In today's fast-paced world, where convenience often trumps health, the movement towards organic gardening is more crucial than ever. It is in this spirit that Inherited Seeds, a small family-owned brand with a mission to inspire others to grow their own vegetable gardens, educate the younger generation, and promote a healthy lifestyle, brings you an extensive guide on organic pest control strategies.

Companion Planting for Pest Control. Companion planting is a fascinating and highly effective strategy in organic gardening.

It involves growing different plants together to enhance their growth and protect them from pests and diseases. Inherited Seeds, known for its commitment to fostering sustainable gardening practices, recommends incorporating companion planting into your garden for healthier and more productive plants.

Understanding Companion Planting and Its Benefits. Companion planting, an age-old agricultural practice, is more than just an aesthetic arrangement of plants in your garden. It's a science-driven approach that capitalizes on the synergies between different plant species.

Here's a closer look at its benefits:. Repelling Pests : Companion planting is like nature's bug repellent system. For instance, the strong aroma of marigolds masks the scent of vegetables like tomatoes and beans, effectively deterring pests like aphids, nematodes, and whiteflies.

Inherited Seeds recognizes the power of marigolds and offers a variety of marigold seeds to strengthen your garden's defenses naturally. Attracting Beneficial Insects: Your garden can become a haven for helpful insects when you practice companion planting.

Flowers like dill, fennel, and yarrow are not just pretty additions; they attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps. These friendly bugs feast on common garden pests, effectively transforming your garden into a pest control squad headquarters.

Plant Combinations to Repel Pests and Attract Beneficial Insects. Inherited Seeds is committed to helping you select the best companion plants to bolster your garden's health. Here are some well-proven plant combinations:. Pairing tomatoes with basil is a classic example of companion planting.

Beyond the delightful flavor synergy in your pasta sauces, basil has an incredible ability to repel pests like tomato hornworms and aphids. By planting basil alongside your tomatoes, you not only enhance the taste of your tomatoes but also contribute to their overall health.

Nasturtiums aren't just pretty orange and red flowers; they serve as a sacrificial plant. Aphids, which adore cucumbers, are instead drawn to nasturtiums, leaving your cucumber vines unharmed. This mutually beneficial relationship helps maintain the vitality of your cucumbers.

Tips for Implementing Companion Planting in Your Organic Garden. To make the most of companion planting and align with Inherited Seeds' mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle, consider these practical tips:.

Plan Your Garden Layout: Careful planning is essential for a successful companion planting scheme. Take into account factors such as plant height, growth habits, and compatibility when arranging your garden beds.

Rotate Companion Plants: To prevent the buildup of specific pests, rotate your companion plants annually. Inherited Seeds provides a variety of companion plant seeds to support this practice. Maintain Soil Health: Healthy soil is the bedrock of a thriving garden.

Inherited Seeds offers a range of organic soil amendments to ensure your soil is nutrient-rich and disease-resistant. Healthy soil le ads to robust, pest-resistant plants. Nurturing Your Garden the Inherited Seeds Way.

In the world of gardening, Inherited Seeds i s a beacon of sustainable, Small family-owned values. Their mission, rooted in promoting a healthier lifestyle through gardening, extends to every aspect of your gardening journey.

Once the plants start to grow, cut off the flower stems as they form and make sure the area around the plants is well weeded. Mint grows aggressively so you may want to plant it in pots that can then be placed around your garden to protect other plants.

Onions are an excellent choice for planting in your garden if you want to repel aphids, carrot flies and larger pests like rabbits. Onions are easy to grow from bulbs and are usually planted in spring for harvesting during the summer and into the autumn. Coriander is grown for its tangy leaves and aromatic seeds.

The great news is that coriander also has pest control properties. It helps to repel aphids from your garden and protects other plants as a result. Tansy is a plant that produces bright yellow blooms. It also has a strong scent that deters ants.

Plus, this plant is hardy, frost resistant and easy to grow. The area should also have plenty of sunlight.

