ANTS
Benefits: they aerate the soil, some control caterpillars in orchards
Mixture to get rid of them:
- Make a thick paste by blending orange peels then adding a
little juice from the orange.
- Pour this solution over anthills, making sure some gets in the
holes. Apparently oranges give off a gas that ants cannot
tolerate.
To keep them out of house: Plant tansy in garden and sprinkle the dried flowers around doors and windows
APHIDS (also known as "plant lice")
Identification: Aphids are typically vectors, or virus-carrying insects. They can be green, black, pink, yellow, or red. There are blackberry aphids, green peach aphids, mint aphids, violet aphids, and many others named after their food preference. They are small, soft-bodied, have a pear-like shape, long antennae, and a pair of cornicles (tube-like appendages from the back end.) There are also winged aphids.
Detrimental Effects: attack the tips of plants, deform leaves, suck plant sap which causes withering of foliage
To repel aphids from plants and to get rid of them:
- Plant nasturtiums around the garden.
- Plant chives between sunflowers and tomatoes. Other companion
plants: garlic, coriander, anise, and petunias.
- Ladybugs eat aphids (although they aren't effective in cool
temperatures.) Nasturtiums, Queen Anne's lace, marigolds, and
goldenrod attract ladybugs. Other natural insect predators are the
aphidius wasp and the green lacewing larva.
- Aphids are very much attracted to yellow. Fill a bright yellow
pan with soapy water and leave in the garden. They will be
attracted to the yellow colouring and drown in the soapy
water.
- Place crumpled aluminum foil around stems of vulnerable plants
and between rows to repel them. The shininess will confuse the
aphids and discourage them from hanging around. The foil will also
reflect the sky and winged aphids will get confused.
- Dust with diatomaceous earth.
Sprays:
- Spray aphids with natural botanical sparys that include
insecticidal soap, or any other soap spray.
- Try a rhubarb spray (Rhubarb is poisonous to aphids): chop 3lb of
rhubarb leaves and add 3L of water, simmer for 30 minutes. (Elder
leaves can be substituted for rhubarb.) Cool and strain. Dissolve 1
oz/28g of laundry soap flakes in remaining water, stir into rhubarb
and water mixture. Spray on roses against black spot.
- Tobacco water spray: soak tobacco stems (available from florists)
in warm water for 24 hours. Dilute the brew to colour of weak tea
and syringe it on the foliage, being careful to hit the undersides
of the leaves; OR buy a tobacco extract and follow the directions
on the package.
- A spray of strong limewater will also take care of aphids.
- Try one of the 'Homemade Organic Insect Sprays'
CHINCH BUGS
Chinch bugs will leave brown or yellow patches on your lawn.
Do a test for chinch bugs:
Cut off the bottom of a coffee can, then push it halfway down into
your grass so that half of the interior of the can is covering
brown grass and the other half is covering healthy green grass
(push it down on the rim of the patch.) Fill the can up with water,
then wait for 10 or 15 minutes. Chinch bugs will be floating in the
can. They are very small, have wings, and a white spot between its
wings (on adult bugs.)
What to do if there is a problem:
- Make a soap and water solution, then spray it on the problem
area. The bugs will crawl to the tips of the grass in order to
escape the solution. Lay down a white cloth, preferably flannel, on
top of the area. The chinch bugs will cling to the cloth ot escape
the water and their legs will get stuck in the cloth. This method
can also be used to control other insects such as caterpillars and
mole crickets.
For long-term prevention:
- Chinch bugs don't like moisture. It is therefore important to
keep the soil moist. This is harder to acheive when you have a
chinch bug problem because when the bugs turn the grass brown they
create thatch, which is a layer of dead but undecomposed grass.
Thatch shields the soil underneath it from moisture by creating a
barrier between the water and the soil. Water will puddle on thatch
and create a habitat for disease organisms. Synthetic checmical
fertilizers will enchance thatch. In order to overcome this
problem, rip out patches of thatch, then aerate the soil. Take
compost sludge, mix it with grass seed, and spread it in areas
where thatch used to be.
