how to control pest insects in your garden using your garden

How frustrating is it when you put so much work and effort into a garden, and then like out of nowhere, your plants are nearly ruined from insects munching on them?  I’m going to explain how you can control the insects that feed on your precious crops.

Step 1: Blossom!

The key to controlling insects is not pesticide.  Pesticide will kill all the beneficial insects and microbes as well.  The key is flowers.  The effect of the flowers is at least three fold.  They confuses insects that will attack your plants, they attract predatory insects, which are also pollinators.

Comments

[dchall8]

I control pests by making my soil as healthy as possible. I switched to an organic gardening program 10 years ago and my disease and pest problems have mostly gone away. Those few tomato worms I get are solved with BT Worm Killer.

The other big helper is wasps.  Mud dauber wasps eat spiders hiding in dark places.  Paper wasps eat caterpillars. 

[calskin]

That's a great method! There's 100s of ways to control pests that don't require chemicals.

A great statement I've heard is that true gardeners grow soil and the soil grows the plants.

How to you attract the wasps? Do they cause any stinging problems while you're working out there?

[dchall8]

They go where the caterpillars are. I don't attract them. They don't sting unless you really bother them.  Swinging your arms around is a sure way to get stung.  Holding your arms down to your side is your best defense.  Close your eyes if you have to.  Learn not to antagonize them. 

I have a nest outside my back door.  The nest is heavy and hanging down to interfere with the back door.  I'm going to see if I can go all season without going out the back door (I live alone at that house).  Then when they abandon the nest in the fall I'll relocate it.  Before I realized the door was hitting the nest, I had them swarm me but only for a second.  One banged me in the forehead and landed on my glasses.  A second later he flew back to the nest.  You have to learn to be that calm. 

[calskin]

Wow. You have far more patience that I would have.

I hope it goes well.