With the winter being as mild as it has been, there is sure to be an explosion in bug populations just about the time we get serious about gardening. The ground here in my part of VA has not been frozen for even 24 hours so far, so the insect eggs in the soil are going to hatch.

Who uses what natural stuff in their garden to kill off insects? Anyone have really good luck with companion planting for insect control? If so, what protects which veggies?

-- Carol - in Virginia (carollm@rockbridge.net), January 29, 2002

Answers

I'm planning on using diatomaceous earth for bug control this year. It will be the first time so I don't know how effective it will be. Mary

-- Mary Zastowny (foxpawz@gamewood.net), January 29, 2002.

It is very hard to be totally organic in the south (I'm south of you) so I'd be interested in hearing about organic farmers in say, Mississippi or louisiana. We do what we can but only resort to bug chemicals, and then only the least invasive. When I lived up north it was easier to hand pick the bugs or use alternative methods (like sprinkling flour). Last year in one day the entire plum tree was devastated by japanese beetles. We drew the line at green beans and peas and corn....

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.

I know what you guys mean. We are only now getting our first big storm warning of the winter. My hens so help alot .. as they free range the place most of the time. I have to put up a temporary fence in the summer around the garden though. I was wondering Mary, does the d. earth hurt chickens if they free range around where you put it? Thanks and have a great day!

-- Sher in se Iowa (riverdobbers@webtv.net), January 29, 2002.

I lived in East Texas for a good many years and did some very serious raised bed gardening. Ended up with 8 raised beds, 8' long and 4' wide. Was truly amazed at how much food I could grow in such a small area. Bugs were a problem from the start, a huge problem. One neighbor cautioned me from the first to plant five of everything I wanted to grow - 1 for the bugs, 1 for the weather, 1 for the birds, 1 for the heck of it and 1 for myself. That way, I was assured, I'd get something for all my work. I was determined not to use chemicals even tho I knew I was in bug heaven there.

The first year, bugs got more of what I grew. I still got more than I could use fresh, for the table. The second year the good bugs started attacking and doing away with the bad bugs. I hand picked worms and bugs, sprayed with soapy water, used cardboard rings to fight cut worms and ended up with enough veggies to can some. The third year some sort of balance was found and insect damage was very light. Good bugs were everywhere and very busy. We used piles of veggies for the table and I canned all I had time to do. I ended up giving away bags of stuff to anyone who wanted it.

The next year was a banner year. I had much more than we could eat and can and the people at my office groaned when they saw me coming to work with more big bags. I ended up bartering my excess with folks who had fruit trees and berries. Worked out wonderfully well for all of us.

I didn't know about companion planting then and want to try that. The problems with spraying is the chemical contamination which we don't want in our food or soil and the sprays kill off the good insects as well as the bad ones. I know from experience that the good insects will, if given time, move in and do a durn good job of controlling the bugs I don't want. Sure would like to know how others managed to grow enough during this lengthy adjustment and balancing process.

-- Carol - in Virginia (carollm@rockbridge.net), January 29, 2002.

I'm expecting a bumper crop of yellow jackets this coming summer!! The ground has not had a chance to completely freeze here where I'm located in Maine so I'm sure many of the over-wintering queens have survived. I'll be hanging several more wasp traps in the spring to catch these queens and to get lots of the housefly population explosion...which I'm also expecting! Our garden has been organic for many years. I'm sure we will have a bigger than usual problem with potato bugs (which we hand-pick) and with flea beetles and cuke beetles. These I control somewhat with a vinegar/olive oil mixture in a spray bottle. Talc powder on the corn when it tassles will deter the corn worms. I'm sure that it will be a "buggy" summer!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), January 29, 2002.

Im expecting a lower bug problem this year. Witht he warm up,, some eggs have hatched and with a com,ing freeze,, should kill them off,, also witht her dormant ones that have been flying of late

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 29, 2002.

