After all the hard work and effort you have put into your home vegetable garden, it is frustrating to find bugs and pests feeding on it. Luckily, it’s possible to keep unwelcome visitors away.
Adding chemicals to your home garden is not the only option if this happens. In this post, we will talk about natural garden pest control options.
Home garden pests
There are millions of insects in the world and, while some can be beneficial for your garden, other are quite destructive. Fortunately, you can keep away and manage these detrimental insects with simple, organic pest control solutions.
These are some of the most common garden pests found in home gardens:
- Aphids
- African Black Beetle
- Azalea lace bug
- Cabbage Moth
- Cabbage White Butterfly
- Citrus Leafminer
- European Earwig
- Fruit Fly
- Grasshoppers
- Millipedes
- Scale insects
- Whitefly
- Snails and Slugs
- Spider Mites
- Psyllids
How do I get rid of bugs in my garden naturally?
Dealing with pests and diseases is a natural part of gardening.
Preventing garden pests is far easier than dealing with pest outbreaks after they appear.
Healthy soil makes healthy plants. Beneficial soil microbes play an important role in your garden, they help feed plants, keeping them healthy and protected against pests
What can I use instead of insecticide?
There are natural ways to deal with common garden pests in your home garden without harming wildlife or children who may come into contact with the area.
Here are some ways you can get rid of bugs in your garden naturally:
- Pest-repelling plants (some examples are: basil, bayleaf, marigold, catnip, chives, lavender, rosemary, and spearmint)
- Essential oils
- Dish soap
- Garlic spray
- Cayenne pepper
- Eggshells
- Beneficial insects (they will help by eating the unwelcome bugs)
- Insecticidal soap
Bear in mind that pesticides of any kind, even organic or homemade sprays, can kill beneficial insects, alter the PH balance of the soil, destroy beneficial soil microbes, leave a residue on the crop, or a combination of them.
In conclusion, prevention is key when protecting your home garden from pests and diseases. Preventing garden pests naturally will strengthen your home garden’s immune system.