Avoiding toxic sprays is only the beginning of organic gardening. Natural pest control is based on healthy soil that can nourish vigorous plants. Using healthy soil, organic gardeners grow plant varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and suited to local conditions.
Are you an organic gardener? If so, you encourage beneficial insects while discouraging pests. You simply ignore a few stray plant predators. When necessary, however, you'll use organic methods control persistent pests, letting plants flourish.
Organic gardeners enrich the soil with compost and other amendments, such as rotted manure. You add mulch to retain moisture, encourage earthworms and avoid temperature extremes. Wise gardeners also avoid digging when soil is soggy, because it destroys soil texture and spreads fungus.
Natural pest control begins with vigorous plants. Proper varieties for the region and the season are naturally resistant. Careful gardeners inspect plants before buying and only plant vigorous specimens. You reduce planting stress with shade and gentle care.
In organic gardens, having a wide variety of plants discourages pests. Monoculture-planting only a single crop-encourages insect overpopulation. Organic gardeners avoid it.
In an organic garden, you give each plant access to adequate light and the proper amount of water, so it remains vigorous and pest-resistant. Timed plantings keep specific species out of the garden when they are most vulnerable to insect attack. You grow plants in their proper seasons.
Beneficial insects destroy pests. To encourage them, organic gardeners avoid poisons. Instead, you create an insect haven by growing a wide variety of plants with organic methods.
Ladybugs are famous beneficial insects, but there are many others. Dragonflies and damselflies eat huge numbers of pests. Damselflies specialize in aphids. Spooky-looking preying mantis are beneficial, too. Lacy-winged ant lions eat aphids and ticks, as well as ants. Lacewing larvae are called aphid wolves for good reason, but they eat other insects too.
You can buy helpful insects at nurseries and online.
Another way to discourage pests organically is with clean culture. Keep mulch away from tender young plants. Make sure compost piles heat sufficiently to kill insect larvae. Remove heavily infested plants before the infestation spreads. Inspect new plants for insect life before you allow them in the garden.
Some organic gardeners allow themselves certain poisons in emergencies. Pyrethrin is a relatively gentle poison made from a variety of chrysanthemum, but it will kill beneficial insects as well as pests. It breaks down quickly but must be used with caution.
Before using it, try knocking bugs off with forceful sprays of water. Insecticidal soap from the nursery also can be useful. Mineral oil suffocates certain insects, particularly corn earworms. Collars made of sticky tape or cut from milk cartons fence out insects. Handpicking eliminates large pests without poison.
Natural pest control begins with healthy plants. Such plants produce abundant harvests naturally, nurtured by simple methods that gardeners have used for centuries. That's the beauty of organic gardening.
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