And they aid sustainability in other ways too. Keep scrolling for more insights. Other Sustainable Benefits of Garden Plants. At Blooming Haus, sustainability is at the centre of everything we do. Picture credit: Blooming Haus Shop. Every time we complete a project, we dedicate a tree to be planted in collaboration with the National Forest, Woodland Trust and Carbon Footprint Organisation.

Partnering with bicycle-based delivery company EcoFleet to complete smaller deliveries including purchases from our online store. Composting all our organic waste. Avoiding using materials that cannot be composted. Reusing flower buckets and delivery packaging.

Recycling boxes and packaging. Sourcing as many flowers as possible from local suppliers, thereby reducing the environmental impact of transportation. Using suppliers that work with organisations like the Soil Association and the Rainforest Alliance to quality check supplies.

Using probiotic cleaning products whenever possible. The focus of this article is using flowers as natural pest control. Plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere around them. They then produce oxygen as a byproduct of the photosynthesis process. This is a valuable attribute given the problems that carbon dioxide causes to the environment and the immense carbon footprint the planet has.

Through their respiratory and photosynthetic processes plants also absorb chemicals and bacteria from the air. This helps to clean the atmosphere in which we live. For more insights into how plants clean the air check out our blog post.

The roots of garden plants provide more protection to the environment than you might think. So, having several root systems in place in your garden reduces the movement of topsoil. Annual Plants Provide Nutrients For The Following Year. But, they can be valuable even after they die.

They decompose and add nutrients to the soil preparing it for more planting. This is a greener process than using chemicals to promote future plant growth. Gardening Protects Pollinators. They have come up with something that organic gardeners knew all along: Insects prefer to eat plants having high concentrations of free amino acids, such concentrations being enhanced if the plants are improperly nourished.

Organically grown vegetables produced on balanced, healthy soils have significantly lower levels of free amino acids in their tissues than plants grown where chemical fertilizers have destroyed the balance.

In addition, vegetable varieties have been bred for resistance to specific pests. Legumes planted in a rotation will protect grain crops and grasses from white grubs and corn rootworm. Chinch bug on corn and flea beetles are controlled by growing soybeans to shade the bases of the plants.

The herbs in this chart may be planted as specific controls. Superior plant nutrition derived from the most ethical, sustainable sources available. Produces the same results as conventional fertilizers without the negative environmental impacts.

Why Use Plants for Natural Pest Control Instead of Harsh Chemicals? How Plant Combinations Deter Pests 3. Try These Plants for Pest Control in Your Garden 4. Other Sustainable Benefits of Garden Plants 5. More Resources You May Find Useful. Why Should You Use Plants for Pest Control?

Can you stick to the traditional methods of chemical pest control? Sure you can. You may get rid of pesky garden pests like aphids. But, you could be doing damage to your health, your environment, and the living creatures around you.

Using pesticides regularly can impact human wellness. It can also damage plants and cause problems for animals including the pollinators that we all rely on.

Plus… Eating produce covered in pesticides is not good for your health , and often these harsh chemicals run off into different areas of our ecosystem. Why take the risk when you can adopt natural pest control measures such as using plants that deter pests.

Doing this brings many benefits including: - Increasing biodiversity - Reducing pollution in groundwater - Providing protection for pollinators - Producing healthier fruit and vegetables to eat. And, your garden gets to look incredible without you causing any damage to the world around you.

The power of plants prevails. Back to the top. How Do Plant Combinations Deter Pests? One of the easiest ways to deal with pest problems in your garden is to use plant combinations. For example, grow some marigolds amongst your tomato plants and their strong scent deters greenfly and blackfly.

Growing sage with carrots wards off pests thanks to its strong scent. You can stop caterpillars from attacking your cabbages by growing nasturtiums as a diversion. Planting garlic amongst your rose bushes deters aphids. Growing leeks and carrots together provides protection to both as leeks repel carrot flies and carrots deter onion flies and leek moths.

