Controlling Pests In Your Vegetable Garden
Unfortunately, you're not the only one who loves your fresh, home grown vegetables. Insects, rabbits, mice, deer and other pests do too. And they eat more than just the vegetable itself, often munching on leaves and even roots. That takes away not only the food, but the ability of the plant to create more. Very greedy, these little creatures.
Vigilance is required to keep your vegetable garden free from pests. Combining various methods makes this chore easier.
Start your pest control before your vegetables begin to grow by: properly preparing the soil, selecting healthy plants, and watering appropriately. Keeping your soil pH near 6.5 can help, as well. By fertilizing the soil properly, your plants will grow well, and will have the required resistance to fend off pests.
Look for pest resistant seeds. Don't be afraid of genetically modified seeds, and select only healthy plants if you transplant.
Watch for pests and harmful insects. Chemical sprays, however, are not your first solution. Gardening problems can often be controlled biologically, but you must be knowledgeable about the organisms present in your garden. Some of these organisms actually aid your plants in healthy growth.
Japanese beetles, caterpillars, and aphids can be eaten by assassin bugs. Stink bugs eat potato beetles and certain caterpillars. Ladybugs consume aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites. These are just two examples among many.
Watering in the morning will help. It keeps fungus and other problems to a minimum. Just as with grass, vegetables can be prone to growths that are encouraged by nighttime temperatures and excess moisture on the leaves. Allowing the plant to soak up needed water early, then dry before the temperature drops, will help prevent such problems. Keeping them disease free minimizes insect damage, since a weakened plant will often not survive minor infestations. A healhty plant can fight them off.
Prevent the spread of insects by planting different species. Pest populations may explode when numerous similar plants are spaced close together. These pests either gather together or reproduce more quickly. And eradicating a big population of pests is more difficult. They can ruin your plant before you are able to get rid of them entirely.
Just as with animals and humans, pests spread in part by contact. Removing any part or plant that has been infected is not always necessary, but may be your only means of saving other healthy plants if you cannot save the infected plant.
Building a good fence with narrow mesh at the base will help keep larger animals - rabbits and deer, for example - from getting to your vegetables.
Commercial insecticides can be useful when preventative efforts are not enough. These products are designed to eradicate insect populations and are still safe for human contact and consumption of the vegetables.
Article Source: http://www.search-raven.com
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Thinking about growing a garden this year but aren't sure where to start? Whether you're gardening plants or gardening vegetables, you'll find plenty of helpful tips & advice on the Gardeners Atlas website. Visit http://www.gardenersatlas.com for more information.
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