9 ms·

How do you deal with pests? I have had severe problems with spider mites, which cabbage moths and fungi. I dislike using chemical pesticides so much I am willin

How do you deal with pests? I have had severe problems with spider mites, which cabbage moths and fungi. I dislike using chemical pesticides so much I am willing to give up gardening so as not to use them. And natural pesticides almost never work.

worik 5y ago
Part of the solution is pesticides. "Natural" pesticides do work. Pyrethrin is very powerful. Part is cultivating carnivorous insects. Keep cats away from your garden, they hunt and kill the carnivorous insects. Part is chemical deterrence. Dilute soapy water interferes with the life cycle of many pests. Garlic discourages lots of things. Part is companion planting. I have not had much luck with this myself, but better gardeners than me (most) swear by the technique. Be a bit vigilant. If a plant is being attacked, rip it out. Spray soapy water and/or garlic on your plants on a regular basis. Accept some defeats. You will not win every battle with the little evil creatures. But if you engage with them you will stay ahead enough to have a fabulous garden.
- jillesvangurp 5y ago
  Put some garlic cloves in the ground. You can eat the garlic shoots and the smell discourages some of the bugs.
johnthedebs 5y ago
I've been gardening for a few years and have had some similar problems and learned a lot. I also really dislike using chemicals. Each problem calls for a different approach, and sometimes the approach can create problems :). With fungi - if you mean blight - I've been lucky enough not to have to deal with it. Try to keep plants healthy and leaves relatively dry. If you mean powdery mildew, I think it's a part of life to a certain degree and the best you can do is manage it. Try to keep leaves dry when watering, promote airflow around plants, and cut off old leaves that have a lot of mildew. They should still produce. If you mean fungus in the ground around plants, that's usually a good sign not a bad one. With cabbage moths, the most effective protection is some type of fine netting/horticulture fleece over the plants to keep the moths from laying eggs, or applying BT (bacillus thuringiensis) periodically. It's a natural pesticide (a bacteria) that's extremely effective against caterpillars. I use it, and it's great, though I'm hoping to use less this year because it likely affects other insects in their larval stages as well (thinking ladybugs and lacewings). With spider mites... sigh. The problem has seemed to get worse each year. This year I'm trying a more holistic and hands-off approach using compost exclusively (0 or very limited fertilizer use, even organic) to make sure plants are healthy enough to fight them off and produce despite their presence. Also covering soil with dense plantings and other smaller inter-crops to regulate soil temps, hold onto moisture, and encourage soil life. I'm also allowing a baseline population of them in some places (not that I've had a choice) to give predators a food supply so they'll move in and hopefully help keep things under control. The thinking here is a "soil-up" approach that focuses on soil, plant, and ecosystem health rather than simply attacking what may be a symptom of other problems I've created. Hope this is helpful!
mikro2nd 5y ago
There's no silver bullet. Cultivate as diverse an ecosystem as you possibly can. Good indicator species include amphibians (esp. frogs), spiders and fungi -- if you're seeing lots of those in your veggie garden, your soil ecology and fixed-plant guilds are healthy. I had a neighbour complain that they'd had a particularly bad invasion of bugs one season, despite a couple of prior seasons with no trouble. "Third season growing in that spot?" I asked. She answered affirmatively. "Hang in there," was the only advice I could give. It seems that a new veggie garden gets about 2 seasons "for free", then, in the 3rd season, all the bugs find it, but the predators haven't caught up yet. It's highly instructive to run a predator-prey model -- you'll easily see the natural delay between prey population peaks and the lagging predator population peaks. So 3rd season is a downer, but take heart! from there on things steadily get better. The BIG thing to avoid (assuming you're aiming for completely pesticide-free) is to NEVER use pesticides of ANY kind, "organic" pesticides included! The moment you deploy a pesticide, even on a limited scale, you break the predator-prey networks you need to build and foster. Once you have your local ecosystem really healthy (compost, compost, compost!) you'll hardly ever have serious pest problems. I speak from having gardened this way for over 25 years.

worik 5y ago

Part of the solution is pesticides. "Natural" pesticides do work. Pyrethrin is very powerful. Part is cultivating carnivorous insects. Keep cats away from your garden, they hunt and kill the carnivorous insects. Part is chemical deterrence. Dilute soapy water interferes with the life cycle of many pests. Garlic discourages lots of things. Part is companion planting. I have not had much luck with this myself, but better gardeners than me (most) swear by the technique. Be a bit vigilant. If a plant is being attacked, rip it out. Spray soapy water and/or garlic on your plants on a regular basis. Accept some defeats. You will not win every battle with the little evil creatures. But if you engage with them you will stay ahead enough to have a fabulous garden.

jillesvangurp 5y ago
Put some garlic cloves in the ground. You can eat the garlic shoots and the smell discourages some of the bugs.

johnthedebs 5y ago

I've been gardening for a few years and have had some similar problems and learned a lot. I also really dislike using chemicals. Each problem calls for a different approach, and sometimes the approach can create problems :). With fungi - if you mean blight - I've been lucky enough not to have to deal with it. Try to keep plants healthy and leaves relatively dry. If you mean powdery mildew, I think it's a part of life to a certain degree and the best you can do is manage it. Try to keep leaves dry when watering, promote airflow around plants, and cut off old leaves that have a lot of mildew. They should still produce. If you mean fungus in the ground around plants, that's usually a good sign not a bad one. With cabbage moths, the most effective protection is some type of fine netting/horticulture fleece over the plants to keep the moths from laying eggs, or applying BT (bacillus thuringiensis) periodically. It's a natural pesticide (a bacteria) that's extremely effective against caterpillars. I use it, and it's great, though I'm hoping to use less this year because it likely affects other insects in their larval stages as well (thinking ladybugs and lacewings). With spider mites... sigh. The problem has seemed to get worse each year. This year I'm trying a more holistic and hands-off approach using compost exclusively (0 or very limited fertilizer use, even organic) to make sure plants are healthy enough to fight them off and produce despite their presence. Also covering soil with dense plantings and other smaller inter-crops to regulate soil temps, hold onto moisture, and encourage soil life. I'm also allowing a baseline population of them in some places (not that I've had a choice) to give predators a food supply so they'll move in and hopefully help keep things under control. The thinking here is a "soil-up" approach that focuses on soil, plant, and ecosystem health rather than simply attacking what may be a symptom of other problems I've created. Hope this is helpful!

mikro2nd 5y ago

There's no silver bullet. Cultivate as diverse an ecosystem as you possibly can. Good indicator species include amphibians (esp. frogs), spiders and fungi -- if you're seeing lots of those in your veggie garden, your soil ecology and fixed-plant guilds are healthy. I had a neighbour complain that they'd had a particularly bad invasion of bugs one season, despite a couple of prior seasons with no trouble. "Third season growing in that spot?" I asked. She answered affirmatively. "Hang in there," was the only advice I could give. It seems that a new veggie garden gets about 2 seasons "for free", then, in the 3rd season, all the bugs find it, but the predators haven't caught up yet. It's highly instructive to run a predator-prey model -- you'll easily see the natural delay between prey population peaks and the lagging predator population peaks. So 3rd season is a downer, but take heart! from there on things steadily get better. The BIG thing to avoid (assuming you're aiming for completely pesticide-free) is to NEVER use pesticides of ANY kind, "organic" pesticides included! The moment you deploy a pesticide, even on a limited scale, you break the predator-prey networks you need to build and foster. Once you have your local ecosystem really healthy (compost, compost, compost!) you'll hardly ever have serious pest problems. I speak from having gardened this way for over 25 years.