The bug explosion is already here, and in Utah, where my family lives. My sister mentioned that she is killing between 50 and 100 Box Elder bugs in her house every day. She can't figure out where they are coming from. It is still very cold and wintery there, and no Box Elder trees close to her. Another woman in her Master Gardener class lives 30 miles or so from her, and was having the same problem. Had sprayed her home, vacuums every day, etc. Here in Colorado we don't have any snow, just cold, but we are starting to get wasps in the house. They are very docile, as if still partly dormant, but have had three in two days now. What's up? Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), January 29, 2002.

I had my first garden last year. It was pretty much a disaster, EXCEPT I found a way to keep the bugs off. And it really worked! Mix together 1 gallon water, 1 T oil, 2 T tobasco and 2 T garlic powder. Let sit overnight and spray on veggies. You can also use blended garlic cloves and jalapeno peppers, but them you have to strain it. You have to repeat after rain or the solution washes off. If you can find a sprayer, rather than a squeeze bootle, it's really quick and easy to apply. Hubby has one that you pump to give it pressure and it holds about 2 gallons. I gave this recipe to a guy that had big bug problems on an acre of asparagus and he couldn't believe how well it worked.

-- Stacey (stacey@lakesideinternet.com), January 29, 2002.

There is an organic chemical that kills worms known as BT. I cannot spell it, you will find it in the gardening catagory of the old answers.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), January 29, 2002.

It didnt get cold here [ calif bay area] tell just a few weeks ago. The fleas are bugging all my indoor animal, so I have a feeling it is going to be a bad flea year[ flys to ] so this spring I will spray beneficial nematodes twice this year instead of only once and will religiously release fly parasites instead of just once evey three months. Yes the natural controls work well for me, took about two years tell they did though.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), January 29, 2002.

I use my grandmothers gardening secret...plant lots of marigold plants in your garden...not the big yellow ones but the small orange ones...i plant one between every tomato plant, bell pepper, sweet pea, ect.. takes alot of plants BUT I work in my garden everyday and just brushing up against the foliage makes the smell stronger...also use the dishsoap method...a bottle of dawn ( the old blue kind not the scented with apple, or flowers kind ) and dump into a sprayer. filled with water ( water first then dawn )....also use the pepper spray mentioned above works great...use that on potato plants too...

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), January 29, 2002.

Anymore I don't believe the winter weather determines the insect population at all. Last winter we had about 4 inches of ice on the ground that stayed for a solid month. The ground remained frozen even longer. I told myself that this is great, it will get rid of a lot of parasites. But when summer time came we were flooded with both mosquitoes and ticks, and the sweet ants just about took over our house. My garden got ate up by all kinds of bugs.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 29, 2002.

As Mitch said above, BT is good stuff. Bacillus Thuringiensis. It's actually a bacteria that works on many types of caterpillars including cabbage worms and Colorado potato beetles.

Another bacteria is Milky spore, or Bacillus popillae and Bacillus lentimorbus. This one works on Japanese beetles.

Be careful not to kill your good bugs. Ladybugs (although that is actually a swear word in my house right now because we've been invaded by the Asian species that was introduced in the southern states to eat special aphids off of a specific crop, canola I think) lacewings, praying mantis etc. There are companies out there where you can actually buy good bugs for release in your garden.

Diatomaceous earth is finely ground fossilized material that acts like ground glass to things like slugs and snails, and even earwigs.

I don't know if you can get Safer's products, but they have a new one out called "End-All" which is organic. It kills aphids, spider mites and whiteflies at all stages, and a wide variety of other bugs as well. It is a contact product, meaning the bug has to touch it to die. It is a soap type spray, and it contains pyrethrin with is derived from the painted daisy. Poisonous, but organic meaning that it will decompose and not leave residue in your soil.

Rotate your crops. Don't plant the corn in the same place every year. Or the tomatoes. Move them around. Then the bugs that winter in the soil have to go hunting for what they thought they would just wake up and eat!

