I think all fledgling gardeners and those who have more experience, know the dreaded signs of “black spot”. You see the black spots on your rose leaves and sometimes yellowish edges on the leaves.

How can you save your favorite rose plants?

Black spot fungus attacks only roses. Those black spots that are found on the leaves are the actual fungus itself, not dead spots, as some gardeners have concluded.

This fungus lives on the canes and on the fallen dead leaves that lie on the ground during winter and then the fungus spreads to the leaves of living roses, when the garden soil is moist and wet.

Roses that grow in areas in which summers are warm and humid are most likely to suffer from black spot.

Black spot loves moist conditions. Good air circulation around your plants will inhibit black spot from forming on the leaves. I like to water my roses early in the day, allowing the moisture to dry during the heat of the day. To avoid spreading the fungus to yourself, never work on your roses when they are wet.

It is always best to work around them when it is dry, this lessens the likelihood of spreading. You should also clean tools with alcohol or bleach after working on affected rose plants. When you first notice the spots starting on your plants, apply a baking soda spray to help to control the fungus. It is also important to destroy the diseased leaves and not leave them on the ground.

Baking Soda Spray To Combat Fungus

2 tablespoons baking soda
1 gallon water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil/car wax.

Mix together and spray as necessary.

Finally, rake up the dead leaves around the roses you have already planted, this helps to stop the spread of black spot to other roses.

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 eyes are the most common. To help to avoid pesticide poisoning, using protective clothing is the answer.

For example, wear a wide brimmed hard hat, no fabric bands. Fabric absorbs chemicals, and so the head is re-exposed each time the hat is worn.

Long sleeved shirt and full length pants. fit snugly at collar and wrists, made of 100% cotton or cotton blend.

Water proof apron when mixing and pouring, it protects the highly sensitive groin area.

Neoprene or unlined gloves to prevent liquids from running down the arm.

Neoprene overboots or tall rubber boots, pant legs outside boots.

Nose and mouth cover with mask.

DO NOT WEAR –

• fabric caps
• cloth or leather gloves
• leather belt
• leather shoes or sneakers
• conctact lenses
• leather watch band

These articles absorb pesticide chemicals and cannot be cleaned without leaving substantial residue. They prolong exposure to the wearer.

Wearing proper protective clothing leaves minimal skin exposed to pesticide chemicals. Reduced exposure means reduced health risks and good protection is good insurance.

Be Wise! Be Safe! Be Protected!

{This article was originally published on the site in 2008}

Additionally, conventional insecticides are not selective in the pests that they control. This means that you are not only killing the troublesome pests, but also the beneficial insects who, left to their own devices, will do a pretty good job of taking care of infestations for you. So, get rid of all of the poisonous controls in your garage or shed, and change your mindset.

Organic gardener’s best friend…Creepy but wonderful. Photo by Amayu

So what in the world can I do instead? A bunch of things. It requires a bit more planning, time, and committment to the cause. But, the rewards will be worth it. The following list will provide some of the tactics that can be used to thwart the destroyers of your plants.

1. Plan your garden well-There is a mantra in the world of organic gardening about planting the right plant in the right place.  The idea here is that a stronger plant is more likely to be able to ward off pests on it’s own.  A healthy plant can withstand a little damage, without dying off entirely.  Promotion of healthy plants include rotating plantings year after year, adding organic amendments specific to what that crop needs, and paying attention to sunlight needs and tolerance.
2. Plant or provide appropriate shelter for creatures who will help with pest control. Aphids are often a big problem in any organic garden.  If you are able to encourage ladybugs in your garden, you will have ladybug larvae which consume huge numbers of these pests in a short amount of time.
3. Use companion planting to help avoid damage to one plant by planting one that deters pests.
4. Place cardboard collars around the base stem of the plant. Make sure that part of the collar is buried about an inch.  This will deter sloths, and sometimes cutworms.
5. Encourage birds to make homes in your yard.  Nesting birds with young are always looking for food, and many times will find the nasty worms, slugs and aphids to be tasty treats for their babies.
6. Find a strong spray bottle. Aphids can very often be dislodged by a strong stream of water.
7. Cover seedlings with fine netting. Watch for cabbage moths and other creatures that may be scouting to lay their eggs on or around your plants.   Cheap tulle from the fabric store works really well.  This will prevent moths and butterflies from depositing potential pests on your plants.
8. Make your own “insecticides”. A spray bottle with 3 parts water, and one part hot sauce, sprayed on the plants will deter plants, and some critters.  Crushed garlic left in water for a few days and then sprayed also works well.  There are insecticidal soaps which are safe for plants, but very often kill off beneficials.
9. Keep your eyes open. Look for signs of pests.  Holes in leaves, yellowing, lines in leaves.  Identify which pest can be causing this, and look for the best way to get rid of them.
10. Hand pick them off. Last but not least, and certainly not for everyone, is my favorite method, which is to go out early in the morning or around dusk with a container of soapy water, and pick the bugs off of my plants, and throw them in the water.  Use rubber gloves if too squeamish.

