The Definitive Guide on Combating Garden Pests Naturally

pest damage

When bugs and rodents make your garden their new home, the last thing you should do is resort to chemicals. Even though pesticides are fast and remarkably effective, you’ll inevitably contaminate your plants and soil, becoming more of a pest to your garden than the ones you’ve eliminated. There are many natural alternatives to pesticides, …

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Homemade Dormant Oil for Fruit Trees

organic apple in hand

Sometimes I think that pests, like scales, aphids and mites adore my fruit trees as much as I do. They feast on the juicy tender plant parts in the warm summer and overwinter on my fruit trees. Dormant oil does help control these annoying little pests and homemade dormant oils are safe for use on …

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Troubleshooting Tomato Problems

tomato hornworm up close

Fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes are one of the great joys of summer. However, sometimes diseases, pests or environmental stress get in the way of our tomato harvests. The best way to avoid tomato troubles is to start with healthy plants. Healthy plants are more able to fight off disease or pests than stressed or weak plants. …

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Tomatoes – Pests and Disease

aphids are tomato pests

Although tomatoes are relatively easy to grow, there can be problems with a variety of tomato pests and disease. The most common tomato pests and disease Aphids – I wouldn’t use pesticides when there is such an easy way to kill them. An organic way of dealing with them is to spray with soapy water. …

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Green Lacewing

green lacewing

Green lacewings — scientifically known as the Chrysoperla rufilabris — are aggressive aphid predators that have an appetite for other soft-bodied pests as well. Lacewing larvae are tiny when emerging from its egg, but grow to 3/8 of an inch long. They are often referred to as aphid lions since they voraciously attack aphids by …

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Lure Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

luring the beneficial lady bug into the garden

Worried that miniature monsters like aphids, hornworms or corn borers will chomp a swath through your carefully planted garden this year? These insect pests can be the organic gardener’s worst enemy. But not all insects are harmful. In fact, so-called beneficial insects can help you fight the nasty ones. So nurture a balanced, biologically diverse …

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