Rid Your Well Loved Garden With Pests
“Oh, not again!”
Is this your trademark howl every morning that your neighbours are so familiar with? Well, if you’re a gardener, it’s easy to guess what’s making you scream at the top of your lungs, and it could only be one thing: pests!
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I know how frustrating it could be to see your garden, that took you many many months to develop, to be mercilessly destroyed by those pests.
But who’s in control of this situation? Certainly not those creepy crawlers, of course! They may have slipped under your watch, but you can get rid of them with ease.
Let them have their last happy munch today and gear up to wipe out these pesky critters from the face of the earth.
Here’s your battle guide on what pests should you expect from your garden and how to get rid of them.
CATERPILLAR
How do they look: They have six legs in front and fleshy legs on rear segments. This pest is a soft and segmented larvae, and you can clearly notice its hard head capsule.
How do they destroy: You can find caterpillars that make tunnel into fruits, but usually, they chew on leaves or along the margins of the leaves.
How to combat them:
a. Use floating row covers
b. Choose harvest that is not usually destroyed by caterpillars
COLORADO POTATO BEETLE
How do they look: When these pests become adults, they’ll become yellow-orange beetles with ten black stripes on its wing covers.
How do they destroy: These pests cause defoliation on plants which results in reduced yields or death of young plants.
How to combat them:
a. Apply floating covers
b. Spray neem oil
c. You can also use deep straw mulches
d. If the situation gets severe, contact the nearest pest control services in your area.
CUTWORMS
How do they look: These pests are segmented larvae with gray or black color with fat and 1-inch long body.
How do they destroy: They are ‘wild’ during May and June because they completely devour small plants during these months. Also, they chew through stems at ground level, which can quickly diminish the healthy plants in your garden.
How to combat them:
a. Carefully choose cutworms curled below the soil surface
b. Delay planting your plants
c. You can use cutworm collars on transplants
d. If the situation gets severe, there are
pest control services.APHIDS
How do they look: They are tiny insects with pear-shaped bodies. They have long antennae, and from it, you can see two tubes projecting rearward.
How do they destroy: They suck on the sap of flowers, ornamentals plants, and vegetables which causes foliage that distorts the plant and leaves to drop. Also, the honeydew that these insects excrete on leaves can increase the level of mold growth in your plants.
How to combat them:
a. Apply hot pepper or garlic repellent sprays
b. Wash plants with a strong spray of water
c. Cover your plants with floating row covers (but check this measure’s feasibility first)
d. Apply horticultural oil, insecticidal soap, or neem oil (for severe situations only)
e. You may also use native predators and pesticides like lacewings, lady beetles, and or aphid midges.
CABBAGE MAGGOTS
How do they look: It looks similar to the corn maggot.
How do they destroy: These maggots destroy cabbages in three ways: They create holes to make way for disease organisms, they hit on the cabbage’s roots or kill the plant directly.
How to combat them:
a. Make a mound of wood ashes or red pepper dust around stems
b. Apply floating row covers
c. Delay planting by avoiding the pest’s first generation
d. Burn roots from harvested plants
e. Make transplants through slits in tar-paper squares
Your garden is where you can release your stress, so it should not stress you out. With the pest samples listed above and ways to combat them, you will be able to protect your space, and you will also be able to have peace of mind every time you will stay and look at it.
Guest Poster: Collin Hardy From https://pestcontrolmcdowall.com.au/