Garden Pests and Diseases Articles
Tomato Blight: The Worst Outbreak in Years
Any gardener living in the northeastern regions of the United States has probably some knowledge of the devastation of the tomato blight this year. Brown spots, yellowing leaves, decreased production. It is particularly frustrating if you are an individual who relies on tomatoes to can or freeze for use later in the year.
The Cause of This Year’s Outbreak
Late tomato blight is a disease that often appears late in the summer affecting only a few plants, …
Organic Pest Control: Milky Spore
Late summer is a perfect time to treat Japanese Beetle Grubs, if you have a grub problem. During the late summer, the adults have stopped feeding, laid eggs, and the eggs have hatched into vulnerable larvae susceptible to treatment. In order to treat Japanese beetles, you need to understand their life cycles.
Japanese …
Garden Bed Rotation – Time for a Change of Scenery
Garden bed rotation is a wonderful way to trick the damaging insects and diseases that may winter over in the ground and wait for the same plant to be placed there again in the spring. By moving plants around, the organic gardener can avoid this common garden problem.
Why Garden Bed Rotation?
There are a few reasons that this is a good idea. Large scale farmers, if they are savvy, use this method as well. When the …
Companion Planting – Your Garden’s Mutual Defence Against Pests
You may have heard the phrase companion planting thrown around a bit here and there in your journey in organic gardening. Like burying beer to deter slugs, crop rotation, good garden hygiene, and proper feeding of the soil; companion planting is yet another tool that is available to make the life of the organic gardener a bit easier.
And, just as many of these aforementioned tools fail from time to time, companion planting is not a …
Lessons Learned in Organic Gardening
The past couple of weeks have been both discouraging and humbling for a gardener, who cockily at times, find myself to be well versed in all of the quirks and difficulties in organic gardening. This led me to want to share this article for pre-organic and beginning organic gardeners as well as those who have been gardening this way for years.
Admittedly, there are no two years alike in the world of gardening. Sometimes the weather …
10 Easy Ideas for Organic Pest Control
Why is it important to make any effort at organic pest control when there are so many insecticides and traps that work just as well? The basic reason is that insecticides do not degrade naturally in the environment, and it means that you are spraying poison on the food products that your family is going to be eating at harvest time.
Additionally, conventional insecticides are not selective in the pests that they control. This means that …
Your Beneficial Insect Army – We Salute You!
You might have heard a lot about beneficial insects in your garden, and how they fight on your side to keep your flowers, shrubs and vegetables safe. Well, it’s time to meet these tireless, hungry soldiers, how to attract and keep them in your garden, and the pros and cons of using them as your organic insecticide. And how effective are they, really?
Introducing Your Garden Soldiers
If you are an organic gardener, chances are you will …
Organic Ant Control
Photo by Il conte di LunaAnts are part of the garden. They help decompose organic material. They can also bite, sting and devour a wood frame house. If you have a couple ant colonies and they are doing no harm, leave them be. Think of them as nature’s cleaning maids. However, if ants take …
Buying Healthy Plants To Avoid Problems
Every minute of every day, the plants in your yard are defending themselves from their natural enemies. When a gust of wind breaks a tree branch, chemicals concentrated at the base of the plant mobilize into a protective wall to prevent pests from invading the healthy parts of the tree.
A shrub that is being attacked by insects nibbling on its leaves will respond by changing its leaf chemistry, …
Pesticide Poisoning
Dandelions in the lawn, bugs in the garden, a little spray here, a little spray there, weeds and bugs disappear, no problem.
THINK AGAIN!!
Pesticide poisoning occurs when chemicals enter the blood stream. Not all poison symptoms occur right away. Most chemicals have cumulative effects. Your liver, lungs, bone marrow, kidneys, nervous system and
skin may all be affected with pesticides.
Pesticides enter the bloodstream through absorption, inhalation or ingestion. Absorption through the skin and …
