Pest Control the Organic way

Pest control the Organic way is a topic of hot debate among organic gardeners. The biological pest controls that are available are supported by some (particularly larger growers) as a way of growing organic food for a price that puts this healthy option within the reach of a larger number of people.

Others are against any method of killing bugs, rodents or other pest. Some organic gardeners prefer not to kill for religious or moral reasons. Others think it is simply unnecessary and unsound ecologically to interfere with the natural food chain in this way.

Normally, in a small garden, you don't need to use biological pesticides unless you are tormented by invasions of a particular pest. Even then, if this occurs on a regular basis you may decide to change the crops in your vegetable plot rather than using pesticides.

In the past, of course, and even today in many developing countries, it would be a disaster if a whole crop was lost. Families or whole townships could starve. However, for most of us choosing organic gardening today, a swarm of bugs or even a disease such as potato blight is an annoyance rather than a life-threatening catastrophe. We do not have to protect our crops at all cost. We have the luxury of limiting ourselves to methods of control that are friendly to the environment and the ecosystem, both in our own garden and beyond it.

Most pests can often be controlled by encouraging their predators to inhabit your garden. If you have space for a pond, introduce frogs to your garden. They love to eat slugs.

Setting up a bird feeder and bird bath to attract more birds can help keep down your pest population too. Try to attract as many different bird species as possible, because different birds feed on different pests. Some eat grown flying insects, others eat grubs, and others will eat snails and even slugs.

You can also encourage or even introduce 'friendly bugs' in your garden. These are insects that feed on other insects or their grubs or eggs. One example is the ladybug. This is a great friend to gardeners because it preys on aphids in particular, which can be very damaging to many popular flowering plants. These and other 'friendly bugs' can be sourced as grubs from many organic garden supply stores and introduced into your garden.

As well as predators, you may find parasites that will kill either grown insects or their grubs. You will want to be careful of course not to upset the ecological balance in your garden or introduce a creature that could spread out of control and cause problems of its own. However, provided you are only bringing in more of a species that is already present in your neighborhood, you should be fine.

Slugs should be kept away from young plants with traps or copper rings around your plants, covering the plants with cloches or plastic, or by creating a 'slugbreak' such as an area of gravel that will be uncomfortable for them to cross. Similarly, protect strawberry beds and other berries with nets, to keep the birds from getting them.

Rabbits can be kept out with wire fencing dug down into the ground at an angle that will discourage them from burrowing beneath it. Don't forget to take your fencing underground below any gates.

There are many methods of organic pest control that you will become skilled at as your garden grows and blossoms.

Editor
Peter Charalambos