By Guest Author Sarah Thomas.
When gardening with organic practices we enjoy the benefits of a carefully cultured and biologically supported garden. We aren’t growing a garden on our own – a whole host of microbes, birds, and bugs are all involved whether we realize it or not.
Your garden is the ultimate source of healthful vegetables and fruits. There really is nothing like that first tomato or cucumber of the season. But what about when your beautiful, organically fertilized, carefully groomed, heirloom vegetables are struck with a plague of rude sap-sucking insects or leaf chomping caterpillars? It can be extremely disheartening. We are left walking the pesticide aisle of our garden center scratching our chin at what product would be least harmful to the environment and those loved ones consuming your produce. Even organically produced pesticides can be harmful to the good guys in your garden. So even if you prefer to treat the bad bugs with products like Neem oil or Diatomaceous Earth, please take care not to treat your local bee population or the range of other beneficial bugs that should be present in a healthy organic garden. Though a subject for another article this can certainly be done safely with proper care.
I’d like to offer you a different option, one that is both safe and effective for many of those menacing garden insects. Biological Control is the use of predatory insects – also known as beneficial insects – to control the undesirable insects in your garden. Basically, you introduce more of the “good bugs” and they eat most of the “bad bugs”, or at least devour enough of them, that your plants will have a chance to recover. The problem comes when we see an overpopulation of the garden pests and too few of their natural predators. Introducing more of the predatory species is a great solution this common problem.
“Good insects” and the “bad” bugs they prey on
Lady Beetles
Beloved by children for their lovely coloring and harmless nature, the ladybug is not harmless to a bunch of Aphids. They can also prey on “rootworms, whiteflies, chinch bugs, Colorado Potato Beetles, mealybugs, scales, and spider mites” (taken from Storey, J. & Storey M. (1999). Common Garden Insects. In G. Linder, Linder Creative Services, Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
).
Trichogramma Wasps
A tiny parasitic wasp that destroys the eggs of leaf-munching caterpillars such as Tomato Horn Worm, Armyworm, Cutworm, Corn Earworm, Borers, and Codling Moth Caterpillars.
Praying Mantis
The praying mantis is a savage predator that will help to control a variety of insects including the cucumber beetle, aphids, and almost anything else that crosses its path. Praying Mantis may be a good choice if you have a variety of these insects plaguing your garden.
Green Lacewing
A beneficial garden insect, the green lacewing larvae is a predator to many soft-bodied insects. Introducing Green Lacewings can help control aphids, beetle larvae and whiteflies to name a few. Green lacewings are another good choice for treating a varied group of insect pests.
Parasitic Nematodes
These beneficial nematodes are available in different species, each of which preys on specific insects. They are known to help control insect larvae that live in the soil such as fungus gnat larvae and sweet potato weevil larvae. They have been said to attack other larvae such as rootworms, cutworms, corn earworm moths, and borers.
Where to buy beneficial insects
These good bugs are relatively easy to find online and many websites offer predatory insects for sale. While some of these insects are more difficult to breed and ship and therefore fetch a higher price, many are quite affordable. For around twenty dollars you can purchase enough to treat the average sized garden. Once you’ve decided on the right control insect for your problem, just order the appropriate species and follow the instructions given with the critters.
How to release beneficial insects into your garden
There are a few special considerations such as temperature, water, and time of day for release. Most of these insects need warm weather, around 65-90F. Water misting in the area of release or on the insects themselves is usually necessary. According to Arbico-Organics.com, there is more care needed for success when starting with the eggs they have available for some species, though the cost investment is less.
Some people choose to hatch their mantises indoors to ensure they are protected from predators. Essentially, you will set the insects out in the garden and leave them to do their normal thing. That is the beauty of leaning on biological control – the insects already know what to do. Happy Gardening.
Author’s Bio: Sarah Thomas is a farmer, freelance writer, and mother to four in Texas.