Help! Something is eating my plants...

Have you ever been in your garden and been bewildered by what is eating your plants? Or maybe you have thought "Where have all these bugs come from?" You might have even asked in desperation "what kind of bug is this?" There is nothing more frustrating than finding bugs and insects eating away at your healthy garden. In order to help overcome and prevent an infestation of bugs and insects, it is good to know some very simple steps to help you rather than wasting a ton of money and time.

I must confess, I really do not like to see bugs in my garden. But I can be rest assured if I plant it they will come. They will come crawling, flying, jumping, burrowing, or walking their way up to the buffet I am planting in my vegetable garden this growing season. Some insects and bugs will bore into roots, seeds or stems, or suck large quantities of plant sap. Then there are others that will destroy my plants and crops by chewing on the foliage, stems, or fruits. If all of that was not bad enough some bugs and insects transmit diseases that can kill my plants . It's enough for even the bravest to want to give up!

Even though I do not like them, I have come to the understanding that they are part of an interesting and important ecosystem that helps my vegetables to grow and even thrive. Yes, you read that correctly, thrive. You might be thinking, how can tomato hornworms help your vegetable garden to thrive? Well they don't, but their presence is proof that something is going on in the garden.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Bug Reality

So when you look at the bugs and insects in the garden the natural question that is asked is: is it a good bug or a bad bug? You may even be tempted to think that what you are looking at is definitely one ugly bug! But back to the question of if it is a good or a bad bug. The answer is, it all depends. As gardeners, we may be thrilled to see an assassin bug stalking a tomato hornworm caterpillar on one of our prized heirloom tomato plants. But on the other hand, a butterfly lover observing an assassin bug attacking a caterpillar in a butterfly garden may think very differently.

It’s also a question of the right bug in the right place. For instance, a yellowjacket wasp can be beneficial to the garden. They are, after all, a pollinator. They also kill and eat caterpillars, house flies, blow flies, and others. But if I throw the ball for my dog and the ball lands in a nest of yellow jacket wasps buried in the ornamental garden bed and both the dog and I get attacked by a zillion unhappy stinging machines, I tend to forget that wasps are an ally. What they do for the garden doesn’t seem all that important and more than likely I want to get rid of that wasp nest in that garden bed.

I have learned to look at bugs in my garden very differently now. The truth is, I typically define a bug or an insect as good or bad according to whether or not the bug or insect assists me in meeting my vegetable gardening goals.

Bad bugs can damage vegetable plants in different ways. Like I said previously, some feed on fruit causing direct damage, some feed on the leaves, and others like aphids suck the sap out of the plant causing damage. Some pests like thrips, bean leaf beetles, and cucumber beetles spread diseases that kill plants. Talk about the ugly side of bugs in the garden!

Even though many different species of bad bugs and insects can occur in the home vegetable garden, thankfully they do not usually occur all at one time. Neither do you have to spend the summer spraying for bugs to have a successful garden. In fact, spraying insecticides can cause more damage and bring more bugs than before. Insecticides can kill benecial bugs that were there doing their job keeping in check the bad bugs they control. You will learn over time what bugs and insects are actually really important for your garden to thrive.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure...

The expression "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is often used to describe preventative health measures that reduce your risk of getting sick. This is also true with growing vegetables. If you have a bug problem the question is "to spray or not to spray?" The purpose of insecticides is to kill bugs and insects, so when an insecticide is used to kill bugs it also kills the good bugs walking, crawling or flying around as well as those good guys in the soil that are there to make it healthy and to help your plant's immune system fight off disease and attack. Even using a simple soap and water spray can kill the microorganisms in the soil.

If you want to reduce your pest load, is is vital to the health of your garden to implement measures to prevent infestations of bugs and insects while still maintaining plant health and maintaining balance in your garden's ecosystem. Nothing in your garden happens, the good or the bad, without a cause.

What Are Soil Microbes and How Do They Help Prevent Bugs From Eating My Plants?

Soil is a living organism. In an aerobic environment, because the plant is putting out sugars and carbs through its root system, beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi totally cover the surface of the roots in order to get immediate access to the food source.

When the roots are covered in microorgnsims, the infection sites that the disease causing microorganisms are looking for cannot be accessed. This is ideal for root systems of all plants and for root crops such as beet, turnips, carrots, and radish. But what about the part of the plant that is above the ground? How does this help my squash plant from not being killed by the dreaded vine borer or my beet leaves from getting powdery mildew?

Good question! Plants release sugars and carbs from their leaves as well as from their stems and fruit. Believe it or not, benefical microorganisms can be found there too. So when the beneficial organisms are present and cover 70% - 100% of the leaves, stem, and fruit they provide protection there also. We can think of these microorganisms as nature's little defense force.

So in the soil without access to a food resource, the bad guys are seriously weakened and eaten by other organisms such as nematodes. Insects and bugs are much bigger than soil microorganisms so what happens with them? With a healthy soil food web in place, bugs and insects are deterred from attacking the plants because they are healthy. The soil food web helps to develop and strengthen the plants immune system and creates a healthy environment for the plants to grow. Healthy plants produce plant chemicals that deter pests, but those that are stressed, diseased, or are sick are less able to do this making them more susceptible to coming under attack from insects and bugs.

