Peskies

I have delayed writing this one.  (Sorry Christyn!)  There's just so much that could be discussed.  What to do, what to do! - when your plants are being invaded!  I'll give the discussion a start, and we'll see where it goes.   Garden pests can include critters, bugs, and fungi - but for now we'll deal with the bugs.

Rule #1 Regarding Garden Pests:  Pests will rarely attack a perfectly healthy plant. 
This is what I've always been told, and in my experience, it's rather true.  A healthy plant has its defenses up, and just like humans, plants do have pretty good defenses.  But allow your garden to wilt, allow weeds to crowd your plants, allow a nutrient deficit to get out of control - and you'll be invaded.  Keeping your plants happy and healthy is your first preemptive strike.


Monitor your garden regularly for water needs.  It's been raining a lot this week, but if next week is dry and your garden is already producing fruit regularly, it may need some supplemental watering.  Much damage can be done if your garden is allowed even just one good wilt.

Weeds readily bring pests into a garden.  They allow nocturnal insects a place to hide during the daytime, they keep the ground moist in a way that provides habitat for slugs and the like; since weeds often have a shorter life span and go into decline readily, they invite pests to themselves that will then move onto your garden plants once the weeds have expired.  Weeds also compete for sunlight and nutrients so that your plants won't get as much as they could and therefore might begin to suffer.

If you notice that your plants are yellowing or your blooms are dropping off prior to setting fruit - those are signs of nutrient deficiencies.  Consider mulching with a rich compost, watering your plants with a "tea" made from soaking compost in water for most of a day, or purchase a good organic (or not-so-organic, depending on your persuasion) fertilizer.  Follow package instructions carefully for any sort of chemical fertilizer since adding too much can "burn" and very much harm your plants.

Inspect your plants regularly.  If you find a branch on a tomato that may have been bruised and the branch is starting to decline, go ahead and clip it off.  Remove any declining leaves and take them far away from your garden in order to discourage any sort of fungus from gaining a foothold.  Look very carefully for any signs of pests - look closely enough that you would discover if a half-dozen aphids were setting up camp on a cucumber bud.  The earlier you might find a pest problem, the more success you will have in fighting it.

If your garden does begin to experience a pest problem there are basically 3 ways you can deal with it: Mechanically, Naturally, or Chemically.  We'll be discussing these in subsequent posts, so stay tuned...