Barriers are also good. Row covers over your cabbages stop the little white moths from laying their eggs. Old fine weave shear curtains work well. (Anything that lets sunlight, rain and air pass through, but not the bugs.

Fertilizer. Keep your plants healthy. Don't skimp on the compost. A healthy plant has a better chance of surviving and producing for you than one that is sick.

Hand pick. Persuade the kids to have a contest to see who can pick the most bugs. Then feed them to the chickens.

Build a bat house. Bats eat a ridiculous amount of bugs.

Encourage the birds. Feed the wild birds, free range your chickens, and hire a duck.

Toads.

This just scratches the surface of the things you can do if you have the time or the money or the interest or the determination to beat the little bug(gers).

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.

Kristean, I also plant marigolds and they work great. Get pretty flowers and insect repelent combined. I read about the marigolds in a book years ago. If for some reason I don't plant marigolds then the bugs really attack my gardens. George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), January 29, 2002.

Where I live, 3 consecutive nights of frost are needed to get rid of the insects. That doesn't happen! Thus, the number one reason I have a flock of chooks. The birds are great pesticide engineers! I use food grade Diatomaceous Earth in the areas where the birds don't go. I'm not a gardner nor am I concerned about the full 30 acres, just the areas I'm in.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.

I use marigolds also. The bigger bush size but still the regular size flowers. You can root cuttings pretty easy plus lots of seeds so it doesn't take long to have alot of plants.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), January 29, 2002.

Leave a door to a barn open if you have one and the swallows will nest in it. I have counted and watched about 40 of them catching bugs in the air. Having free range chickens also is helpful as they scratch out and catch bugs. Guineas are magnificent to keep down ticks.Growing marigolds, pyrethum daisies and tansy also is helpful in a garden .Tansy gets so high and invasive that you should have enough to strew around in your garden. Good luck, Terry

-- Terry Lipe (elipe@fidnet.com), January 30, 2002.

Wonder if growing chrysanthemums would help. That's what the pyrethrin bug sprays are made from.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), January 30, 2002.

I can't remember the latin name of the plant, but I did read of a plant with the common name scrambled eggs. It was supposed to be a super draw for benificial insects. Marigolds are always good. Nasturtiums have been recommended for practically all plant companions, as they attract all kinds of insects. Plant lots of flowers, chrysanthemums, poppies, daisies, violets. The more bees you have hanging around the better, they guard their hives, and keep other insects in line. The Alliums-(although not with beans, and peas) will deter many insects. Plant a lot of aromatic herbs-like oregano, sage, marjoram, thyme; the bugs don't like the strong smelling plants. Knowing what insects are good and bad is a good start. Rodale press put out a small book called Good Bug, Bad Bug, or something like that; my uncle has it. Maybe try this so you can be selective rather than killing everything, if you have to use insecticidals be they organic, or not. There are small predatory wasps that you can order, that lay their eggs in some harmfull insects. Check out Carrots Love Tomatos, for some tried and tested companion planting, and other info. The scrambled eggs plant was in a book by a guy with the last name Flowerdew, I think his first name was Bob. Keeping up with your fertility, rotations, and resist monocroping in any large amount will go a long way in keeping the insects away. Diversity is a key, the toads, bats, and other insect eaters should be encouraged, for sure. As for R.H.'s comment that freezing didn't kill off his bugs. That is only true of some insects. Many insects are killed by cold whether. For instance, the global warming trend has caused the mountain pine beatle population to explode in central B.C., resulting in the death of vast tracts of forest, the size of small U.S. states. It takes a prolonged freeze of three weeks at -20 C to kill the majority of the dormant beatles, and eggs. It does not just have to freeze, it has to really freeze deep, and long. Perhaps, in R.H.'s case the ice covering insulated the ground so that it was above the required temp? It's hard to say. Also insects can travel a great distance, and do invade from warmer locations.

-- roberto pokachinni on B.C. N.Coast (pokachinni@yahoo.com), January 30, 2002.