Spare the Good Bugs

Here are some remedies broken down by pest:

Scale: Tend to go after orchids, but infest all kinds of plants. Remove with the neem/dish soap mixture, or rub off with a Q-tip soaked in alcohol.

Aphids: I’ve had luck with the Neem, but I think I’ll try ladybugs next, so I don’t have to keep re-spraying. You can also spray hard with a garden hose to knock them off.

White fly: Neem solution, and remove leaves that have been infested more than fifty percent.

Ants: A good bug in the garden, but annoying in the house. For inside, splurge on some diatomaceous earth (fine, crumbled sedimentary powder), which the ants won’t cross. You can also rub this into your pet to repel fleas. Make sure that you wear a mask when you handle diatomaceous earth, because it’s very fine and dusty.

Slugs and snails: Set beer out in a dish, the slugs will drink it until they drown, and then when birds eat the slugs, they get so drunk they can’t fly.  

Caterpillars: Best to pluck them off. I have a running war with the caterpillars that devour my heliotrope. For a while, I sprayed them (before I was enlightened), but the spray smelled awful, looked worse, and gave my husband the creeps. Spraying with the Neem/soap mixture works, but when I find a giant caterpillar, I just give him an airlift to another location.  

According to Catherine Cash, an organic certification specialist for the State of Virginia, “The best physical barrier for fruit crops is Surround, a kaolin (clay)-based product that physically coats fruit on the tree. The best fungicide is Storox.”

An extensive list of good and bad bugs can be found at The Gardener’s Supply Company.

For more information about how to control pests organically, Susan Lyne advises checking out the Rodale Institute, and “Integrated Pest Management” on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site. Finally, if you’re in New York State, the Cornell Cooperative Extension is a great resource. Not only is there an office for every county in New York, they provide free advice, many have hotlines, and you can ask them to analyze a soil sample for you.