Fall Pests and What to do About Them: a who's who and what to do of pests in the fall garden
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
Enjoying those cooler temps? Your plants are too!
But SO are all the creepy crawlies in your garden.
Let's take a look at who might be showing up in your garden in the next few weeks, and what to do about them!
01. Aphids
These soft bodied, sucking pests love tender new growth. You can tell you have them because leaves are suddenly crinkly, or by spotting their colonies on the tips of your stems.
WHAT TO DO?
• spray affected plants with a strong stream of water DAILY for a week - this knocks the soft bodied insects to the ground and kills them
•trim any leaves/stems where the aphids are present - removing them from the garden is a great way to stop their reproduction cycle. make sure to dispose of the trimmings in the trash, not compost pile
•spray: fill a spray bottle with water, then add in a small squirt of dish soap and/or a few drops of peppermint oil. spray this on the affected plants every other day for a week, or until aphids are gone
Fun fact, aphids reproduce every third day - meaning you have to treat daily or every other day to halt the reproduction cycle.
**careful not to use any sprays on milkweed and other pollinator plants
02. . Mealy Bugs
Also a soft bodied, pest you can treat these the EXACT same way as aphids!
However, if you have just a few, try spot treating with rubbing alcohol:
• gather: rubbing alcohol + q tip
• squirt some rubbing alcohol on the q tip
• touch the soaked qtip to the body of the mealy bug
• the mealy bug will dehydrate and die, repeat as needed
03. Ants
Often times, ants in the garden are farming aphids (aphids produce a sweet sap that ants love to eat!).
If you see ants, start by inspecting the plant where you see them for aphids. If aphids are present, treat the aphids and the ants will disappear!
If aphids are not present, you have to treat the NEST not the pest and you can do so with:
• boiling water (dump A LOT of it on the nest)
• orange oil (fill a watering can with water then add a quarter cup of orange oil and douse the nest)
• Diatomaceous earth (this powder is made by grinding up teeny ocean crustaceans - the powder can slice open the bodies of ants. BEWARE: it does the same thing to bees and other beneficials)
04. Caterpillars
If you have tomatoes, you might see hornworms. If you have cabbage and kale, you'll probably see cabbage loopers. If you have ANYTHING growing, you'll probably end up with army worms.
• PICK THEM OFF! A handful of caterpillars isn't worth spraying
• Identify the eggs (see image) - particularly on cabbage, kale, and brassicas. Inspect your leaves and smush the eggs so they never become pests
• Captain Jack - if things get REALLY out of control, a spray can be an option just remember that all sprays are BROAD spectrum meaning they kill the bad and the good. Captain Jack is an organic option that can be used on the same day your harvest - just make sure to rinse your food!
I love providing free garden education, and I hope you learned something new you can apply to your garden this season.
If you learned something from this week's newsletter and you'd like to contribute to our farm build this fall, hit the link below!
Every single dollar makes a difference - we started with one $5 donation, and now we're one-third of the way funded! It adds up quickly when everyone chips in a little!
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