Using any or all of these methods will get you well on your way to a reduction of pests, beautiful plants and produce that you can feel good about.

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, and resolving itself after a while.  It is a different strain of the potato blight that devastated the economy and livelihood of residents of Ireland in the 19th century, leading to a mass exodus to the United States.  While tomato blight is not likely to cause such far reaching deterioration of the economy, the price of tomatoes and tomato products is quite likely to rise.

There are a few factors that are believed to have contributed to what is being called the most severe and widespread blight in recent history.  The first factor is due to the fact that for many in the northern and eastern regions of the United States, it was a cold wet spring.  The spores of the fungus can travel by air, or overwinter in the soil from previous years.  They are spread most easily when water is splashed on the plants, or when a gardener tends to plants while they are wet.  If you have picked your own tomatoes at a farm, you may have found that they do not allow picking while the plants are wet.  This is the reason why.

Researchers are also pointing to tomato transplants sold in the garden centers of the big hardware and retail stores.  Specifically, the distributor Bonnie plants is thought to be responsible for distribution of plants that had the disease.  They recalled many of those plants that showed signs of the disease although they deny that the blight originated with their products, and state that blight is always in the soil.

There are three types of blight, the first two of which do not affect the fruit of the plant, other than lowering production.  The difference with late blight, is that the fruit very often rot before ripening and are not fit for consumption.

How to Prevent Tomato Blight From Affecting Next Year’s Crop

1. Plant from organic seed – plants are less likely to suffer from tomato blight when grown from seed.  This can be accomplished by starting seed inside 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost.  Planting from seed lessens the chances that your plants will be affected as they will not be exposed to the disease in garden center of greenhouse settings.
2. Use good garden hygiene – Particularly if you have infested plants, it is important to clean up the garden area well.  Do not allow plants to remain in the garden over the winter.  Clean up all leaves, tomatoes etc that may carry the disease.  These plants should be burned or placed out for pick-up. DO NOT place them on your compost pile.  This time of year, the compost pile is less likely to reach temperatures hot enough to kill off the spores.
3. Clean garden tools – Before putting tools away for the season, make sure that they are cleaned well.  Use a bleach solution to sterilize them.  Also make sure to throw away any pots the tomatoes came in that you suspect may have the blight.  Better safe than sorry.
4. Organic Fungicide – If you are comfortable using organic sprays on your plants, then by all means do so.  After a year of such severe blight, there is no reason to think that next year may not be very bad as well.
5. Plant rotation – You should always rotate plants from year to year, but this is a special case.  Plant tomatoes in a spot where they have not been planted in at least 3 years.  Also be careful about planting potatoes in the same area since tomato and potato blights are close cousins.

If you do have tomatoes this year that were not touched by blight, then do not let them go to waste.  Many large scale farms have lost their entire crop this year, and it stands to reason that tomato prices may skyrocket.

Japanese beetles spend part of their life cycle above ground and part of their life cycle below ground. They cause damage during both parts of their life cycle. Moles eat grubs, and in order to find them, they tunnel through the lawn. Japanese beetles, the adults, eat a wide range of plants, and often cause problems with rose bushes.

The best way to control these pests is by using Milky Spore in the lawn and soil. You need to apply it during late summer when the grubs are small. One application of Milky Spore, if well-timed, can last for up to ten years. This is an organic treatment method. Milky spore is a bacterial disease that affects the grubs.

You can also control the adults, but there are some common methods that do not work very well.
Pheremone traps are often sold in garden centers. These traps lure and kill a lot of insects, but, by their very nature, bring more pests to your lawn. You are better off without them.