ORGANIC EARWIG CONTROL
ABOUT EARWIGS
Description: These insects measure about 1/4 to 3/4 inch in
length. They are typically light to dark brown in colour and are
easily recognized by a pair of large curved pincers at the end of
their bodies. They are nocturnal insects, feeding mostly by night
and hiding out during the day in cracks and crevices, under doors
and windows.
CONTROL:
For best control indoors, one must first control earwigs
outdoors:
- Since they are attracted to lights, reduce lighting around doors,
windows, and other potential entry sites.
- Earwigs are attracted to moisture, so be sure to eliminate damp
conditions in crawl spaces, under the house, around faucets and
near air conditioning units.
- Use putty and weather stripping around doors, windows, and pipes
especially on the ground level to block their entry.
- Create a clean dry border around the outer wall of the house.
Stones or gravel can be used to make an attractive barrier against
pest invaders.
- Do not try to solve the problem with insecticides. Not
only are they dangerous to your family's health, but the control
will be short-term due to new earwig entry from outdoors.
The most effective way to control an earwig problem is to use
trapping devices.
- Place folded or rolled up newspapers in between flowers and
vegetables at night. Earwigs will hide between the sheets come
daylight.
- Try packing a pot with loose straw, turning it upside-down on a
stick, and place it among your violets. This produces a trap where
earwigs will shelter during the day. Be sure to destroy the
contents of the trap each day.
- Place cardboard boxes baited with oatmeal or bran in your garden.
Punch pencil-sized entry sites in the sides near the bottom. Again,
frequently destroy the contents of the trap.
- Another trap consists of placing a tuna can into a shallow pot or
saucer. Fill the pot or saucer with potting soil up to the rim of
the can. Inside the can, put a heaping tablespoon of bread crumbs
and add about a half inch of cookies oil. Place the pot or saucer
among your violets. The earwigs will be lured into the can. Once
inside the can, they become coated in the oil, rendering them
incapable of escaping.
To destroy trapped earwigs: Shake specimens into hot/boiling water or burn trapped earwigs in newspaper rools. Indoors, remove with broom and dustpan or with a vacuum cleaner.
SLUGS
Slugs and snails are among the most damaging garden pests. They are not insects, but mollusks with soft, muscular bodies that secrete slime. They range in size from less than one inch to more than four inches. They like moist surroundings and hibernate during dry periods. Damage is usually worst in spring when the soil is moist and plants are young. The only good thing about them is providing food for birds.
Control:
- Create a diverse garden to encourage biological controls. Ants,
beetle grubs, earwigs, flies, birds, snakes, toads, and turtles all
prey on slugs.
- Don't plant dense ground-covers or mulch near plants you want to
protect.
- At night go into your garden with a flashlight and hand-pick
slugs then drop them in a bucket of soapy water. You can also
sprinkle them with salt to kill them. Or, you can serve them at
dinner.
- If you set up boards or inverted flower pots in your garden, the
slugs will hide under them. Check the traps daily.
- Sink shallow containers of stale beer in your garden. The slugs
will drink the beer and then drown. If you want a cheaper solution,
try the following recipe: Combine one tablespoon of brewer's yeast,
one tablespoon of honey OR molasses, one tablespoon of cooking oil,
and one and a half cups of water. Place this in the soil with the
top at ground level. Replace it every few days.
- Sprinkle dry soil or diatomaceous earth around the stem bases of
the plants.
- Crush eggshells in a food processor and sprinkle them around the
garden in the spring.
- Horseradish leaves attract slugs. Put a few leaves in areas where
they gather and use them to lure slugs out of the soil in
spring.
- Make a line of salt or lime around new plants attacked by
slugs.
- Edge your garden with copper-based strips in order to make a
slug-proof barrier. Make sure to remove any slugs unside the
barrier when you put it up.
- Traditional organic controls include repelling the pests with an
oak leaf mulch and drenching the soil with wormwood tea.