Organic Garden Management – Part 2
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Many of our gardening customers want to garden organically, so I've worked with our Trial Garden Manager Lindsay to share our own organic gardening techniques. Here is the second post focusing on pest control and encouraging beneficial insects. - Renee
No garden is completely pest free, but having a variety of plants that attract beneficial insects can really go a long way toward controlling plant pests by creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. When pests do present a problem, there are now many highly effective products to control them:
Floating Row Cover
In our trial garden, our premier method of pest protection is to simply exclude them with a soft but effective barrier. We use sheets of Agryl Floating Row Cover, a multi-purpose, ultra-lightweight spun fabric.
These thin row covers are simply laid loosely over the top of the plants in the beds, then fastened down at the sides of the beds so nothing can crawl under. Row covers work by effectively blocking pests out as the plants grow, while still letting ample sunlight and water in through the porous fabric. When the plants are near maturity or begin to flower and need pollination, the row cover is removed. Row cover works wonderfully well to protect against otherwise hard to treat pests such as leaf miners and cabbage moths.
Good Organic Controls
Organocide Bee Safe 3-in-1 Garden Spray This OMRI-listed spray is a safe and effective alternative to chemical sprays and pesticides. Bee Safe contains potassium sorbate, sesame oil, lecithin, and fish oil and successfully smothers targeted soft-bodied pests. It works well on all life stages of aphids, thrips, whiteflies, spider mites, fungus gnats, mealybugs, leaf miners and more (see below). It also does a great job controlling mites and common fungal diseases, including powdery mildew, downy mildew and black spot. Bee Safe will not harm foraging bees, adult butterflies or ladybugs.
Sluggo Plus Non-toxic and safe around people, pets and wildlife and OMRI registered for use in all organic gardening, Sluggo Plus reliably kills slimy slugs and voracious snails as well as pillbugs, sow bugs and earwigs: all the very unwelcome garden pests that particularly love young seedlings. We absolutely rely on Sluggo Plus as we always get these pests in spring and it absolutely works quickly and efficiently.
Nontoxic Safer Insect Killing Soap Regular application of non-toxic Safer Soap will control soft-bodied insects such as aphids, whiteflies, spittlebugs, earwigs, thrips and spider mites without harming people, pets, wildlife or beneficial insects.
ProtekNet Insect Barrier Netting Keep out harmful pests that damage leaves, lay destructive larvae or transmit diseases with this highly effective new barrier netting. Made in Canada of tough, finely knitted synthetic mesh, it totally prevents pest insects, birds, rabbits and deer from preying on your plants. Lightweight, UV resistant and easy to see through, ProtekNet floats over your plants, while allowing the normal flow of air, water and sunlight to pass through its ultrafine mesh holes.
Attracting Beneficials
Not all insects that you see in the garden are harmful for plants and many are actually quite helpful, distributing pollen between flowers or providing food for beneficial insects. A garden of diverse plant varieties also creates an ecosystem that attracts lots of beneficials. Even if you are strictly a vegetable gardener, it's important to plant some flowers and/or flowering herbs to attract pollinating bees of all kinds. Sunflowers, poppies, cosmos, tithonia, zinnias, marigolds, cornflowers and herbs like lavender, catmint, dill, borage and basil are favorite bee destinations.
Sweet alyssums flowers attract lacewings and ladybugs. The larvae of these insects dine on aphids, mites and other small insects and their eggs. Alyssum, bishops lace, chamomile, cosmos, and fennel, are just a few plants that will attract hover flies (aka syrphid fly). The adults look like little bees that hover over and dart quickly away, but they don't sting. They lay white, oval eggs singly or in groups on leaves, which hatch into green, yellow, brown, orange, or white half-inch maggots that look like caterpillars. They raise up on their hind legs to catch and feed on aphids, mealy bugs and other pests.
When we grow parsley, cutting celery, dill or cilantro we let some of the plants mature and blossom. Their flowers, along with those of marigolds and zinnias are wonderful for attracting parasitic mini wasps, which are parasites of a variety of insects. They have stingers that have been adapted to allow the females to lay their eggs in the bodies of insect pests. The eggs then hatch, and the young feed on the pests from the inside, killing them. After they have killed the pests, they leave hollow "mummies" which we see regularly here in the garden, especially on aphids. It’s wild!