The best way to eliminate Japanese beetle adults is to hand-pick them off your plants, or to vacuum them with a hand vacuum. Drop them in soapy water to kill them.

Apply Milky Spore to the yard and then refrain from using lawn insecticides for a couple of years while the milky spore builds up.

• Buy Milky Spore at Gardener’s Supply

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 same crops are planted year after year in the same location, bugs and diseases may lie in wait, or the soil may be depleted of vital nutrients needed by that crop when beds are planted with the same family of plants year after year.

This calls for a bit of record keeping.  Many gardeners keep journals from year to year in order to keep track of where things have been planted so that beds can be put on a three year rotation.  This is an organic tool that helps with healthier plants, and less work in the garden next spring.

Be careful to learn your plant families.  Cole crops include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts.  Peas and beans are in the legume family, and tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes are in the nightshade family.  It is important that you not just rotate your plants, but that you do not place a crop in the garden where another family member has recently been.

Plants in the legume family are nitrogen fixers.  This means that they make nitrogen available in the soil.  Because plants like squash, melon, and cucumber need nitrogen in the soil, rotating those plants to last year’s legume bed will be a beneficial move.

Additionally, garden pests will be fooled.  Insects that are particularly bothersome to one crop have no interest in others.  As a result, planting tomatoes and peppers in last years cole crop bed, will ensure that there are fewer hornworms waiting to attack your tomatoes.

Rotation in Only One Bed

Even if you only have one garden bed, rotating rows of crops from one end of the garden to the other is helpful.  Harmful insects lay eggs in the soil under their favorite plants.  When the larvae hatch in the spring, and do not find their plant within a few feet, they will not survive.

It is generally recommended that plants are put on a three year or longer rotation.  With that in mind, do the best that can be done to rotate the crops, or try planting something altogether different this year.  There is also the option of creating another bed somewhere, or using containers to help in this process.

If it is still not possible to rotate crops in a suitable way, you may need to be extra vigilant about your soil in the fall.  Plant a cover crop if needed, or ensure that extra compost or other organic material is well dug in or layered in order to provide extra nutrients to the soil.

If possible, as an added preventive measure, cover your entire bed with a dark tarp or other dark plastic.  This will help to warm the soil, even in the winter, and will help to kill off some of the weeds and pests which may be lying in wait for spring.  This will also help the soil to warm up sooner in the spring so that planting may begin a few weeks early.

Garden bed rotation is a good overall practice for any farmer or gardener, organic or not.  History has given us examples, the potato famine and the dust bowl, of what can happen when the same crop is planted in the same place year after year.  As an organic gardener, it is your job to start with the soil, for that is where all good plants are grown.  Rotation is the main key to keeping your soil, and your garden as healthy as it can be.

And, just as many of these aforementioned tools fail from time to time, companion planting is not a guarantee that you will have no problems in your garden.  However, when used wisely in concert with your other practices, it can be a very effective tool indeed.

Just What is Companion Planting?

It is the practice of planting one crop with another for the mutual benefit of one or both of the crops.  For example, it is often recommended that radishes be interplanted with carrots.  The reasoning is that radishes are a very quick maturing plant, while carrots require a much longer time to germinate and mature.  While the radishes are in the soil close to the carrots, the roots keep the soil loose, and fix important nutrients in the soil that the carrots will later use.

In 25 days, you will be able to pull your beautiful radishes, while your carrots are just beginning to push their way up through the soil and begin their life cycle in full swing.  Pulling the radishes does not disturb the carrots, and you have again wisely used space in your garden.

Research Your Most Common Garden Issues

It is vitally important to know your garden intimately, as there are an infinite number of ways that companion planting can be used in your garden.

• To control infestation of crop damaging pests such as beetles, nematodes, and various larvae.
• To attract beneficial insects to your garden in order to further control pests.
• To deter rodents and deer along with domesticated animals such as cats and dogs.
• For one crop to provide protection to another more vulnerable plant.
• To aid each other in the growth of the plant and the health of the soil.
• To lure damaging insects to an area of the garden where they will not damage your crop.

There are so many ideas about what companion planting methods to use, that it is impossible to do it all.  Identify your most likely or urgent needs, and use companion planting accordingly. An excellent guide is a series of books by Louise Riotte, such as Carrots Love Tomatoes and Roses Love Garlic.

