The concern for the environment and people's health seems to have touched everyone, with gardeners being one of the most environmentally conscious groups. Garden pest control is no longer about spraying an insecticide whenever insects are spotted; modern gardeners first evaluate the extent of both threat and damage before they warrant control. For example, there are insects that just cause cosmetic changes in your plants, without affecting their health. In such situations, many gardeners will decide that they can live with the injury.
The real problem with garden pest control is that there are no solutions to kill target pests alone, which means that killing non-target insects is inevitable. Gardeners thus have to weigh the benefits of spraying against the possible annihilation of beneficial insects. A good word of advice is to consider the age of the plant at the moment of pest attack. When garden crops begin to mature, they are more capable to handle an onslaught of flea beetles. If the pest strikes earlier in the stage of development, the plants may die.
Producers of garden pest control solutions have complied with the need for 'safe' gardening, which explains the higher number of ecological, natural pest control formulas on the market. However, there is still a degree of toxicity even in natural insecticides, otherwise it would not be capable to kill insects. Let's not forget that some of the most powerful poisons occur in nature. Take for instance Rotenone, a product derived from the root of a tropical plant. The manufacturer markets it as natural or organic garden pest control.
In reality, Rotenone is more toxic than man-made insecticides like diazinon (removed from sale nationwide). It doesn't mean that you should not use Rotenone, just be as cautious as you'd be with any other insecticide, that you know to be highly toxic. There are other forms of non-toxic garden pest control, including hand picking, the installation of floating row covers as barriers or the use of sticky, baited traps. Sometimes more garden pest control strategies should be used in parallel for a superior protection of your crops.
Growing healthy plants that can resist pest attacks on their own is another key factor here. The old mentality to destroy the bugs in the garden no longer applies to modern practices, because the line is so thin between real pests and beneficial insects. Therefore, garden pest control has increased in complexity, and evolves towards more and more environment-oriented choices every year.
The real problem with garden pest control is that there are no solutions to kill target pests alone, which means that killing non-target insects is inevitable. Gardeners thus have to weigh the benefits of spraying against the possible annihilation of beneficial insects. A good word of advice is to consider the age of the plant at the moment of pest attack. When garden crops begin to mature, they are more capable to handle an onslaught of flea beetles. If the pest strikes earlier in the stage of development, the plants may die.
Producers of garden pest control solutions have complied with the need for 'safe' gardening, which explains the higher number of ecological, natural pest control formulas on the market. However, there is still a degree of toxicity even in natural insecticides, otherwise it would not be capable to kill insects. Let's not forget that some of the most powerful poisons occur in nature. Take for instance Rotenone, a product derived from the root of a tropical plant. The manufacturer markets it as natural or organic garden pest control.
In reality, Rotenone is more toxic than man-made insecticides like diazinon (removed from sale nationwide). It doesn't mean that you should not use Rotenone, just be as cautious as you'd be with any other insecticide, that you know to be highly toxic. There are other forms of non-toxic garden pest control, including hand picking, the installation of floating row covers as barriers or the use of sticky, baited traps. Sometimes more garden pest control strategies should be used in parallel for a superior protection of your crops.
Growing healthy plants that can resist pest attacks on their own is another key factor here. The old mentality to destroy the bugs in the garden no longer applies to modern practices, because the line is so thin between real pests and beneficial insects. Therefore, garden pest control has increased in complexity, and evolves towards more and more environment-oriented choices every year.
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