Organic Pest and Disease Control

Organic Pest Control Guide

Organic pest and disease control,organic farming pest control is one method to help protect your family from the dangers of pesticides. While most people don't realize it, pesticides often become part of the plant's chemical make-up. The plant absorbs the toxins and no matter how much you try to clean the surface, you still eat a bit of them.

One recent study showed that peaches from the grocery contained the highest amount of toxicity with onions the lowest. This is because onions have their own natural pesticide and they definitely smell bad to insects. That's why they're great for companion planting, one method of Organic Pest and Disease Control or pest control.

Types of Garden Pests

For Organic pest and disease control you can classify the garden pests in a variety of ways. One method is by the way they appear. If you do this, the first category would be caterpillars. In this category, you have the tomato hornworm, codling moth, pickle worm, cabbageworm, corn earworm and cabbage loopers. This is a list of the most prevalently found caterpillar type of pests. Small insects include whiteflies, aphids, mealy bugs, scale, thrips, spider mites and leaf miners. Common beetle types of pests are Corn rootworm, cucumber beetles, Asparagus beetles, Colorado potato beetles, curculio, Japanese beetles, flea beetles, lily leaf beetles, sweet potato weevils and Mexican bean beetles. You have borers like the corn borer, peach tree borer and squash vine borer and those pests that work below the ground to damage plants or just at ground level like cutworms, fire ants, earwigs, nematodes, root maggots, slugs, snails, and wireworms. Not all bugs are true bugs but the tarnished plant bug, squash bug and stinkbug are.

Organic Gardening Pest Control

There are many ways to control pests without doing damage to the environment. Some of the ways involve using beneficial insects that are predators to those insects that damage your plants. Other methods involve mechanical methods of control or companion planting.

Beneficial Insects.

Three types of beneficial insects are used most frequently in the garden. The first is the ladybug. The ladybug is an aphid-eating machine. If they can't find an aphid for breakfast, they'll settle for the eggs of moths, mites, beetles, thrips and a host of other damaging insects. They also like to have a little pollen and nectar as their sweet treat and you can lure them in by planting shallow faced nectar producing plants. You also can purchase ladybugs for your garden.

Parasitic wasps are also hungry beneficial insect for organic pest and disease control. These aren't the type that hunt people down to sting but very human friendly and seldom sting. The Baconid wasp lays eggs on the tomato hornworm and when the eggs hatch the larvae literally eat the hornworm alive. You'll know the wasp is in your garden if you find a hornworm with what looks like rice all over its back. Other types of prey for these wasps are aphids, garden webworms, armyworms and strawberry leaf rollers.

Another organic pest and disease control that can be helpful is lacewings they eat aphids. In fact their hungry little larvae have large mouths and are called aphid lions because the eat so many of the aphids. One larvae might consume as many as 200 or more aphids or the eggs each week after hatching and before they reach the pupae stage.

Mechanical Methods

The best method of controlling pests is to keep the ground clean and free of yard waste. A second method is hand picking off the insects and knocking them into a container of soapy water. Many people use this technique for tomato hornworms and potato beetles. Garden fabric, which covers the plants keeps many pests, including grasshoppers.

Aphids are easily washed away with a strong spray of water or a mix of soap and water sprayed onto the plant. Neem oil is a good insecticide that you can use right up to the day you harvest the crops. This insecticide kills many different types of pests.

Companion Planting

Companion planting is the art of putting plants together so one deters the pests and diseases that affects the other. For instance, planting cabbage next to strong smelling herbs, beets, onions or spinach is good. If however, you plant them next to tomatoes, dill or strawberries it only makes both plants more susceptible to diseases, pests or makes them grow slower.

Nasturtiums and marigolds are often interspersed through the garden to keep pests away. One delightful part of growing nasturtium as a companion plant is that it also is great as an addition to a salad. The leaves add a peppery bite to the salad and the flowers are not only beautiful but also taste good as an addition. Companion planting is one method of creating healthier plants, just by organizing the way you plant them.

For organic pest and disease control you don't have to use strong pesticides to have a healthy pest free garden. One sure way to keep your plants from developing disease is to keep them growing strong. You can do this by adding rich nutrients through a compost you create from the scraps in your kitchen. Don't put any meat in the compost but everything else is fair game, including coffee grounds and crushed eggshells. If you have a bottle of B vitamins about to expire, toss them in too. Plants also benefit from B vitamins. You can have a beautiful garden with no harm to your family, pets or the environment if you follow safe practices.