BUGS AND OTHER PESTS

• Why organic? It's safer. It's healthier. It's more effective.
• Get copper tape and say goodbye to slugs!
• Aphids in your apple trees? You need these beneficial insects.
• Get rid of squash bugs!
• Big holes in tomato leaves mean Tomato Hornworms have come to call - they're big, they're green, and you want  them GONE!
• What about tiny holes in tomato leaves?
• Japanese Beetles? They've got to go!
• Apple maggots? Don't want them, either!
• Collar those cutworms!
• What's cute and red and eats 400 aphids a week?
• If they can't find it, they can't eat it. Make your vegetable garden invisible to bugs.

Say goodbye to slugs and snails! (D. Homfeld)  A wonderful product I have just discovered that has already saved countless innocent seedlings from the  horrible hungry hordes is copper  tape.  It comes with a sticky side that I pressed onto plastic rings I had cut off my margarine tubs, I then just place the copper-taped plastic ring over/around the plant that needs protecting, voila! Instant slug and snail protection! Apparently this works because the copper is such a great conductor of electricity, as are the slimy slug/snail tummies, (actually their feet!), and it gives them a zap, I believe it doesn't kill them, just makes them want to go munch on plants in the neighbors yard instead of yours!

To get rid of snails, save your watermelon rinds. Put them out in your garden at night. In the morning, you can pick them up full of snails and throw them away.

I attribute the difference to the "green lacewings" introduced from eggs last spring. They really did a good job--there were evidently not enough aphids left to reproduce and hold siege on the tree this year.

So if you have aphid troubles, consider green lacewings. One advantage in them over ladybugs is that they hatch out earlier in spring than do ladybugs. There are weeks of aphid attack before the ladybugs hatch out. Green lacewings go to work early in spring.

Get rid of squash bugs!  Adult squash bugs are nearly impervious to any insecticide, organic or not.   In the evening, place boards on the soil near your plants.  Early in the morning, lift the boards and you'll find clusters of the little critters.  Brush them off into a bowl of soapy water.  Look around for any early risers already on your plants and pick them off and pop them into the soapy water, too.  After harvest, do some prevention work for next season.  Plan to put all of your squash and other cucurbits in areas where cucurbits (squash, cucumber, gourds, melons) weren't planted this year.  Clear all debris from that area so the squash bug nymphs won't have food to grow on.  

Hornworms eating your tomato plants?  For now, pick them off by hand and drop them into a bowl of soapy water.  If they're still small, an application of Bt will have good effect.  If the infestation is severe, use a pyrethrum spray.  

Tiny holes in the leaves of your tomato plants are a sign of flea beetles. Tomato plants can sustain a fair amount of flea beetle damage without any noticeable harm, but if the leaves start dying, try a soapy water spray.

Japanese beetles begone!  Handpick early in the morning and drop into soapy water.  For long term control, use milky spore or beneficial nematodes.  For severe infestations, use pyrethrum spray.  

Apple maggots The apple blossoms were beautiful and you've got tons of fruit, but apple maggots can make the whole lot inedible.  Trap the flies by hanging 2-4 strips of tanglefoot in each tree.  Or make your own fly trap by filling jars with a mixture of 1 part blackstrap molasses to 9 parts water.  Be sure to collect all dropped fruit asap.  

Collar those cutworms Protect seedlings and transplants from cutworms by dressing them up in 3-inch paper collars.  Beneficial nematodes and trichogramma wasps will prey on cutworms. 

Attract ladybugs to your garden  Those cute little spotted bugs are actually voracious predators who feed on aphids, chinch bugs, asparagus beetle  larvae, thrips, alfalfa weevils, bean thrips, grape rootworms, Colorado potato beetle larvae, whitefly, and mites, and many other soft-bodied insects and eggs.  It is estimated that one adult ladybug can consume almost 400 aphids a week.

Ladybugs are very territorial.  If you can attract them initially, they'll usually stick around for many generations.  Lure them in by planting sweet alyssum in your garden.  The sweet alyssum will also draw lacewings (another aphid muncher) and as a bonus you'll have lovely purple or white blossoms.

Make your vegetable garden invisible to bugs.  Marigolds and calendula mask the odor of food crops and attract beneficial insects.  Plant these flowers as a border around your veggie patch and the nasty bugs won't know it's there.