When you spray insecticides or fungicides or chemicals to eradicate bugs and insects, you can destroy this very delicate, microscopic ecosystem that is essential for healthy and nutritionally dense food.

7 Ways To Prevent and Manage Unwanted Bugs and Insects

1. Encourage Healthy Soil

When the soil is healthy, you will be able to grow healthy and strong crops that will be better equipped to fight off diseases and bugs. The health of the soil can be improved by using really good compost that is complete with biology of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes etc. Make good use of compost tea for foliar feeding and compost extracts for soil drenches to help build up the microorganisms in the soil and on the plant itself.

2. Use Cultural Controls

Cultural practices can affect plants susceptibility to insect injury. Remember, healthy and vigorous plants are generally more resistant and more tolerant to insect damage, so practices that promote good growth and plant health also aid in bug and insect management.

Early-planted crops usually have fewer bug and insect problems than late-planted crops because many insects and pests cycle several generations per growing season, producing more insects with each generation. This is especially important with crops such as sweet corn, summer squash, and tomatoes.

Good sanitation practices, such as weed control and prompt removal of nonproductive plants, help reduce insect populations, and with a healthy and balanced soil food web there will be less weeds you will need to control.

Some vegetable varieties are less susceptible to insect damage than other varieties of the same vegetable, so variety selection is also important.

3. Use Biological Controls

Biological control is the most important method to control insect pests. Many different predators and parasites feed on insect pests and help keep populations in check. If we didn’t have these natural predators and parasites, our gardens would be overrun with insect pests. Nature provides these as free insect control. We need to understand better the importance of biological control and avoid disrupting it when possible.

Here at Old Oak Homestead we have had a lot of success using nematodes in our garden to help with bug control. They have been applied to the soil as a soil soak and over the leaves, stems and fruit of the plants so that they can go to work on any bug or insect that is trying to feast on our scrumptious plants.

4. Take advantage of Mechanical Controls

Hand-picking, foot-stomping and squishing are examples of mechanical controls home gardeners can use. This must be the most enjoyable aspect to bug control in the garden, right? In small plantings, hand-removing individual insects or egg masses can be a useful way to control insects. Tomato Hornworms, for example, glow in the dark when you shine a black light on them making them really easy to spot. One year we had a really bad infestation of these critters, so we decided we would go out and hand pick them. We discovered the tomato hornworm eggs glow in the dark too! This was a very quick way of dealing with the problem as it only took just a few nights of going "hunting" to eliminate the population of hornworms. I don't really understand why my husband didn't think picking tomato hornworms off tomato plants was a great idea for a date night, I had a great time! I found them and he picked and squished. If you don't like squishing then simply make up a solution of dawn dish soap and water in a small tupperware container and drop the hornworms right in.

Additional examples of mechanical control could be spraying a bug or insect off the plant with water from a garden hose. Floating row covers keep insects from being able to attack or deposit eggs on young plants. Collars of waxed paper or aluminum foil protect young transplants from cutworm attack.

5. Interplanting Different Crops and Companion Planting

Interplanting simply means mixing plant types rather than growing rows or blocks of the same type of vegetable. When planting crops, herbs, and flowers alternately, this confuses the pests. It would be good to consider planting alternate rows of herbs and flowers to help the reduce bugs that are repulsive, or planting vegetables with flowers and herbs that are beneficial insect- attractors. Interplanting cabbage with onions, calendula and cilantro may make it difficult for the pest to find your crop. I personally think this creates a beautiful looking garden also, and who doesn't want that?!

6. Take Every Opportunity to Learn

If you have a bug or insect infestation don't let it get you down. It is an opportunity to learn more about what is happening in the garden. It's natures way of saying there is a problem. It will take a little time but when you stick to nurturing the soil so that it is healthy, then even in as little as one growing season you can turn things around. Never, never, never give up!

7. Tracking Insects and Bugs

It is important to go out each day and check your garden. This way you can keep up with what is happening. It takes a little while for the good guys to build up, but it takes next to no time for the bad guys to get out of control. Make it a habit to keep to keep a journal of your encounters with the good and bad bugs, the remedy used, and the results. You will be glad you did.

Photo Credit Unknown

It Is All About Balance

As frustrating as it can be for us gardeners we really do not want to get rid of every bug in our garden, even the bad guys as they are an important part of the ecosystem and our gardens. They are an important source of food for many animals, including birds, fish, and frogs. They are really important as pollinators, and pollination is essential for the majority of food crops and flowering plants. Many are important predators of pests in our backyard gardens. With these guys around they keep everything in check preventing an infestation. Also bugs can help to keep soils healthy.

When dealing with bugs, the good, the bad, and the ugly, it may seem overwhelming and difficult. It might be challenging at times, but the only real way to keep everything in balance in your garden is to work with nature. The best way to reduce pest load and damage is to strengthen your garden's immune system so that no one bug can invade or destroy it. It takes time to learn so be patient with yourself as you learn. Nothing happens in your garden, the good or the bad, without a cause. By following effective preventative measures and by building up the soil in your garden to ensure it is healthy you will have great success.

It's important to remember to always have fun, and to never, never, never give up. The rewards will be worth it!

Happy Gardening!