Having an organic garden doesn’t have to be tricky; what you put into it, you will get right back out of it. Building healthy soil will give you healthy plants. Creating biodiversity in the garden will help to have an ecosystem that can sustain itself. And for those times when you do need a little extra help with those pesky critters, there are safe products on the market that will do the trick. With some simple garden planning, you can avoid inviting situations that encourage pests and diseases.
Floating Row Cover
In our trial garden, our premier method of pest protection is to simply exclude them with a soft but effective barrier. We use sheets of Agryl Floating Row Cover, a multi-purpose, ultra-lightweight spun fabric.
These thin row covers are simply laid loosely over the top of the plants in the beds, then fastened down at the sides of the beds so nothing can crawl under. Row covers work by effectively blocking pests out as the plants grow, while still letting ample sunlight and water in through the porous fabric. When the plants are near maturity or begin to flower and need pollination, the row cover is removed. Row cover works wonderfully well to protect against otherwise hard to treat pests such as leaf miners and cabbage moths.
Good Organic Controls
Organocide Bee Safe 3-in-1 Garden Spray This OMRI-listed spray is a safe and effective alternative to chemical sprays and pesticides. Bee Safe contains potassium sorbate, sesame oil, lecithin, and fish oil and successfully smothers targeted soft-bodied pests. It works well on all life stages of aphids, thrips, whiteflies, spider mites, fungus gnats, mealybugs, leaf miners and more (see below). It also does a great job controlling mites and common fungal diseases, including powdery mildew, downy mildew and black spot. Bee Safe will not harm foraging bees, adult butterflies or ladybugs.
Sluggo Plus Non-toxic and safe around people, pets and wildlife and OMRI registered for use in all organic gardening, Sluggo Plus reliably kills slimy slugs and voracious snails as well as pillbugs, sow bugs and earwigs: all the very unwelcome garden pests that particularly love young seedlings. We absolutely rely on Sluggo Plus as we always get these pests in spring and it absolutely works quickly and efficiently.
Nontoxic Safer Insect Killing Soap Regular application of non-toxic Safer Soap will control soft-bodied insects such as aphids, whiteflies, spittlebugs, earwigs, thrips and spider mites without harming people, pets, wildlife or beneficial insects.
ProtekNet Insect Barrier Netting Keep out harmful pests that damage leaves, lay destructive larvae or transmit diseases with this highly effective new barrier netting. Made in Canada of tough, finely knitted synthetic mesh, it totally prevents pest insects, birds, rabbits and deer from preying on your plants. Lightweight, UV resistant and easy to see through, ProtekNet floats over your plants, while allowing the normal flow of air, water and sunlight to pass through its ultrafine mesh holes.
Attracting Beneficials
Not all insects that you see in the garden are harmful for plants and many are actually quite helpful, distributing pollen between flowers or providing food for beneficial insects. A garden of diverse plant varieties also creates an ecosystem that attracts lots of beneficials. Even if you are strictly a vegetable gardener, it's important to plant some flowers and/or flowering herbs to attract pollinating bees of all kinds. Sunflowers, poppies, cosmos, tithonia, zinnias, marigolds, cornflowers and herbs like lavender, catmint, dill, borage and basil are favorite bee destinations.
Sweet alyssums flowers attract lacewings and ladybugs. The larvae of these insects dine on aphids, mites and other small insects and their eggs. Alyssum, bishops lace, chamomile, cosmos, and fennel, are just a few plants that will attract hover flies (aka syrphid fly). The adults look like little bees that hover over and dart quickly away, but they don't sting. They lay white, oval eggs singly or in groups on leaves, which hatch into green, yellow, brown, orange, or white half-inch maggots that look like caterpillars. They raise up on their hind legs to catch and feed on aphids, mealy bugs and other pests.
When we grow parsley, cutting celery, dill or cilantro we let some of the plants mature and blossom. Their flowers, along with those of marigolds and zinnias are wonderful for attracting parasitic mini wasps, which are parasites of a variety of insects. They have stingers that have been adapted to allow the females to lay their eggs in the bodies of insect pests. The eggs then hatch, and the young feed on the pests from the inside, killing them. After they have killed the pests, they leave hollow "mummies" which we see regularly here in the garden, especially on aphids. It’s wild!
Having an organic garden doesn’t have to be tricky; what you put into it, you will get right back out of it. Building healthy soil will give you healthy plants. Creating biodiversity in the garden will help to have an ecosystem that can sustain itself. And for those times when you do need a little extra help with those pesky critters, there are safe products on the market that will do the trick. With some simple garden planning, you can avoid inviting situations that encourage pests and diseases.
