For many, gardening can bring joy and peacefulness, but if an insect problem arises, that peacefulness quickly gives way to headaches. Regardless of the type of garden you have, plant-damaging insects can wreak havoc on your prized possessions. Fortunately, there are both chemical and organic solutions available to help wage battle against these unwelcome garden invaders.
Insects such as caterpillars, leaf miners, hornworms, white flies, slugs, Japanese beetles, fungus gnats, and spider mites (which are not insects) are often found nibbling away on roots, leaves, fruit, and/or flowers, leaving behind a trail of destruction and deformity. Although the list can go on and on, careful planning and quick action can save your garden.
Beneficial Insects for Flower and Vegetable Gardens
Most beneficial insects are shipped overnight and come with special release instructions to ensure they arrive safely and are set free in a way that will produce the desired effects.
- Lady beetles are one of the most popular beneficial insects sought after by the biological pest control crowd. It is often said that if there are ants, there are aphids because ants feed on honeydew produced by aphids and aphids use ants as a form of transportation. Not only do adult ladybeetles devour an average of 100 aphids for every day they find them, but their larvae eat up to an astounding 100 aphids per hour due to their state of constant growth. They also dine on mealybugs, scale, thrips, and other soft bodied insects.
- Lacewings prefer aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, moth eggs, scale, thrips, and whitefly. Although adults only live for about four to six weeks, each female adult is capable of producing more than 200 eggs. This means one lacewing can theoretically aide in removing over 40,000 unwanted insects and their eggs.
- Pirate bugs feed on several different insects, including thrips (which are preferred), spider mites, insect eggs, leaf hoppers, and aphids. Adult pirate bugs can consume 5 to 20 thrips larvae per day, and when thrips populations are high, even more are eaten. They do this by using their piercing, sucking mouthpart to pierce a hole in their prey and suck it dry.
- Praying mantis have a vast appetite that includes most pest, including other praying mantis. Females regularly lay hundreds of eggs in a small case, providing the area they call home with a constant mantis population.
Organic Slug and Fungus Gnat Control
If gardening issues include slug or fungus gnat damage, beneficial nematodes may be just what's needed. These tiny roundworms occur naturally in our soil, but their population is often not large enough to aide in substantial insect control.
Aside from slugs and fungus gnats, beneficial nematodes attack practically any insect that spends at least part of it's larval life cycle underground. The nematodes do this by entering its prey's mouth, respiratory openings, or directly through the body wall. Once inside, the nematode ejects a type of bacteria which causes blood poisoning in the pest's body. This bacteria also converts the host's tissue into nutritive elements on which the nematodes feed and reproduce. As the host becomes depleted of its nutritive value, the nematodes exit and go in search of their next prey.
Maintain Beneficial Insect Populations
Regardless of which beneficials are introduced into the garden, it is wise to also invest in lures and plants that naturally attract them. Some catalogs supply such lures at very reasonable prices and provide easy to follow instructions for proper placement. Morning glory, goldenrod, dill, yarrow, tansy, milkweed, butterfly weed, and many more are favorites among the beneficial insect community, so when planting summer annuals, be sure to incorporate a few of these in the garden. The reward will be a garden not only less consumed by pests, but also one filled with interesting insects, healthy flowers, and brilliant color.
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Sharay Parkinson - As a child, I always loved to garden, but I never planned to make a living doing this until I realized how gratifying it is to cultivate ...
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