Garden pests

We've been fortunate so far and have only suffered minimal damage from a few common garden pests.

First to hit were aphids and flea beetles. The aphids were actually being farmed by ants for a protein rich secretion called honeydew. These insects were easy to control with small doses of diatomaceous earth: and organic insecticide containing tiny particles that break down the exoskeletons of insects. This has to be used judiciously because it can kill pests as well as beneficial insects (and several ladybugs have been spotted around the garden).

Today, we found some striped cucumber beetles hanging out in a flower on a pumpkin vine.

Photo by wormwould

These can be deadly to plants and are hard to control since they can migrate in from other places. Fortunately, they had only reached a couple of plants and were easily picked off. A little more diatomaceous earth was dusted around the base of the plants to kill any larvae that might have been hanging around. If you happen to spot anymore, just go ahead and squish them.

We're doing our best to keep things organic, and so far we haven't used any chemical pesticides at all. A key to our strategy has been the application of beneficial insects; in particular, trichogramma: a tiny, parasitic wasp that attacks the eggs of several garden pests.

I'm sure there'll be more bugs in our future. Let's just hope they're the good kind.