Dealing with Pests in an Organic Garden
Dealing with pests in an organic garden is quite a hurdle to overcome. Your big dreams of a homegrown, pristine, abundant organic harvest are threatened when you discover bugs, and lots of them.
But, before you get discouraged or go and buy something harmful to spray, or before you give up altogether, let’s learn what you can do about crop-eating pests without introducing toxins to your garden and wildlife.
How To Deal With Pests in an Organic Garden
Let’s learn how to deal with pests in your organic garden with these topics:
Not All Bugs Are Bad
Healthier Plants Are More Resilient
Balanced Soil
Preferred Growing Environment
Water in Balance
Outbreaks Are Often Temporary
Bad Bugs Have Life Cycles
Some Years Will Be Worse Than Others
Some Crops May Not Be Worth The Fight
Plants Are More Resilient Than You Think
Organic Top Soil
Not All Bugs Are Bad
As we begin, it’s important to learn how to identify pests in an organic garden and to know which are good bugs and which are bad for your garden. As a new gardener, it can be a challenge to figure this out, but with experience, you’ll learn.
Keep in mind, not all bugs are bad. In fact, most are not. While that might surprise you, it’s true. Some of the creepiest bugs are in fact very beneficial to your garden. A perfect example of this is a ladybug larva, which looks quite scary at the beginning stage of its life. Your first instinct might be to get rid of it, but in fact, it’s a beneficial bug to your organic garden.
Healthier Plants Are More Resilient
You will always have some type of pest pressure in your organic garden, but keep in mind, the healthier your plant is, the more resilient it will be to the garden pests. You don’t want to make it a goal to have no bugs, but instead learn to deal with a little bit of leaf damage as long as your plant is still healthy.
In fact, some of the bad bugs you find in your garden — like aphids — are actually good for the good bugs! Without aphids, our friendly bugs like ladybug larva may not have anything to eat!
Our goal instead should be to minimize the damage. You can still reap a good harvest even if the leaves of your plants have holes in them.
You will learn to deal with damage, but in general the healthier the plant, the more resilient the plant is to pest pressure.
What Produces Healthier Plants?
There are 3 things that help produce healthier plants, and if you follow all three of these, your plants will be stronger and healthier.
Balanced Soil
The first trait for healthier plants is balanced soil. In order to have balanced soil you need to look at the actual soil structure. If your natural soil has too much clay, or rocks, or sand, naturally your plants might be more stressed. When choosing soil, you’ll want to pick one that has nice dark loam – which is a perfect combination of sand, silt, and clay.
Your goal is to not only have nutrition, organic matter, and good structure, but also check to make sure the pH is in balance. In order to find out the pH of your soil, have your soil tested.
Make sure you also have balanced levels of moisture and oxygen in your soil. Not only is it important to make sure your plants get plenty of water, but also you don’t want them to get too much water and become waterlogged. The more organic material you add to your soil, the better chance you have to keep the moisture and oxygen balanced.
Preferred Growing Environment
To grow healthy plants and control pests in your organic garden, it’s important to know your plants’ preferred growing conditions. This year, I planted my peppers and eggplants early during a warm spell in April, even though I usually wait until May.
After planting, a cold spell hit, which stressed the plants and made them grow poorly and attract more pests. In contrast, the peppers and eggplant I kept in the greenhouse and planted later ended up with much less pest pressure.
This shows that waiting for the right temperature and the preferred growing environment makes a big difference in plant health. Don’t discount something as simple as plant timing. Temperature and what’s going on in the environment makes a difference in how healthy those plants will be.
Water in Balance
To produce healthy plants, ensure they get the right amount of water. Too much water deprives them of oxygen, while too little during hot summer days can stress them. High temperatures and drought also make plants more vulnerable to pests. Keeping plants healthy and well-watered helps them resist pests and leads to a better harvest.
Outbreaks Are Often Temporary
Dealing with pest outbreaks in your organic garden are often temporary, although some pests can last all season. For example, aphids might seem like a big problem in early spring but not so much in the late summer.
