Methods Of Organic Pest Control

When many people think about pest control at the gardening shop, they tend to reach for chemical sprays and other typical methods of pest control that are simple and effective.  However, some have concerns about the use of laboratory-made chemicals in order to get rid of garden pests.  Instead, they search for methods of organic pest control, which provides natural methods of controlling pests rather then chemical.

The reasons why some people are attracted to organic pest control are varied.  Some people are concerned about the use of some of the chemicals and how they effect their families when the plants are later ingested. Others are dissatisfied with chemical pest control that kills beneficial bugs as well as pests, and still others don’t like that chemical pest control often results in new generations of pests that are more resistant.  Still, no matter what the reason, organic pest control methods can help your garden to thrive.

Crop Rotation

One method of organic pest control is to rotate your crops season after season.  Each time you grow a plant in one spot, some of the plant’s natural predators will find it, and some of those predators will reproduce.  By replacing last season’s plants with those that are resistant to the predators for those plants, you can interrupt the reproduction cycle.  When the predator’s larvae hatches, they find food unsuitable for them to eat and starve, making the area safe again for the original crop.  In this method of organic pest control, you prevent the pests from ever getting hold over a particular crop in a particular area.

Using Insects

While it seems strange to be using insects to control other insects, this is precisely what another method of organic pest control does.  By encouraging beneficial insects like ladybugs and even bugs such as spiders, you can cut down on plant predators.  These bugs will eat the ones going for your plants, but leave your plants alone.  While it may make a few people feel a little odd, having more bugs in the garden than less, it’s worth preventing the damage to your plants.

Choosing Plants Carefully

Another method of organic pest control is preventative, but using plants that will be naturally resistant to local insects and diseases anyways.  Usually, this means growing varieties of plants that originated in the area you live in, sense these varieties have developed resistances that help them survive against local predators.  As with many methods of organic pest control, choosing local plants is a way of preventing a pest problem before it starts and before you bring in chemicals.  A combination of these organic pest control techniques, alone or in conjunction with more traditional methods, should keep your garden clearer of pests than it was before.