If you’re looking for a way to control the pests that eat and destroy your garden, but you don’t want to introduce harmful chemicals into your crop, then you should go with an organic pest control option. Here is a list of four organic ways to keep your garden safe without the use of dangerous and detrimental chemicals.
Floating Row Covers
These covers are translucent cloth coverings that keep pests out while allowing sunlight to stream in and reach your plants. The cloth keeps out pesky insects by acting as a barrier between your crop and the insect. You can drape the row covers over mesh or metal, as if you were pitching a tent over your crops, and then secure the cloth to the ground using rocks, bricks, wood, or stakes. Floating row covers come in different thicknesses and can be cut to fit any size crop or row. Research your plants to see how much sun or warmth they need in order to choose the right thickness for your garden. Make sure to remove the floating row covers late in the season if your crop needs pollinating.
Companion Planting
Some plants can help repel insects from other plants simply by being. Certain things give off odors that naturally deter pests from your garden. For example, you can plant catnip near and around your squash plants to help deter squash bugs or aphids from feasting on your summer crop. The smell of catnip is a natural deterrent for these harmful insects, so you can keep chemicals out of your garden while also keeping your crop safe and bountiful.
Homemade Remedies
There are hundreds of homemade natural remedies for pest control that you can make in your own kitchen. For example, you can make an insecticidal spray with vegetable based soap and water. Mix the soap and water and add the mixture to a spray bottle. By coating the leaves of your crops with it, you can naturally repel harmful garden pests. The soap either deters them by smell or taste, or is harmful to the insect when ingested. The vegetable soap is good for keeping bugs away for a couple of days because the oils in the soap help it stick to the leaves.
Use Insects For Good
You can buy beneficial insects for your garden as well. One of the most helpful insects is the ladybug. They feed on small, soft-bodied insects and they have a taste for aphids. If you keep ladybugs well fed, they will stick around and clean up your garden. Ladybugs are very fast when it comes to removing aphids from a crop, and if you are gentle you will be able to move them wherever you need them to be to help your garden.
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