Organic Pest Control: A Natural way to control Pests and Insects in your Garden
For every pest, theirs is at least one natural pest control solution, that doesn’t require covering your garden with poisonous pesticides, weedicides or fungicides. Natural pest control costs less than pesticides and is much safer for your garden, pets, children, wildlife and the environment.
Here are some natural pest control measures you can use to avoid adding nasty chemicals to the soil:
1. Making sure your garden is healthy to begin with; well-prepared garden soil is the key to good natural pest control. So, check that the pH balance is suitable for what you wish to grow, the soil is well drained, not compacted and contains plenty of organic matter by adding compost.
2. Remove any weak plants and dispose of them well away from the garden area. Keeping your weeds, discarded plants and compost well away from your main gardening areas will keep the pests away also.
3. Keep garden beds well mulched and top-dressed with compost to encourage healthy plant growth, and to help reduce evaporation.
4. Use seaweed fertilizer spray, which contains minerals and trace elements such as iron, zinc, barium, calcium, sulfur and magnesium that strengthen soil and promote plant health. This is a friendly and natural solution to assist in vigorous plant growth.
5. Keep your garden clear of debris which can become a breeding ground for insects.
8. Always use clean mulch, either cultivated on site or purchased from a supplier. Mulch helps maintain moisture in the soil and keeps the weeds down.
9. Companion plant and rotate crops to defeat plant specific insects. Mixing plants up in your garden patches makes it more difficult for insects to spread, and annual crop rotation goes along way to stopping re-infestation.
10. If your garden needs watering do it early in the day to give the plant foliage a chance to dry out. Wet foliage encourages insect and fungi to move in as night falls and the temperature drops.
11. Disinfect your gardening tools before using them near healthy plants. Dirty tools spread disease
12. Attract beneficial insects to your garden or buy them from catalogs. Insects such as Brachonids, Chalcids and Ichneumon Wasps, Ladybugs, Lacewings, praying Mantises and Hover flies. Both soil nematodes and hover flies can be powerful weapons and allies in your fight against garden pests!
Although the goal is always to keep your garden healthy and productive all season long, it is not difficult to keep fungi, pests and insects at bay using natural pesticide solutions. There is a wide range of information available on the internet or by asking your organic gardening store. Essentially, there are different options for different plant species so once you determine which plant is being harmed, you can conduct your research accordingly.
