The seeds are planted and you are diligently weeding away, but your plants are still having trouble coming up in good health. The problem could be the troublesome insects that make your garden their home. If you don’t want to resort to chemical pesticides, there are some simple homemade methods to killing or deterring those hungry bugs.
Slugs
Slugs may appear in your garden during particularly wet summers. They tend to hide in dark, moist places during the day and do their damage at night. If you’re very ambitious you can take your flashlight out into the garden at night and collect them by hand. Placing a ring of coarse material, such as ground up eggshells, around plants will deter the slugs since their delicate undersides will not like the rough barrier. Try trapping them by placing a saucer full of beer in your garden.
Earwigs
Earwigs are often beneficial insects to have in your garden. They eat organic debris, such as dead leaves, so having some near your compost pile can be a great help. However, they can also attack helpless young seedlings, like carrot tops and dill. Try to plant these vegetables early in the season so they are tough enough to stand up to earwigs by the time they mature. If you find that earwigs are causing too much damage to your plants, try setting out a shallow container filled with an organic trap recipe, such as an even mixture of molasses or soya sauce and water; beer; soapy water; or corn or fish oil with either water or vinegar. You could also try setting up traps of rolled up newspaper or toilet tissue rolls filled with bait like corn oil or peanut butter. Every morning simply tap the earwigs out into a pail of water to drown them.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars eat plenty of leaf matter before transforming into butterflies and moths. Often the damage will not be serious enough to take any action, but if they become a problem, you can attract their enemies to take care of the overpopulation. Many parasitic wasps will lay eggs on the backs of caterpillars, which will hatch to produce more wasps to prey on caterpillars. You can attract beneficial insects by planting flowers in the umbel, composite and mint families. In severe cases, a natural control substance called Bacillus thuringiensis, which only affects caterpillars, can be applied.
Cutworms
These small, plump worms feed during the night and hide at the base of the plant just under the soil during the day. Cutworms cut into the stems of plants near the ground and the climbing variety will eat leaves. They usually attack plants in the cabbage family including tomatoes, corn, peppers, beans and squash. Probably the best way to deter cutworms is to surround the base of your seedlings with a tube of cardboard or a tin can as you transplant them. Have at least 5 cm showing above and 3 cm under the ground. If your plants are already in the ground, try placing a toothpick or a small stick against the stalks, which will upset the worm’s cutting behaviour. You can also traipse through your garden at night with a flashlight collecting them as they pop up to feed.
Ants
Ants can quickly take over your garden and attack tender young veggies. There are many different kinds of ants and there are suggestions on how to get rid of the many varieties. There are a few things you can try on almost any ant type. The trick is to identify the hills and take action there. Try pouring boiling water or a blended mixture of citrus peelings and water over the hill. This may need to be repeated to finish off all the ants. Borax or boric acid is a completely natural substance that is highly effective in killing ant colonies, but relatively harmless to humans and other creatures. Mix borax with syrup or honey to attract the ants that will take the sticky substance back to their queen. You can also create barriers for ants using borax, chilli pepper, paprika or dried peppermint.
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