Insect Battles
Insect are “notorious” destroyers of thriving gardens and they can smell a thriving garden a great distance away. They come to feast and populate. A few insect may be great for a garden such as pollinating bees or lady bugs, but overall insect can be a nuisance. Not only do they come to feast, lay eggs and larva some insect can spread disease to your plants. It is vital to treat your plants immediately with insect deterrent. There are many products and methods gardeners use to combat insect it can sometimes seem crazy.
Insect Deterrent Prep
The advantage of having a fenced in patio is a big plus. It allows me to create a barrier to reduce insect invasion by spraying down my complete patio with Ortho Home Defense before I began my spring planting. This product works really well; the only draw back is if it rains very heavy you may have to reapply another application.
Take great caution when using this product in your garden. If plants are present on your patio be sure to cover them well with plastic along with any soil you plan on planting in. Also make sure if it dose rain that this product dose not runoff into your planting soil or on your plants. A good rule is to let the application settle for a day before you plant.
Organic Products/Insect Deterrent
I prefer to stick with two of my favorite products combating insect in my garden; Organic Neem Oil and Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade. Peppermint Oil and Rosemary Oil are other options. A good water spray plant bath is good now and then to remove insect eggs and larva you may not see with the naked eye. If you do give your plants a water bath be sure to reapply a neem oil application once your plants have dried.
Leaf Eaters
Most leaf eating insect and worms can be detected with the naked eye when inspecting your plants but if you find yourself wondering what is devouring your plant with no culprit in sight you can bet it is highly possible it is the nasty cut worm. This moth caterpillar grows really fast and dose major damage to your plants while you sleep. It only comes out at night to feed and the clues it leaves behind is that it only eats the edges of the leaves. It usually buriers its self only about 3 inches in the soil and can be discovered by turning your soil with a small garden shovel. I have had a run-in with one of these caterpillars and they will eat. If you don’t feel like turning soil then cover the top of your soil with Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade, it will get the job done.
Pestsonic
Peststonic is a great device to help battle against some insect in your patio garden. This device has worked really well on specific varmints and insect; especially crickets. I have rarely seen crickets on my patio since using this device. Simply plug the device into a patio outlet and choose the setting you prefer and your good to go.
Daily Inspection
Daily inspection of your garden is crucial to determine any insect activity that may destroy your plants. Insect will show up over night and Aphids are notorious but can be controlled. Most leaf eating insect hang out feasting and populate on the underside of plant leaves to avoid the heat of the sun. So I inspect my plants on a daily basis.
Unfortunately there are no products or methods that will completely eradicate insect from invading your garden. The goal in combating insect is to keep activity down as much as possible.
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