- 1). Add compost to the soil to help it resist disease and infestation by harmful insects. Healthy soil contains the 13 nutrients plants need to thrive and 3 to 5 percent organic matter.
- 2). Maintain a regular program of irrigation and mulching to grow healthy plants. Mulch helps retain moisture in soil, controls weeds and provides nutrient-rich decaying materials.Use a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch around vegetables and ornamental plants. Leave half the garden as bare dirt to provide nest areas for bees, which are the most valuable pollinators for fruit trees, vegetables and flowers.
- 3). Attract beneficial insects to the garden. Lady beetles, preying mantis, lacewings, assassin bugs, ground beetles, bigeyed bugs and hover flies are some of the many beneficial insects that live around plants. Ladybird beetles, sometimes called ladybugs, eat the colonies of light green aphids often covering plants in early spring. Lacewings are green or brown with delicate, net-like wings and prominent eyes. They feed on aphids, leafhoppers, scale and mites. Assassin bugs are slow-flying insects with a thin head and bulging eyes. They paralyze and eat harmful potato beetles, aphids, caterpillars, leafhoppers and bright green Japanese beetles.
- 4). Grow native plants that attract beneficial insects. These include native coneflowers, angelica, blue lobelia, sage, sunflower and horsemint, all of which require little care and provide shelter and food to valuable insects. Ground beetles, which eat harmful flea beetles, nematodes, thrips and mites, thrive in squash, camphorweed and evening primrose plants.
- 5). Spray plants with a mixture of 2/3 cup of warm water, 4 tbsp. of brewer's yeast, 2 tsp. of honey and 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix the solution in a spray bottle and use in spring and summer to attract beneficial insects that keep plants healthy, recommends the website Golden Harvest Organics.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -