand . . .

Why Pests Invade Our Plants

Pests and diseases attack weakened plant. Let’s compare it to wild animals such as lions or wolves. Either animal when hunting for food will surround a herd and seek out the weakest animals in that herd; that is, they seek the prey which they think they can easily overpower .

In the same way, insects are attracted to the weaker, stressed plants. A plant that has been weakened by transplant shock, improper hardening off, poor nutrition becomes an easy target. The plant’s color changes and some bugs pick up on that.

When plants are sick, a) they become physically less sturdy, b) the stems lose the stiffness associated with adequate water retention, c) the outer surface composition changes, and d) wilting softens the plant tissues, making them easier for bugs to chew or suck thus creating holes in the plant.

The essential oils which are in the plant tissues will evaporate in minuscule amounts into the atmosphere through these holes and insects can be attracted by only a few molecules of their favorite meal. For example, aphids will walk right by healthy, vigorous plants to attack stressed ones.

What Stresses Plants?

The biggest plant stressers include
- extreme fluctuations in soil or air temperatures
- too little or too much water
- interruptions in the supply of any nutrient
- compacted soil
- improper soil PH.

How To Make The Garden Habitat Unacceptable To Bugs

In other words, what can be done to keep the plants healthy?

1. Fertilize Wisely
Often monitor plants for any signs of nutrient deficiency and correct problems quickly with fast acting liquid fertilizer or foliar sprays. Check this chart to possibly identify what nutrients your plants are lacking and what will help.

2. Have The Proper PH for the proper plant

The acidity or alkalinity of the soil (PH level) is an important factor. Most vegetables and flowers thrive in soil with a PH between 6.0 and 7.0. A PH level of 7 represents neutrality when the soil is neither acid nor alkaline. However, some plants prefer acidic or alkaline soil; therefore, know what your plant’s favorite PH is and make sure your soil has the correct PH level by testing your soil before planting. Then identify the soil problem solution and change the PH if needed or buy a different plant .

3. Use Companion Planting

Particular pests prefer to feed on particular plants or groups of plants, and at the same time pests have very specific dislikes. So doesn’t it make sense to identify and use companion planting specifically to create an unacceptable habitat so that insects can be repelled or confused?

Here are some specific examples:

Onions, garlic, and other members of the onion family are universally despised by pesky bugs. I have often planted a ring of onions around the perimeter of my garden, and it works.

Garlic offends Japanese beetles, vegetable weevils, and spider mites.

Celery deters the white moth whose larvae become green caterpillars that eat cabbage, broccoli, and other cabbage family crops.

By planting beans and potatoes fairly close to each other, the beans repel the Colorado potato beetles, and the potatoes repel Mexican bean beetles.

4. Plant Herb and Flower Deterrents.

The idea is to plant herbs with a stronger scent so that you can disguise or hide the crops’ attractive scent and thus confuse the pests.

For example:
Onions, chives and garlic can block ants, aphids, and flea beetles

Marigolds are useful against aphids, Colorado potato beetles, and whiteflies

Rosemary deters carrot flies and cabbage moths

Hyssop, wormwood, thyme, and sage all repel the cabbage moth

Rue and white-flowered geraniums are offensive to Japanese beetles

Sage repels both carrot flies and cabbage moths.

Nasturtium is not tolerated by squash bugs nor whiteflies

French marigolds planted among tomatoes destroy nematodes. They also repel whiteflies, tomato hornworms, bean beetles, cucumber beetles, andasparagus beetles

IMPORTANT: Such herbs as mint and horseradish can quickly spread all over your garden. It is best to plant these in large clay pots and place these in the appropriate beds of vegetable plants. Double check the instructions before planting a herb in your garden.

If you use even one of these ideas to create an unacceptable habitat for garden pests, you will definitely see positive results.