The list of insect pests the gardener has to combat could easily fill a book. There really are too many to cover in one online article. But these are some that most gardeners will come across at one point or another.
Slugs – These slow-moving cubes of slime can do serious damage to both ornamental and vegetable plants. And since they are nocturnal, you have to crawl around at night, flashlight in hand to catch them in the act. There are a number of effective methods and products that can be used against them. Here are a few:
· Make a beer trap. Place a bowl or saucer on the ground with the rim slightly above the ground and fill it with beer. Place them about every three feet in slug soil. The slugs are attracted to the yeast, crawl out and drown. Clean the trap in the morning and replenish the beer as needed.
Sprinkle something with sharp edges around the areas that slugs frequent. When they crawl through this barrier, they cut themselves and leak precious bodily fluids, which kills them. Diatomaceous earth, sharp sand or crushed egg or oyster shells will do the trick.
· Iron phosphate baits sprayed around plants are an effective natural control. Slugs can’t resist eating it and once they do, it stops the urge to feed and they die.
Aphids – These small insects (less than 1/8 inch) can show up in large numbers on your garden plants quickly. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to get rid of them: all it takes is a little diligence. You can remove them from the plants with a spray from a hose that is strong enough to knock them down but not strong enough to damage the plants. This damages their mouthparts so they cannot feed. Ladybugs and their larvae love to eat aphids. They will appear soon after the aphids do. If you need more, you can order them by mail. And you can also use insecticidal soaps to kill aphids. These are safe and non-toxic for humans and pets.
Cutworms: These are bad bugs that like to feast on emerging seedlings. During the night, they can destroy a garden full of very young plants. Prevention is the best approach with these bad guys. Protect young plants with some type of tubing that extends 2″ below the soil surface and about 3″ above. You can also go out at night and pick them up by hand and drop them in soapy water. And you can spread and sprinkle eggshells around areas cutworms are known to frequent.
Cucumber Beetles: These green-spotted or yellow-striped beetles can cause serious damage to members of the Cucurbit family by transmitting bacterial wilt disease. Cucurbits include cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. Feeding adult beetles spreads the disease and once you are infected there is nothing you can do. Eventually, the entire plant dies. The best control against cucumber beetles is to use row covers to prevent contact with the plants. You can also handpick them when you see them, but they move pretty fast and by then it may be too late anyway. Some have success using a Dustbuster-type handheld vacuum to remove them. You can also try yellow sticky traps, which attract them and which will trap them.
Thrips – These tiny 1/20″ insects are small in size but big in terms of the damage they cause. They damage a plant by sucking its juices, which affects plant growth and the formation of foliage and flowers. They tend to become They feed in unexposed areas so they are sometimes difficult to reach. They also transmit these two diseases for which there is no control: impatiens necrotic spot virus and tomato spotted wilt virus. They are not easy to control but if you find them you can try these steps :
– Use a strong jet of water to knock them down from the plant.
– Get rid of those sections of plants and flowers that have been affected.
– Mulches made of aluminum foil have proven effective in some cases.
– Use overhead irrigation which can kill them.
– Insecticidal soaps are effective if they can reach the thrips.
– And of course, there are always natural predators like ladybugs, lacewings and mantises.
