How to Identify and Control Garden Pests?

Identify and Control Garden Pests..

BigBUghunt has initiated an innovative idea and solution to control garden pests around the world. Let's see, what they are saying about their new garden pest control program.

With vegetables growing so rapidly there's one thing that's pretty much inevitable - pests!

Just look at these blackfly on my beans for example. It's frustrating but it's also important not to get too downhearted about it. Take a pragmatic approach and accept that pests will always raise their unwanted heads. It's just another challenge that's thrown at us. In this video, we'll offer some tips for protecting your plants and controlling unwanted pests(controlling pests without pesticides, Eco Friendly Pest Control‎), but first we're also asking for your help.
It came as no surprise when in a recent survey you told us garden pests are your biggest nuisance in the garden. Well, we've listened and we want to help you, but to do that we need your help. We're launching a major new project called The Big Bug Hunt. The Big Bug Hunt invites you to report the pests you find in your garden. Why? Because.. by understanding what is spotted, where, and when it's spotted, we can start to build up a picture of the conditions common pests need to spread.



Imagine receiving a notification when a pest is likely to appear in your vegetable garden. This is exactly what we hope. The Big Bug Hunt will help us to achieve. It's a massive project but by putting together the many thousands of reports you give us, we can begin to identify which conditions trigger an outbreak of a particular pest. But we can only do this if everyone gets involved by reporting.

Reporting a bug couldn't be easier.

Just head to The Big Bug Hunt website at www.bigbughunt.com, then click on the Report a Pest button.

Enter the details of which pest you saw, and which plant it was on or near.

Enter your location and then click to send your report.

You can also learn more about the project on the homepage. With input from the gardeners like you in our growing online community, the data we collect from The Big Bug Hunt has the potential to make a lasting impact.

For example, bigbughunt could use that data to alert you when unwanted pests have been spotted in your area and provide you with recommended actions to safeguard your plants and control pests.

An intelligent warning system like that could save a lot of wasted effort, and a lot of money.

With enough reports, The Big Bug Hunt could even go on to help farmers in developing regions of the world, providing the information necessary to help them avoid catastrophic crop failure. The power that your combined bug reports could provide is immense, so stay vigilant this growing season and report your pests.

Visit www.BigBugHunt.com to send us those reports and help them to help you.

Gardening magazines and television programmes can sometimes portray gardening as trouble-free. Pests are barely mentioned, and when they are it's only in passing. True, most vegetables will reach harvest time without any problem, but it's unrealistic to expect a pest-free ride every time.

How many times have your leafy salads succumbed to slugs, or your cabbages been decimated by caterpillars?

Whether it's a crafty caterpillar, worrisome whitefly, or root-ravaging carrot fly, common garden pests turn up time and again. But while there's little you can do to stop them appearing, you can at least raise the defenses and, if necessary, launch an offensive.

No matter where in the world you garden, there are a few pests you are almost certain to encounter at some point.

Here are three of them(identifying garden pests, Vegetable garden pests control tips and advice).

Slugs and snails are the bane of many gardeners. Just look at the way they're demolishing my lovely kale, the cheek of it..! Don't get mad. You can prevent or control garden pests from getting near your plants by putting up barriers.

For example, copper rings around plants or containers will deter the malevolent mollusks by giving them a small electric shock.

Some gardeners also like to try barriers of hair or eggshells - though you'll need to eat a lot of eggs first!

Or get proactive - set up beer traps. Slug love the yeasty liquid and will drown when attempting to get at it.

Install a pond:

Ponds are great for wildlife, and any frogs or toads taking up residence will make short work of the local slug population.

If you keep chickens, allow them to roam section-off areas of bare ground. Here, they'll snap up lurking slug eggs while depositing fertilizer for the next crop.

Know your enemy. If you can't see any slugs, look for telltale damage. Some slugs will even burrow into the roots of vegetables like carrots and if you come across the pearl-like slug eggs, be brave and destroy them .

Some caterpillars, such as those of the cabbage white (also known as the 'imported cabbageworm') carry an insatiable appetite for members of the cabbage family. Serious infestations will quickly strip leaves bare. The tiny eggs are pale yellow, and the found on the undersides of the leaves.

The caterpillars are easier to spot. Stop butterflies from laying eggs by erecting butterfly netting over your plants. Netting can be draped over a simple wooden frame. Make sure it is properly secured at the bottom.

Another clever tactic is to plant decoy or sacrificial plants at the ends of rows. Plants like nasturtiums lure the butterflies away from the crop bearing the brunt of any damage and saving your vegetables.

Aphids come in many guises, including the black bean aphid or blackfly, green aphids and whitefly. Spraying colonies with a mixture of soapy water offers some control, but they'll eventually return. Thankfully there are a number of beneficial bugs lining up to feast on them. Insects such as the hoverfly and ladybug (ladybird) actively seek out aphids.

One ladybug alone can eat up to 5,000 aphids a year!

Get them onside and aphids need never reach epidemic proportions. Attracting beneficial bugs into your garden couldn't be easier. Plants such as calendula and poppies are a real magnet, with nettles especially sought after by ladybugs.

Provide places for these bugs to overwinter and you'll keep them in your garden from one year to the next.

I'm hugely excited by The Big Bug Hunt. There's no denying this is a massive undertaking, but I think you'll agree the potential outcomes are worth it.

So grab your smartphone, tablet or computer, and please send us those reports so we can warn you about impending pests.

It's time to launch the fight back against the bugs that would eat our crops before we can.

How to Keep Your Yard and Garden Pest-Free, identifying garden pests, tips, ideas & advice on how to control pests and insects in your vegetable garden..