If you garden in town, you might need not worry about deer, or other rodents, but may have a real problem with certain insect problems.  Plant accordingly.

Examples of Common Companion Planting Recommendations

In addition to planting in order to attract or distract animals and pests from your garden, it is effective to carefully plan your garden in order to utilize the space that you have most efficiently.  This means growing low growing, shade loving plants like lettuce in between rows of tomato plants, or to tuck some onions in any space available.

Cover cropping is also a type of companion planting.  What this means is that if you leave one of your beds to rest and cover crop with a leguminous variety, there will be useable nitrogen in the soil for your plants next spring.  This crop can be tilled under and will feed your vegetables without adding any other fertilizers.

Sometimes planning your garden to ensure that other plants will be protected from strong winds and other weather anomalies.  Brussel sprouts are particularly susceptible to being toppled and broken during the end of their life cycle due to their top heaviness.  Planting in front of a row of corn can provide protection from this problem.

There are literally hundreds of ways that companion planting can be used in your garden.  And for each recommended companion, you will inevitably have a neighbor who will scoff and explain that those particular plants never grow well together.

Research companion planting, and evaluate your most important crops.  Try one of the recommendations that you find, see if it works, and if you find that it does not, try something different the next time.  Do not forget to journal your successes with companion planting in your garden.  It will provide you with easy reference for what worked and what did not the season before.

Admittedly, there are no two years alike in the world of gardening.  Sometimes the weather throws a wrench in the works, or I just do not have the time to spend in the garden, or there is a pest or disease causing a problem that I do not recognize.  The humbling of this gardener came about as a combination of the three.

Not spending enough time keeping track of the garden.

I have been feeling unwell for a couple of weeks, and as a result have not travelled to my garden five times a day, as I often do.  There is then the added stress of my “country garden”, which is located 20 minutes from me at a relative’s home.

Because we are trying to not only provide for our own eating needs throughout the year, but also to sell any bumper crops at our local farmer’s market, we have committed to a larger garden than we typically have.  I started seed indoors, and tended them carefully, and placed them in my gardens lovingly with all of the nutrients and conditions that they needed.

Somehow, many of my plants this year had been severely damaged.  Some were eaten to the ground, particularly in the country.  But in my very own yard, something was attacking my broccoli and cauliflower bed.

The influence of this year’s weather

We have had an incredibly wet spring.  And I have incredibly clay filled soil.  So, I was able to attribute some of the yellowing of leaves, and rotting of roots to the rainfall.  However, what did not make sense to me was how that much rainfall could erode my plants of all foliage, or fall so hard as to put holes in the leaves.

The aphids were being well controlled by the ladybug larvae in a shrub near my gardens.  I destroyed the small green worms that I found on my broccoli plants, and yet each morning, there were huge holes in my beautiful cauliflower leaves.  I was enraged, and a bit stumped.  This was not supposed to happen to me, I am an organic gardener, and should be able to fix all problems just as the books talk about.

The attack of the slugs

Finally, while pulling the grass back from my pea bed which was also being dessimated, I discovered the problem.  Slugs were everywhere.  This has never been a problem in my yard, and I had no idea what to do.  I read and researched, asked fellow gardeners and tried all of the tricks they suggested.  However, the broccoli and cauliflower were yellowing, missing leaves and not producing.

There is a great product out there called Slug Magic, that now seems to be taking care of the rest of my plants.  But in my mind, it was already too late.  I have a bit of a problem with instant gratification.  That’s why root vegetables drive me nuts.  I just want to see if they are ready yet.

Now for the lesson

This discouraged “seasoned” gardener had enough.  I made the decision that it was time to pull that whole bed and start over with something else.  Even with the slugs now controlled, it was too late, I was sure.  I got up the other morning and got all of my equipment together, my cucumber and green bean plants and set to get to work.

As I bent over to pull the first hopeless victim, I was in a downtrodden state of mind.  Then I noticed something.  Down in the very center of that cauliflower plant, was a quarter sized, beautifully white curd starting.  I felt a glimmer of hope and looked at the plant next to it.  A very similar result.  Somehow, my plants had done what plants are supposed to do given time, they overcame the adversity of the wet soil and the slug attacks.

