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oceanwaves1
- Full Member
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:43 am
- Location: New Hampshire
Natural bug control
First time gardening... I have a small garden, tomatoes, peppers, cukes, squash..you get the picture...and have done nothing other than plant and water. The garden looks lovely, with flowering plants all over the place. Do I wait for a bug issue, or do I spray something now? What's next? LOL.... Any hints would be appreciated! Thanks all!
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opabinia51
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 4659
- Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
- Location: Victoria, BC
Oooh glad I caught this one!
Spray something now..... yes, we have been brought up in North America and I assume Europe as well that we need to use poisons in our yards and gardens to control so called pests.
Anyway, the answer to your question is do something now. But, what you do is important. There is no need to use sprays with the suffix -cide as they will generally speaking cause you more problems than they solve. What works really well is to plant high nectar producing flowres in your garden that will attract various beneficial insects that will eat herbivorous insects.
Take a look the the first post in this thread: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=335
It is a list of flowers that will attract beneficial insects.
Also, plant some sunflowers that will attract birds to your garden. They will also eat insects.
Let me think now...... (I'm just running out the door so give me a second)
Look up companion planting on the web to see how you can plant certain plants together to avoid herbivory and benefit from other attributes.
Also, see if you local library has this book
Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway.
Give it a read.
Spray something now..... yes, we have been brought up in North America and I assume Europe as well that we need to use poisons in our yards and gardens to control so called pests.
Anyway, the answer to your question is do something now. But, what you do is important. There is no need to use sprays with the suffix -cide as they will generally speaking cause you more problems than they solve. What works really well is to plant high nectar producing flowres in your garden that will attract various beneficial insects that will eat herbivorous insects.
Take a look the the first post in this thread: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=335
It is a list of flowers that will attract beneficial insects.
Also, plant some sunflowers that will attract birds to your garden. They will also eat insects.
Let me think now...... (I'm just running out the door so give me a second)
Look up companion planting on the web to see how you can plant certain plants together to avoid herbivory and benefit from other attributes.
Also, see if you local library has this book
Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway.
Give it a read.
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oceanwaves1
- Full Member
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:43 am
- Location: New Hampshire
opabinia51,
Thankyou! I just got in from work and will start some learning! I like the idea of flowers, and really do not want to use pesticides (simply put, YUK!), I'm also kind of thrown by all the ideas out there about epsom salts, cinnamon....dish liquid....too much info!! But I will sort it all out...
I am loving the look of my garden....the squash alone are getting huge!
Thankyou! I just got in from work and will start some learning! I like the idea of flowers, and really do not want to use pesticides (simply put, YUK!), I'm also kind of thrown by all the ideas out there about epsom salts, cinnamon....dish liquid....too much info!! But I will sort it all out...
I am loving the look of my garden....the squash alone are getting huge!