Showing posts with label control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label control. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Killing Your Dinner Guests and Other Pest Control Solutions
Getting rid of pests in gardens is a tough subject. Its never easy watching bugs or other pests eat their way through your beautiful garden. Especially when youve put in all that hard work, or spent all that money.
But as with so many of the problems that we face in life, we resort to a knee-jerk reaction, or we respond emotionally. We dont stop to think things through properly. Sometimes it requires an unemotional look at, and a better understanding of the problem to decide what to do.
To put things in perspective, I look at pesticides (maybe we should more honestly call them naturecides because of the damage they do) in as serious a way as chemotherapy drugs. They should only be used in very serious situations, and when all other options have been examined and weighed.
Heres some questions to ask yourself before resorting to poisoning your garden with pesticides:
1. How serious is the problem?
Will the pest kill the plant that it is eating, or will it just perform a natural function of cutting back, which gives space for new growth? Get some advice if youre not sure.
In most cases, its just a natural cycle, and the garden/plant will recover on its own without needing our intervention.
2. Is there a bigger problem behind this infestation?
Sometimes there are other reasons for a sudden increase in insect activity, but we end up treating the symptoms and not the cause. These reasons can be anything from a change in the plants ideal environment (too much sun, or shade), or even the over-use of chemicals in the past which has removed the pests natural predators or weakened the plant. Usually pests increase when plants are weak and cant defend themselves.
3. Have I planted the right plant?
If we choose the right plant for the right place, it usually needs less attention. The right plant is usually less prone to attack from insects. Choose indigenous plants over exotics. Indigenous plants are normally more resistant to attacks.
4. Have I planted too much of the same plant?
Mono-cultures (a single type of plant spread over a wide area) are like an eat-all-you-want buffet. Theyre basically an invitation for insects and animals to come in take a load off, and eat to their hearts content. Most lawns are mono-cultures, and are usually the source of most problems.
5. Is this normal?
There is often a natural and harmonious balance between plant and insect that shouldnt be interfered with. Some plants actually need insects to eat them, to stay healthy. By spraying pesticides and herbicides, were getting in the way, and could end up killing a lot more plants and animals than we intended.
6. Are you killing your dinner-guests?
This is really a follow up to the previous question. Most plants put "Open For Business" signs up in the way of fruit and flowers and juicy leaves. These attract insects for a reason, but these insects may sample other plants on their way in and out. If you plant a Butterfly Bush, it follows that youre going to see more caterpillars coming into the garden. Either get used to your visitors, or take the plant out.
7. Can I deal with them in other ways?
If at all possible, rather kill them by hand (or foot). If youre squeamish, there are plenty natural solutions out there; from beer, and grapefruit to chilli and flour. A little research usually yields a better solution (literally).
If none of these questions give you reason to resist the chemical route, then ask yourself one final question:
8. Is a little bit of chaos and mess not a good thing to have?
The need to have everything perfectly neat and tidy is sometimes a reflection of other issues that we are not dealing with, or other areas in our lives that are not under control. I believe that sometimes the challenges we face are there for us to confront the things we would rather not face.
If you still decide to go down the naturecide route, do it carefully and in a restrained way. But come back to these questions every now and then, and re-evaluate your garden as things change.
Read More..
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| I left this little guy to eat what he wanted from my plants |
To put things in perspective, I look at pesticides (maybe we should more honestly call them naturecides because of the damage they do) in as serious a way as chemotherapy drugs. They should only be used in very serious situations, and when all other options have been examined and weighed.
Heres some questions to ask yourself before resorting to poisoning your garden with pesticides:
1. How serious is the problem?
Will the pest kill the plant that it is eating, or will it just perform a natural function of cutting back, which gives space for new growth? Get some advice if youre not sure.
In most cases, its just a natural cycle, and the garden/plant will recover on its own without needing our intervention.