What does this have to do with anything?

As an organic gardener, it is sometimes easy to slip back into the mindset of the conventional gardener.  There must be a quick fix, I have to solve this, this plant needs my intervention.  In fact, what my garden often needs is for me to relax, and to let the ecosystem in my yard allow things to move along at their own pace.

It was a nice reminder to me of why I do what I do.  Plants do not need to be manipulated, sprayed, and poisoned.  They have been surviving for years without human intervention, and with any luck, I will be enjoying fresh delicious cauliflower in a month or so.

If you get discouraged when your garden does not respond the way that you expect it to, do what you can, and then step back, and watch the miracles that unfold in front of you.

Introducing Your Garden Soldiers

If you are an organic gardener, chances are you will see a lot of these insects. If you use pesticides, you won’t. This is because most of these bugs are susceptible to most common broad-spectrum sprays. Unwittingly, you will kill a lot of the insects that could have helped you get rid of the pest in the first place. As 95% of the bugs in your garden are either beneficial or innocuous, that’s quite the “collateral damage” of killing one pest species.

That’s not to say that attracting, raising or even buying beneficial insects to kill a pest eating your favorite roses or cabbage will suddenly be solved overnight – mother nature doesn’t work that way. Generally speaking, once a pest insect runs rampant in an area, a predator insect will eventually discover this sudden, rich source of food. They will then lay eggs in the area. The eggs hatch, and suddenly their young will have a great start at life. Only then will the problem be under control.

As you can imagine, this process doesn’t take a day. It could take weeks or months. Or it may never even occur. Meanwhile, your beloved plants will be completely desiccated, and the pests’ appetite (and, most likely, the next generation) will move on to surrounding plants.

Gardening naturally certainly doesn’t mean avoiding giving a helping hand. You have to actively promote and encourage your soldiers to rally. Think of yourself as a general. As a general, you have to recruit and become familiar with your army. Here’s some of the main players:

Ladybugs
Ladybugs, also known as Ladybirds, are one of the most voracious carnivores in the insect world, especially in the larvae stage. With over 475 different species in Canada and the U.S. (at last count), they are also extremely prolific. During their entire lifetime they could eat 5,000 aphids! They’re also pretty to boot.
Attacks – Depending on the species, they eat aphids, mealybugs, younger caterpillars, scale, insect eggs and spider mites.
Cons – Ladybugs will often leave an area if food isn’t found. The Asian Ladybug will often enter homes in the fall, becoming a nuisance (but won’t actually harm anything except overripe fruit left on a counter.)
Where to Buy – You can purchase 1500 Live Lady Bugs by clicking the link. They’re specially fed to encourage the laying of eggs after being released in your yard. Needless to say, place them near the problem infestation, and at or just before sunset.

Lacewings
Lacewings are graceful insects with green bodies and gossamer wings, and a great alternative to ladybugs. The larvae will stay in your garden and busily munch on your pest insects.
Attacks – mites, aphids, whiteflies, mealybugs, moth eggs, thrips and other soft-bodied insects.
Cons – Adults will likely fly out of your garden. I guess the pastures are always greener elsewhere, especially if your pest problem is solved!
Where to Buy – Lacewing Eggs are available here. You will receive them as eggs, about a thousand of them. Place on the affected area. Some may have already hatched, so immediately release them. They’re hungry, eating about 60 soft-bodied insects like aphids per hour, but will eat each other if nothing else is available. So much for brotherly and sisterly love.

Parasitic Wasps (Trichogramma)
As scary as the name is, they don’t look like wasps (in fact, they are very tiny so you may not even see them), and they won’t attack you. However, yes, they are very scary, as in, the movie Alien scary. (Maybe that’s how the creators came up with the idea!) Yes, they do everything you think they do. The adults deposits their eggs inside the eggs of caterpillars and worms, then eat them alive inside out. Wow, brutal, but extremely effective. They are widely used by organic fruit growers.
Attacks – The eggs of caterpillars, cabbageworms, tomato hornworms, corn earworms, codling moths, cutworms, armyworms, webworms, cabbage loopers, corn borers and 200 other types of moth worms.
Cons – Besides the brutal nature of how they destroy their pests, the adults are easily blown away by the wind.
Where to Buy – You can buy them in strips at some garden centres. Most places on-line tend to sell them in huge numbers designed for a professional farm. If you can find somewhere reliable that sells the eggs in quantities of 1000-5000, please let me know

