Planting vegetables in your garden is always a good idea. You can save your money buying vegetables, plus you know where the vegetables came from and what kinds of chemicals were (or weren’t) used to grow them. However, you also need to be prepared to handle the inevitable pest problems that can attack your precious vegetables. So, how can you deal with them? Here are 5 tips to get rid of pests in your garden and keep your precious vegetables safe.
Neem Oil
Neem oil can be said to be the best method you can use to prevent and remove pest that attacks your garden. Neem oil is made of the extraction of the Neem tree. The effect of this oil is amazing. It can destroy the bug’s life cycle. When you use it, it will suffocate the bug and kill them.
Neem oil is also safer than other products. The main reason is it’s made of the plant. This plant-based product won’t damage your vegetable. But, it will only kill the bug. However, you need to remember. Neem oil is concentrated oil. So, you can’t apply it directly to the plant. It will only damage it, which makes your problem become even worse. Dilute it with water first (2-4 tbsp for a gallon of water) before you spray it.
Garlic and Chili Spray
Garlic is well-known for its smell. But, this is also the properties that can remove many types of bugs from your garden. The chili spray also has a similar effect. You can use it if you can’t stand with garlic scent. You need to remember, when you use chili spray, make sure you wear goggles and gloves.
Tomato Leaves
Tomato leaves contain tomatine that is very effective to control aphids, hornworm and many other insects. You can make a spray using this leaf. Just chop fresh tomato leaves and mix it with water. Let it stay overnight. After that, you can use the water to spray your garden to remove those mentioned insects. Do it regularly, and you can solve your pest problem.
Companion Planting
You also can remove the pest by planting specific plant. There are 3 plants that are commonly used to deal with the pest problem on your garden. They are:
- Marigold – effective against tomato hornworm, beetles, Mexican bean beetle, beet leafhoppers, and nematodes.
- Basil – effective against aphids, mosquitoes, whiteflies, asparagus beetle, and tomato hornworms.
- Petunias – effective against aphids, beetles, and squash bugs.
Use Insects against Insects
Some of the insect types can help you to get rid of the pest from the garden. For example, the praying mantis, green lacewings, or lady beetles usually hunt and consume the pest that damages your plant. So, if you find them, do not kill them. Or, you also can attract them by providing the food, water, or place where these “good” insect can live in your garden.
The good thing about all the methods we mentioned above is they are all natural methods. So, you can deal with the pest problem without harming your plant. Moreover, it’s much healthier.
