You’ve done your research, found the perfect place for your garden, started your plants and planted your garden. That doesn’t mean you’re done yet! Unfortunately, with gardening comes pests: insects, diseases and weeds that you don’t want in your garden. Fortunately, there are some easy, natural solutions to help you deal with these pests.
5 Easy, Natural Ways to Deal With Summer Plant Pests
- Keep your plants healthy. Diseases and insect pests tend to go after plants that are easy to attack, while weeds are smothered by healthy plants, so plants that are in good health are better able to fight off an invasion of pests. If you’re concerned that your plants are not getting enough nutrition, consider adding compost tea or including a liquid plant food in your irrigation water to your routine to quickly get them what they need and keep the pests at bay.
- Kill insect pests with diatomaceous earth. This wonderful substance consists of microscopic fossilized marine creatures which tend to have very sharp shells. Though it won’t bother you to handle it or your pets to walk through it, it can drastically cut your insect numbers. It works by cutting through insect shells, causing the soft parts inside to dry out, killing the insect. Bonus: it’s a great natural dewormer for pets.
- But what about soft-bodied insect pests? Save those egg shells! Rinse out any egg shells that you use in daily cooking, scrubbing a bit with your finger pads to remove the membrane on the inside. Allow them to dry, crumble them in your hands and scatter them around areas where slugs and snails are an issue, because they don’t like crawling over the sharp edges of the egg shells.
- Keep new weeds at bay with corn gluten meal. Though this soil amendment won’t do anything for weeds that have already sprouted, corn gluten meal does a great job to keep new weeds from emerging and help keep your weeding to a minimum this year. Just sprinkle a bit across the entire soil surface after your intentional plants have already emerged.
- Consider introducing beneficial insects. Insects like praying mantis, lady bugs, green lace wings and soldier beetles prey on insects that prey on your garden, providing you with an easier way to keep populations of harmful insects at a minimum. For more adventurous sorts, consider adding bees, which will pollinate your plants to improve your yields while giving you delicious honey in return.
Take a few minutes every day to check on stems and under leaves for problem pests, do a little weeding and consider adding a couple of yellow insect traps so you can track population changes and stay on top of any problems that arise. If you need help finding the perfect products for your garden, the experienced professionals at Redbud Soil Company are ready to help. Please feel free to reach out today to get started.
