Common Pests In Vegetable Gardens – Tips On Treating Vegetable Pests

Gardening is rewarding since it gives an individual the ability to harvest fresh and homegrown produce, although it does not come without its challenges. On top of the list of major issues is pesticide control. In case it is not watched or controlled against, your vegetable garden will be ravaged by pests diminishing your yields or even destroying them at times. Knowing typical pests and ways of managing them is one of the factors key to having a healthy garden.

1. Aphids

Description:

Small, soft-bodied insects, normally green, black, or white, that cluster on the underside of leaves and on young shoots.

Damage:

The leaves become curled and turn yellow. Long-succulent feeding of aphids stunts growth and sometimes transmits plant viruses.

Treatment:

  1. Natural Enemies: Beneficialize aphid natural enemies, generally ladybirds and lacewings.
  2. Neem Oil: Spray neem oil sprays on infested plants. Neem oil works excellent and is non-toxic for most vegetable plants.
  3. Water Spray: A forceful jet of water can wash aphids off plants. Repeat as necessary.

2. Cabbage Worms

Description:

Cabbage worms are the immature stages of the small, white butterflies called cabbage whites. They are green in color and, therefore, very cryptic on cabbage leaves.

Damage:

These insects pierce holes in leaves and sometimes burrow into the head of cabbage, broccoli and other brassicas, making them unmarketable.

Treatment:

  1. Hand-picking: Regular monitoring followed by hand-picking of worms.
  2. Floating Row Covers: Laying plant covers on the rows, hindering the butterflies from laying eggs in the plants.
  3. Bacillus thuringiensis: A non-polluting, non-poisonous bacterial insecticide, friendly to plants but toxic to caterpillars.

3. Cutworms

Description:

The larvae of several species of nocturnal moths; they are generally gray and brown and curl up when disturbed.

Damage:

Cutworms chew through stems just above or at ground level and kill a young seedling in an overnight foraging spree.

Treatment:

  1. Collars: Cardboard or tin foil collars around the seedlings will help keep cutworms from reaching the stem.
  2. Tilling: Tilling the soil before planting may expose and kill cutworm larvae.
  3. Diatomaceous Earth: This should be sprinkled around the base of plants. It’s abrasive to cutworms but safe for plants.

4. Slugs and Snails

Description:

Slugs and snails are mollusks with soft, elongated bodies. Snails have shells; slugs do not.

Damage:

They will eat a wide variety of plants and leave large, ragged holes in leaves and stems. They are most active at night and when it’s wet.

Treatments:

  1. Beer Traps: Place shallow pans of beer in various parts of the garden. Slugs and snails become trapped in beer and drown.
  2. Copper Barriers: Place copper tape, whose reaction with slime of slugs and snails deters them, around plants.
  3. Handpicking: Collecting slugs and snails physically in the evening or early morning.

5. Tomato Hornworms

Description:

These are huge green caterpillars, larvae of the five-spotted hawk moth; they can be up to four inches long.

Damage:

Hornworms will feed on the tomato leaves, stems, and fruit and defoliate plants if not controlled before the fruit is harvested.

Treatment:

  1. Hand-picking: Hornworms are large and easily removable,
    Parasitic Wasps:ô: Introduce parasitic wasps, these lay eggs into the hornworms. Endaphritis larvae feed on the hornworm and eventually kill them.
  2. Bt Spray: Bacillus thuringiensis also kills hornworms.

6. Squash Bugs

Description:

Squash bugs are shield-shaped, brown or gray insects. They normally attack squash, pumpkins, and other kinds of cucurbits.

Damage:

Suck sap from leaves which wilt and die. Heavy infestation kill plants.

Treatment:

  1. Hand Removal: Check undersides of leaves for eggs and crush them. Remove adult bugs and nymphs by hand.
  2. Neem Oil: Spray neem oil over the infested plants to suppress squash bugs.
  3. Trap Crops: You can plant a small area with some squash variety that has greater tendency to attract squash bugs from your main crops.

7. Whiteflies

Description:

Whiteflies are small, winged insects that can be observed in huge numbers on the lower surfaces of leaves. When disturbed, they fly away in clouds.

Damage:

Whiteflies suck juices from plants, thereby weakening them and turning leaves yellow. The insects excrete honeydew while they obtain nutrition, resulting in the development of sooty mold.

Treatment:

  1. Yellow Sticky Traps: Spread these in your garden area to capture the adults.
  2. Insecticidal Soap: Spray insecticidal soap over your plants, concentrating on the underside of the leaves.
  3. Companion Planting: Some plants, such as marigold and nasturtium, deter whiteflies.

8. Spider Mites

Description:

Spider mites are small arachnids, normally only just visible to the naked eye. They weave fine webs under the leaves.

Damage:

They stipple leaves and turn them yellow by abstracting the plant’s sap, further progressing to defoliation.

Treatment:

  1. Water Spray: A hard spray of water will wash off the mites from the plants.
  2. Horticultural Oils: Oils like neem or mineral oil suffocate the mites.
  3. Predatory Mites: Inoculate predatory mites which predate on spider mites.

9. Flea Beetles

Description:

Flea beetles resemble very small, dark colored, jumping fleas when disturbed.

Damage:

They form small, round holes in leaves that may create a shot-hole effect in them. They may cause considerable damage to seedlings and young plants.

Treatment:

  1. Floating Row Covers: Row covers should be installed over the top of young plants.
  2. Diatomaceous Earth: Dust diatomaceous earth on plants and into soil to repel the beetles.
  3. Neem Oil: Spray neem oil to help keep flea beetle populations under control.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Probably one of the most effective ways of keeping vegetable garden pests at bay is through Integrated Pest Management, or IPM. An IPM uses a combination of physical, cultural, biological, and chemical management strategies and practices all together in producing a healthy crop while limiting the resorting to pesticides. Some major elements of IPM include:

  1. Monitoring—Keep a close watch on your garden for signs of pests and damage.
  2. Cultural Practices: This refers to crop rotation, proper spacing, and appropriate watering techniques for the elimination of habitats that could foster pests. It involves the use of natural predators and beneficial insects for biological control.
  3. Mechanical Control: This uses barriers, traps, manual removal of pests. Chemical Control: This is the use of organic or synthetic pesticides as the last line of defense.

Conclusion

As with any vegetable garden, management of pests is attained through high vigilance and by applying various ways. General knowledge of the more common pests and how to deal with them will both save such an important garden and attain a good crop from their produce. To note, a healthy garden comes from health plants; therefore, good cultural practice should be the primary consideration while growing crops in developing a healthy growth environment.

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