The How and Why of Green Pest Control
Nothing can ruin a garden, quite like a pest problem. After all, who wants to see their meticulously-grown tomatoes get eaten up by greedy caterpillars? Yet, this is the beauty of pest control. Using everyday remedies and a handful of preventative techniques, anyone can ensure that their garden is protected from harmful pests.
Pest control, in short, is whatever someone does to make sure that their crops are not overrun by the local insects that would want to eat their plants. While many people think of pest control as pesticides used by farmers, there are many more straightforward solutions that can be used for their gardens.
Why Green Pest Control?
Before discussing the how of green pest control, there needs to be some consideration for the why. Why is it so essential to avoid the use of chemical pesticides and other harsh pest control methods?
Water Pollution
A garden that has been soaked in toxic pesticides will inevitably end up harming the environment around it. Say a plant is sprayed with pesticides, then the next day, there is a rain shower. The rain will wash the pesticides into the local water supply, which can damage the local water supply.
Beneficial Insects
Pesticides do not discriminate between the type of insects that they kill. Using pesticides will kill off the bugs trying to eat the plant and the ones that are helping the plant grow and stay protected. Once these beneficial insects are gone, plants become dependent on pesticides for protection.
Food Health
Most people would not want their food scrubbed with poison, but there seems to be an exception made for pesticides. There are no benefits to ingesting pesticides, and the jury is still out regarding the negatives, but there is no danger to eating food that has not been sprayed with toxins.
Preventing Pests
The easiest pest control method is to ensure that there is no issue, to begin with. The following are some easy ways to prevent pests from being drawn to a garden in the first place.
Pull Out Weak Plants
If a plant is infected with a fungus or disease, dispose of it immediately to keep it away from the garden area. Do try to save an infected plant.
Remove Weeds
Insects often use garden weeds as places to build nests and burrows, so regular weeding is a great way to discourage them from making a home near a garden.
Keep The Leaves Dry
Insects are always looking for water, so water plants early in the day. This will give the leaves time to dry before the insects come around for a drink.
By making sure that pests and insects are never attracted to a garden in the first place, there is no need to deal with removing them. But, of course, what about a garden that already has a pest problem?
Removing Pests
The biggest issue with store-bought pesticides is that they will kill all insects. This is bad for the environment, but it can often harm the plants, too. Harsh pesticides do not discriminate and will kill off beneficial insects that help the plant. Using natural, non-toxic pest removing methods, you can have healthy plants without killing beneficial insects.
Aphid Control
Aphids are some of the most common pests, and they love to eat the leaves of plants. A simple remedy is to mix one tablespoon of cooking oil with a few drops of dish soap. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle, then spray it onto the leaves of the plants. This will smother the smaller insects without harming the plant.
Get Rid of The Fungus
Mix two tablespoons of baking soda into about a quart of water. Then spray the fungus with the mixture. It will clean up the plants and discourage fungus from growing there in the future.
General Insect Remover
This mixture will discourage most insects from coming onto a plant but will not harm the insects that gardeners want to stick around. Mix one tablespoon of cooking oil with two tablespoons of baking soda, add several drops of dish soap and spray it onto the plant leaves.
Using these natural remedies to take care of a garden allows the local ecosystem to continue functioning normally, and the garden can flourish pest-free.
Need Additional Green Pest Control Services?
NJ Pest Control offers efficient and environmentally responsible nuisance wildlife and pest control services. We are a GreenPro certified pest control company. So what does GreenPro Certified mean? NJ Pest Control must comply by providing 100% green pest control solutions and following the strict guidelines set forth by the NPMA.
Contact NJ Pest Control today to provide a solution to all of your pest removal and control needs.