Pests, deer, rabbits, mice, and insects all love your fresh, home grown vegetables. And they go a step further, munching on leaves and roots. These creatures not only eat the vegetable but also prevent the plant from producing.
Vigilance is required to keep your vegetable garden free from pests. Combining various methods makes this chore easier.
Start your pest control before your vegetables begin to grow by: properly preparing the soil, selecting healthy plants, and watering appropriately. Keeping your soil pH near 6.5 can help, as well. By fertilizing the soil properly, your plants will grow well, and will have the required resistance to fend off pests.
Seek out seeds that are pest resistant. Don’t fear genetic modification programs, since one goal is to create just such seeds. If you transplant, select healthy plants.
Be on the lookout for harmful insects and other pests. But don’t react to every insect with a chemical spray. There are many helpful organisms, some of which treat the soil, others consume harmful insects. Knowing which is which is the first step to biological control of gardening problems. That creates safe, tasty vegetables that grow large and healthy.
Japanese beetles, caterpillars, and aphids can be eaten by assassin bugs. Stink bugs eat potato beetles and certain caterpillars. Ladybugs consume aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites. These are just two examples among many.
Water your garden in the morning to minimize fungus and other problems. Growths can occur on vegetables, similar to grass, when excessive moisture is present on plant leaves during nighttime temperatures. Letting your plants soak up needed moisture with adequate time for drying before the temperature drops will prevent such growths. Often times a weakened plant cannot survive minor infestation, so keep your plants disease free to minimize insect damage. A healthy plant can fight infestation.
Prevent the spread of insects by planting different species. Pest populations may explode when numerous similar plants are spaced close together. These pests either gather together or reproduce more quickly. And eradicating a big population of pests is more difficult. They can ruin your plant before you are able to get rid of them entirely.
Just as with animals and humans, pests spread in part by contact. Removing any part or plant that has been infected is not always necessary, but may be your only means of saving other healthy plants if you cannot save the infected plant.
Building a good fence with narrow mesh at the base will help keep larger animals – rabbits and deer, for example – from getting to your vegetables.
Commercial insecticides can be useful when preventative efforts are not enough. These products are designed to eradicate insect populations and are still safe for human contact and consumption of the vegetables.
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