Minute Pirate Bugs
Aarrr me hearties. Shiver me timbers. Pieces of eight! These are your most versatile warriors, feeding on a wide variety of pests. Best of all, they will likely stay in your yard after the infestation is solved, if they can find pollen-producing and blooming flowers.
Attacks – A wide-range of pests, including the eggs, larvae and adults of thrips, mites, aphids, whiteflies and young caterpillars.
Cons – Not much, except that they will leave if no food is found. A natural response for any living creature, I’m sure.
Where to Buy – Arbico Organics sells adults in packs of 500. Release them in the troubled area, and make sure you talk like a pirate while doing so. They will lay eggs in the hidden areas of plant leaves.

Nematodes
There are good and bad nematodes, but we are obviously talking about the good ones. They are microscopic worms, and when you hear the phrase “good microbes in the soil”, nematodes will likely be part of this. Your good army are called parasitic nematodes, and they bore into pests to feed. Within 2 days, a bacterium will kill the host, and the nematode simply leaves and looks for another pest to snack on. With the right conditions, such as moist soil and a warm temperature (60 – 90 F), they can actually clean up over 80% of pests in the soil.
Attacks – Over 250 soil-dwelling pests, such as root weevils, white grubs, slugs, snails, flea larvae, cutworms, borers, and Japanese beetle larvae. They do not attack earthworms.
Cons – They do not attack above-ground insects, and in drier or cold weather they won’t be as effective. In more northern latitudes, they won’t survive cold winters.
Where to Buy – Purchase 7 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes here. Mix with water and spray on your lawn and along the soil in flower and vegetable beds. With the right conditions, they will live and reproduce indefinitely. Otherwise, apply every spring.

Dragonflies
My favorite insect! The majestic dragonfly, with iridescent wings and colorful bodies are always a joy to see. They can hover in mid air, then suddenly zoom at 35 MPH. Heck, they even mate in a way that looks graceful! The larvae hatch in ponds and other wetlands, where they feed on mosquito larvae, and as adults they perform like eagles or Apache helicopters, attacking and feeding on a variety of pests.
Attacks – Mosquitoes, flies, gnats, flies, ants, termites, and any other flying insect. These are the Marines corp of your garden (Get it? Because they live near water? Ha ha?)
Cons – None, but I might be biased. The only con is that they don’t actually live in your garden, but fly from place to place, eventually returning to a wetland area. So a more proper term for them would be hardy, tough mercenaries.
Where to Buy – It is not recommended, as they are “wild” and will not stay in your garden. Plus, there are no companies raising them en masse for commercial sale. However, in a future article I will discuss ways to attract them to your garden.

Ground Beetles
Beetles comprise the largest number of species in the insect world (over 350,000 different types and counting), and include about 40% of all insects. Many are good, many are bad. The lady bug is a beetle. What we’re concerned with, though, is the common ground beetle (aka carabids), the warhorse of your yard. With their shiny black shells, they are easily recognizable. If you see them in your yard, say “good job, Private!” They are busy keeping your garden clean and pest-free.
Attacks – Weed seeds, most pest insect larvae, insect eggs, moth larvae, caterpillars, wireworms, etc
Cons – They can become a nuisance in large numbers
Where to Buy – No need, they are everywhere. Many farmers are building beetle banks to encourage beneficial beetle populations to help control insect pests on farmland.

Centipedes
Though these are certainly creepy-crawlies, they are predators for a variety of ground insects. They and millipedes are excellent for the composting process as well.
Attacks – slugs, snails, fly pupae and other insects along the ground
Cons – Ever see one in your basement? Ewww!
Where to Buy – No need, they are everywhere. To encourage them, don’t disturb your soil too much after spring, and keep certain areas of the soil moist for them (not near your house, or they’ll find a way inside!)

Praying Mantis
An extremely beautiful insect I love seeing in my garden. Heck, many people keep them as pets! They are extremely effective predators, eating larger insect pests that other predators can’t touch. If you have giants with big clubs in your army, this would be the praying mantis.
Attacks – As a youth, it goes after aphids and mosquitoes. As it grows it will take on spiders, moths and grasshoppers.
Cons – Praying mantids do not congregate in groups, so although they have a wild appetite, they are not as effective as other insects in larger numbers.
Where to Buy – I wouldn’t bother, as there are much more effective troops. What’s better, three gleaming tanks in your army, or ten thousand tough soldiers with bazookas?