2. Is there a bigger problem behind this infestation?
Sometimes there are other reasons for a sudden increase in insect activity, but we end up treating the symptoms and not the cause. These reasons can be anything from a change in the plants ideal environment (too much sun, or shade), or even the over-use of chemicals in the past which has removed the pests natural predators or weakened the plant. Usually pests increase when plants are weak and cant defend themselves.
3. Have I planted the right plant?
If we choose the right plant for the right place, it usually needs less attention. The right plant is usually less prone to attack from insects. Choose indigenous plants over exotics. Indigenous plants are normally more resistant to attacks.
4. Have I planted too much of the same plant?
Mono-cultures (a single type of plant spread over a wide area) are like an eat-all-you-want buffet. Theyre basically an invitation for insects and animals to come in take a load off, and eat to their hearts content. Most lawns are mono-cultures, and are usually the source of most problems.
5. Is this normal?
There is often a natural and harmonious balance between plant and insect that shouldnt be interfered with. Some plants actually need insects to eat them, to stay healthy. By spraying pesticides and herbicides, were getting in the way, and could end up killing a lot more plants and animals than we intended.
6. Are you killing your dinner-guests?
This is really a follow up to the previous question. Most plants put "Open For Business" signs up in the way of fruit and flowers and juicy leaves. These attract insects for a reason, but these insects may sample other plants on their way in and out. If you plant a Butterfly Bush, it follows that youre going to see more caterpillars coming into the garden. Either get used to your visitors, or take the plant out.
7. Can I deal with them in other ways?
If at all possible, rather kill them by hand (or foot). If youre squeamish, there are plenty natural solutions out there; from beer, and grapefruit to chilli and flour. A little research usually yields a better solution (literally).
If none of these questions give you reason to resist the chemical route, then ask yourself one final question:
8. Is a little bit of chaos and mess not a good thing to have?
The need to have everything perfectly neat and tidy is sometimes a reflection of other issues that we are not dealing with, or other areas in our lives that are not under control. I believe that sometimes the challenges we face are there for us to confront the things we would rather not face.
If you still decide to go down the naturecide route, do it carefully and in a restrained way. But come back to these questions every now and then, and re-evaluate your garden as things change.
Getting Control Back From The Aliens
Getting control of Alien vegetation is an important subject for any gardener in South Africa. Our water resources and indigenous plants are under threat, and we all need to learn to identify and remove invasive plants whenever we find them. Fortunately, we have a little help that reminds me a bit of the plot from The War of the Worlds.
The other day, while driving, I spotted a very unhappy Opuntia growing on the side of the road. It looked as if its life had literally been sucked out of it - and looking closer, it had!
The other day, while driving, I spotted a very unhappy Opuntia growing on the side of the road. It looked as if its life had literally been sucked out of it - and looking closer, it had!
Thousands of tiny bugs called Cochineal insects had latched on and were pushing their little beaks into the plant. They were quite rapidly killing the plant by sucking the sap out of it.
This way of dealing with weeds is called biological control, and South Africa is one of the top three countries in the world when it comes to this method of invasive plant control. Since 1914, we have introduced over 80 species of biological agents in order to control or destroy the invasive plants that thrive in our ideal conditions.
The concept behind biological control, is that because invasive plants are in a very strong position in a new environment with no natural enemies, the playing fields need to be levelled. The best way to do this is to introduce their natural enemies from their countries of origin. this either destroys, or helps manage the burgeoning alien populations.
Biological control is an ideal way to get rid of invasive weeds, because:
- it causes no pollution and affects only the targeted invasive plant
- it is self-sustaining and as a result, permanent
- it is very cost-effective
- it wont disturb the soil or create barren areas where other invaders could establish, because it kills the targeted plants over time, and allows the natural vegetation of the area to recover gradually in the shelter of the dying weeds.
Something else to think about, is that this little Cochineal insect can also be harvested to make a crimson dye which is sometimes used in food colouring. Try not to think of that next time youre eating food thats been dyed red!
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