Natural Organic Pest Conrol
"The answer to pest problems is not in a bag of poisonous chemicals, but in a better understanding of the laws of Nature and a desire to work with these laws."
Malcolm Beck, San Antonio 1988 Beneficial Insects:
Ladybugs, Green Lacewings, Praying Mantids, Wasps, Trichogramma Wasps, Whitefly Parasites and Beneficial Nematodes. (To name a few.)
Harmful Insects:
Aphids, control with a water blast from a hose nozzle or a garlic/pepper tea spray.
Bagworms, control with BT (bacillus thuringiensis): spray with 1 oz. BT and 1 oz. molasses per gallon of water at dusk or spray with 2 oz. orange oil per gallon of water.
Grubworms, control with beneficial nematodes or dry molasses at 5-10 lbs per 1,000 sq. ft.
Mealybugs, control with horticulture oil (per label) and/or lizards.
Scale, control with horticultural oil, lady bugs or praying mantises.
Squash Bugs, control with compost tea/orange oil drench, hand removel, interplant with lemon balm, dust with DE (diatomaceous earth) and/or beneficial nematodes.
Spider Mites, control with beneficial insects (release green lacewings). Liquid seaweed (2 tbs. per gallon and add orange oil for extra strength). Garlic pepper tea (spray every 3 days for 9 days). Horticultural oil, per label instructions. Compost tea plus garlic tea, spray as needed.
Thrips, control by releasing green lacewings, garlic pepper tea every 2 weeks as needed, compost tea plus garlic tea as need and beneficial nematodes applied to soil before spring buds form.
Webworms, control with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) spray with 1 oz. of molasses per gallon of water at dusk. Wasps, introduce and protect trichogramma wasps and natives. Drench soil with compost tea plus 2 oz. orange oil and 2 oz. of molasses per gallon.