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.
Anthills in your yard can be a bit of a pain and it looks terrible to have a big bump in your yard.
We owned a duplex a few years ago and there was a huge anthill in the front yard right at the sidewalk. The thing was about 3 or 4 feet across and stuck up out of the ground by at least 8 inches to a foot. One big ugly bump. We eventually sold the anthill and bought a new property.
I followed my wife out to the backyard the other day as she was about to take on one of the anthills in our new property. She said she’s taking no prisoners.
There is nothing more annoying than sharing your home with uninvited guests. When you walk into a room and see a few little ants crawling around, it just triggers a feeling of disgust. I don’t mind using ant spray but where did I put it?
You know there can never be just one ant, there are always relatives lurking in the cracks somewhere. I’m always amazed at how they get inside and why they come inside. I keep a very clean and tidy home, so it isn’t like I have crumbs laying all over the floors. However, they decided to move in despite my cleanliness. I would get rid of a few and more would appear. To me, there was nothing worse than knowing that there were little insects crawling around my home at all hours of the day.
I set out to get some ant spray or traps so that I could eliminate the problem before they moved all of the neighborhood ants into my home. With some advice from individuals at the pest control and local hardware store, I bought two kinds of ant spray. One was for inside my house and one was for outside. I was told though, that using ant spray inside of the home might not be as effective as what I was hoping it would be. It might just make them seek out other areas of my home to make their nest instead. The ant spray for outside was supposedly very effective. I was supposed to spray it all around my home’s foundation, going out a few extra feet to ensure that the ants would be deterred from even nearing my house to make a dash for it. I also sprayed about a foot up the house, in case they decided to attack from that direction. I was definitely launching a war both inside and outside of my home.
The pest control company told me about several baiting traps to place inside of my house. Once the ants would find them and drink or feed from them, they will be poisoned. I purchased a few of those as well. I was also told to eliminate any anthills that I might find in my flowerbeds or yard that could be a mansion for ants. By destroying those homes, I would be preventing ants from breeding and frolicking around my home. The pest control professionals told me of not only an ant spray to use on the hills, but a few other powders and such. I was weary of using them because of other wildlife getting into the powders and being harmed. Ever so kindly, they took a few moments to tell me what kinds of prevention I could use outside that would not be harmful to the environment.
One week later, I was once again living alone. No uninvited guests had shown up for days. Right now, I consider myself safe. At least for the time being.
