Organic Pest Control in the Vegetable Garden
Benefits of Organic Pest Control
When using organic pest control the most important step in eliminating the pest problems is to be proactive in the garden. Greg recommends having a spray program early on to ensure that you reduce the pest issues before they over populate the vegetable garden. The benefits of using organic pest controls include an overall better garden area and harder resistance for pests. Every gardener desire is to have a better garden area for planting when using natural pest controls you reduce the risk of damaging the garden soils. Also, pests have a harder time resisting the organic pest controls because these sprays are developed with biological chemicals or traits rather than artificial which makes the insects less resistance to them in the garden. Another benefit of using natural pest controls is the ability to produce healthier vegetables. When growing your own food the overall goal is to create healthier food and apply the best natural products effectively in the garden. By using natural products we don't have to worry about our vegetables being sprayed with harsh chemicals and unsafe to consume. Overall, having healthier sprays being applied to the plants can in return allow for better vegetables to be produced and consumed from the garden.
Varieties of Organic Pest Controls
On this week's episode, Greg explains the best organic pest control to use in the vegetable garden. One way that Greg likes to use pest control is with a combination of Neem Oil, Take-Down, and B.t. The organic pest control, Neem Oil is naturally derived from the Neem tree and be used on a variety of pests such as aphids, whiteflies, beetles, spider mites, and a few other insect pests. Neem Oil can also be used to control fungal diseases like downy mildew, black spot, powdery mildew, tip blight, anthracnose, etc. The Take-Down Garden Spray is a combination of pyrethrin and canola oil which allows for a quick knockdown with residual control. Take-Down will eliminate pests such as aphids, caterpillars, thrips, whitefly, mites, leafhoppers, etc. The Monterey B.t. is a bacteria that worms ingest that ends up killing them internally. B.t. should be applied at the first sign of infestation and then repeated weekly to maintain pest control in the vegetable garden. To apply these pest controls in the garden, Greg mixes the B.t. in with Neem Oil and spray that seven days apart. Then, the next week he will spray Take-Down and Neem in the vegetable garden. Which allows you to eliminate all the pest problems you may be experiencing in the vegetable garden. All of these pest controls should be mixed with water in order to make them spray. For the Neem Oil, Greg mixes one ounce per gallon and the Take-Down mixes one to two ounces per gallon. No matter what organic pest control products you decide to use in the vegetable garden, make sure to apply a spray program to ultimately eliminate insect populations from taking over the garden area.