We have gone green and want to stay that way which means no toxic chemicals for pest control. We pay close attention to what we put on our lawn, flowers and vegetable garden.

Being organic gardeners means we use only natural methods for controlling those pests that can plague us during the summer months.

The main purpose of growing vegetables organically will be defeated if they become tainted with pest control chemicals.

Here are a few long-term maintenance tips to make pest control less damaging and more environmentally friendly.

1. Use the physical pest control process.

This may be accomplished through picking grubs off by hand, creating barriers and traps and plugging holes. Snails can be found hiding in damp places under rocks and towrds the base of those plants with straplike foliage.

2. Apply biological pest control.

Encourage predatory insects such as green lacewings and dragonflies to feed on aphids and other pests that attack your plants. You can do this by placing a shallow bowl of water in the garden. Dragonflies especially will hover around water. Bacterial insecticides such as B. thuringiensis could also be used against caterpillars.

3. Only as a last resort should we turn to chemical pest control.

Organic pest control methods can be successful and the ingredients for many of the recipes can be found in the kitchen cupboards. If chemical sprays are really necessary, try and find the least-toxic. These include insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, dehydrating dusts, etc.

4. Consider the use of safer pest control substitutes.

Recipes for alternative pest control include the following:

Against Green Aphids and Mites – Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid soap and a cup of vegetable oil. Dilute a teaspoon of this solution in a cup of water and spray on aphids and mites.

Against Cockroaches – Dusts of boric acid can be applied to cracks or entry points of these insects. Bay leaves on pantry shelves could also help in warding off these critters.

Make sure that the chemicals you use are made specifically for the insects you are targeting.

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Ant Control Recipe

3 cups water

4 teaspoons boric acid

2 cups granulated sugar

Mix, then pour half a cup of the mixture into three or four empty jam jars wrapped with masking tape and loosely packed half full with absorbent cotton. Smear the bait along the outside of the jar and set along ant trail. The ants will swarm into the jar. Some will carry the mixture back to the colony, where it will kill other ants.

CAUTION: If you have small children or pets, screw the lids onto the jars, poke several small holes through the lid and smear some of the bait on the inside of the jar.

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Image by macropoulos via Flickr

I thought I would update you on how our ant problem is going. If you missed our first post about getting rid of anthills by getting rid of the ants first you can just follow the link.

We tried using cornmeal for the first time and then it started to rain. It rained for days after we put the first cornmeal out for the ants. It didn’t rain for a few hours after the first application of cornmeal.

I was curious to see how the cornmeal worked, if at all, so I went out just a few minutes ago.

We have had a couple of nice days and things are starting to dry out.

When I checked the anthill before we applied cornmeal there were hundreds of the little critters marching around. This morning when I checked there were about 3 maybe 4 ants.

I don’t want to get too excited at the results as they may just be lazy ants and still in bed, so I will go out again after lunch and take another peek.

So, even though the rain most likely ruined the cornmeal it still devastated the anthill, so I think one more application of cornmeal should do the trick, especially if it doesn’t rain for a day.

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