Predatory Mites
If you own a greenhouse, and some of your leaves are starting to get white spots on them, and then fine webbings around the plant, you likely have a spider mite problem. Time to show them who’s boss – the predatory mite! There are several beneficial mites that feed on pests, with the Phytoseiulus persimilis being the most common treatment. Introduce these into your greenhouse, create more humid conditions in the problem area (predatory mites love more humid air), and they will happily eat all the bad bugs in about two weeks. Once there is no food source, they will look for mites elsewhere. They eat nothing else, so these guys are very finicky about their food.
Attacks – Red mites and spider mites only.
Cons – They don’t attack any other pests besides the two types of mites, so if you have other problems, or if the pest is outside, try pirate bugs instead.
Where to buy – You can buy them in packs of 100 here: Predator Mites.

How to Attract and Keep Beneficial Insects in Your Garden

The problem with these methods is keeping your army well fed, or they will desert. If you do not use pesticides, they will eventually come and lay their eggs upon seeing a delicious infestation of pests. The best way to make your garden look appealing and inviting for your army is the use of nectar-producing plants.

Beneficial insects are called “beneficial” because they do not attack the foliage of our garden plants, vegetables or fruit. Besides eating pests, many feed on the nectar or pollen of flowers. Some species of insects only feed on the nectar as adults – it’s the larvae that eat the bad guys.

Insects that are attracted to nectar-producing plants are:

• Parasitic wasps
• Minute Pirate Bugs
• Lacewings
• Ladybugs

Examples of flowers to entice and help feed your army are:

• Roses
• Marigolds
• Dandelions
• Camellias
• Dill
• Fennel

You likely have a lot of nectar and pollen producing plants already. Best of all, these plants (of course) make your garden more beautiful, attract birds, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Ants 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 control of the garden and raid your kitchen, or fire ants decide to take up residence, there are a few organic options for eradicating them.

Boric Acid

Boric acid is a relatively safe, naturally occurring compound that can be used for insect repellent. It is poisonous if ingested in large quantities. The median lethal dose is between 5-20 grams/kilogram, putting it just a bit higher than table salt. Unless someone eats borax out of the box with a spoon, it is unlikely they will be poisoned. That said, it is always a good idea to keep any chemicals—natural or synthetic—locked away from the reach of children.

Boric acid can be spread as a bait for ants. Thoroughly mix a 1:5 ratio of boric acid and sugar into water, and soak a piece of cotton to absorb the mixture. Place the cotton near the ant colony, and the boric acid will be taken back to the colony and eradicate it. The boric acid acts as a stomach poison. If you find dead ants near the bait, dilute with more sugar. The ants are poisoned before taking the bait back to their nest, rendering it ineffective.

This may take a few weeks, and the queen must be destroyed before the colony is gone.

Mint

Peppermint is a common ingredient of natural insect repellent sprays for the house. You can make peppermint extracts or purchase them at the hardware store. The ants do not like the smell of mint. It is important to NOT add sugar to the mint, as the sugar will counter the effects of the mint spray.

Diatomaceous Earth

Despite its alien-sounding name, Diatomaceous Earth is actually fossilized remains of diatoms—tiny sea creatures—that are ground up into a powder. The particles have sharp edges that cut up the bodies of the ants. Diatomaceous Earth is not toxic, but because of the sharp edges, it can cause harm if inhaled.

Place in the ant’s path to disrupt them, and in and around your garden and flowerbeds where problem areas occur to tell ants that this is a dangerous place to be. Diatomaceous Earth cuts into the shell of any soft-bellied insect, such as ants, slugs, and cockroaches, dehydrating and killing them. However, it will also affect beneficial insects, so don’t use it everywhere.

Boiling Water

A cruel but effective method, slowly pour about three gallons of boiling water directly on the colony. Do this in mid-morning when the ants are active, and repeat every day. You are not drowning them (as ants can survive in water), but literally burning them. The key is to scald and kill the queen. Warning, this will also kill or damage any vegetation directly affected.