But beneficial insects like ladybugs, hoverflies, and lacewings usually show up and eat the aphids, reducing their numbers. Over time, I’ve learned not to panic or treat aphids because they usually disappear by mid-season as nature balances itself.
The same goes for flea beetles, which are a big issue at the start of the season. Eggplants, in particular, attract flea beetles and can suffer early on. However, as summer goes on, the flea beetle problem usually gets better. Keeping your plants healthy helps them outgrow early pest damage. Remember, just because you see pests now doesn’t mean they’ll be a problem all season.
Bad Bugs Have Life Cycles
Pests like squash vine borers and Japanese beetles have life cycles, meaning they come and go at different times. Just because you see pests early in the season doesn’t mean they will be a problem all year. It’s also possible you haven’t seen any pests yet, but they might show up later. Observing and journaling when pests appear in your garden can help you plan better for the future.
For example, I know squash vine borers appear in mid-June in my area, killing my squash and zucchini by early July. To avoid this, I plant squash early and then again in July, using insect netting for protection. By mid-August, the pests are gone, and my plants can grow without damage. Similarly, I’ve noticed cabbage worms are worse in the fall, so I cover my cabbage and broccoli with insect netting then, but not in the spring when they’re less of an issue. (These are observations from my garden; your experience may be different.)
Some Years will Be Worse Than Others
Some Pests Are a Perennial Problem
Some pests will show up every year no matter what. You’ll always need to deal with them. For example, squash bugs can be a constant issue. One year, I had a huge outbreak because I grew a squash variety that provided a continuous food source for the bugs. Each year, you might face these same pests, so be prepared to handle them regularly.
Others Are Really Bad Some Years and Not As Bad Other Years
Other pests might be really bad one year and hardly noticeable the next. For example, when I first grew potatoes, I had a terrible problem with Colorado potato beetles, but since then, they’ve been less of an issue.
Sometimes, pests like roly-polies (pillbugs) might not be a problem for years, then suddenly cause significant damage. It’s important to observe your garden each year and note which pests are present, as this will help you plan and manage your garden more effectively. And remember that not every season is going to be the same.
Some Crops May Not Be Worth The Fight
Sometimes, certain crops might be more trouble than they’re worth. For example, many gardeners choose not to grow squash because of pests like squash vine borers and squash bugs. Instead, they buy squash at the farmers market, supporting local farmers and saving themselves the effort of fighting squash pests. The same goes for crops like cucumbers if dealing with pests like the pickle worm or cucumber beetles becomes too labor-intensive.
Take a Break from Problem Crops
Another strategy is to take a break from growing certain crops to disrupt pest life cycles. If you’ve had a bad experience with squash bugs, for instance, you might skip growing squash for a year or two. This break can reduce pest populations, making it easier when you decide to grow that crop again. If pests are overwhelming, consider these methods to save time and reduce stress.
Plants Are More Resilient Than You Think
Plants are tough and can handle a lot in the garden if they’re healthy and in good soil. As a beginner gardener, it’s important to know that plants can endure challenges like pests and weather changes surprisingly well.
Learning When To Step In
Learning when to step in and when to let things be is tricky but comes with practice and observation. Sometimes, it means letting a plant endure some damage to learn how resilient it can be. This mindset shift from focusing only on harvests to also learning from the garden’s ups and downs is key.
If you’re new to dealing with pests in your organic garden, it can feel overwhelming to figure out what’s wrong with your plants. Sometimes, things might look worse than they are, and other times, you might need to intervene earlier. Patience is crucial as you learn.
Ask For Help
It’s okay to ask for help, sharing pictures and asking questions can help you understand what’s normal and what needs attention. Trusting your instincts is also important—if something feels off, it might be time to take action or let go of a struggling plant.
Trust Your Gut
In our experience, we tend to wait and see before intervening with pests in any garden, unless it’s clearly a serious issue. This approach helps build a more balanced garden ecosystem over time.
Remember, every gardener’s approach is different based on their crop quantity and personal preferences. Whether you have one tomato plant or thirty, finding your balance between letting nature take its course and stepping in when needed will help you grow a resilient garden.
Organic Top Soil
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HAPPY GARDENING!
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