These are just a few of the plants that can protect your garden against pests. Keep reading to discover more. Try These Plants for Pest Control in Your Garden. As floral design professionals, we love the colours, aromas and shapes of flowers and plants.

These features also bring vitality and joy to your garden. Some plants also protect your garden from unwanted pest invasions. The scent of basil repels several pests including asparagus beetle, carrot fly, and whitefly.

It should initially be grown indoors until frosts subside and then planted in well-drained soil in a sheltered area of your garden. Basil is also a perfect container and greenhouse plant. Nepeta Catmint. It grows in any soil that can easily drain.

The best part of the garden to plant catmint is somewhere that has full sun on it for long periods. Heads up… Catmint can take over your garden if you let it because it spreads quickly.

So, you should start with a small amount and keep a close watch on it. The onion scent of chives deters aphids from attacking neighbouring plants like chrysanthemums and tomatoes.

These plants are also an attractive addition to your garden with their purple flowers that are edible. Garlic is excellent at repelling aphids , cabbage moths, and bigger pests like rabbits.

Garlic cloves are normally sown in autumn and growing the plants is usually trouble-free. Choose a part of your garden where the soil drains easily and there is a lot of sunlight.

Once the plants start to grow, cut off the flower stems as they form and make sure the area around the plants is well weeded. Mint grows aggressively so you may want to plant it in pots that can then be placed around your garden to protect other plants.

Onions are an excellent choice for planting in your garden if you want to repel aphids, carrot flies and larger pests like rabbits.

Onions are easy to grow from bulbs and are usually planted in spring for harvesting during the summer and into the autumn. Coriander is grown for its tangy leaves and aromatic seeds. The great news is that coriander also has pest control properties.

It helps to repel aphids from your garden and protects other plants as a result. Tansy is a plant that produces bright yellow blooms. It also has a strong scent that deters ants. Plus, this plant is hardy, frost resistant and easy to grow.

The area should also have plenty of sunlight. And they aid sustainability in other ways too. Keep scrolling for more insights. Other Sustainable Benefits of Garden Plants. At Blooming Haus, sustainability is at the centre of everything we do.

Kaolin clay is a mineral used as a barrier to repel insects and disguise host plants by coating them with a white clay-dust film. Insects seem unable to recognize plants treated with kaolin.

Kaolin is used against cucumber beetles, Colorado potato beetles tarnished plant bugs leafhoppers, thrips, and Japanese beetles. Kaolin is a barrier preventative; it is not effective once a pest is already established.

Kaolin is mixed with spreaders and stickers and then applied to plants. The kaolin barrier created by the particle film also protects the treated plant surfaces from diseases. Kaolin is generally regarded as safe for humans. There are beneficial nematodes and pest nematodes.

Beneficial nematodes attack cutworms, root weevils, corn and stem borers, squash vine borers, and some pest root nematodes. Beneficial nematodes enter insects through their natural body openings. Once inside, they release a bacterium that paralyzes and kills the insect.

The nematodes then feed on the tissue of the insect carcass and also eat the bacteria. Three beneficial nematodes are Steinernema carpocapsae which attacks cutworms, armyworms, corn rootworms, and fire ants; Steinernema fetiae which attacks root-knot nematodes, ring nematodes, and string nematodes; Heterorhabditis bacteriophora which attacks cabbage root maggots, Colorado potato beetle larvae, white grubs, and root weevils.

Beneficial nematodes come packaged in a gel, in a power, or mixed with peat and vermiculite. They are commonly mixed with water before being applied with a watering can or sprayer to the soil or plants, or injected into plant stems by syringe.

Neem is an insecticide derived from seeds of the neem tree Azadirachta indica. The active ingredient is azdirachtin. Neem is used to control a wide variety of insects including leafminers, whiteflies, thrips, caterpillars, aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, scale crawlers, and beetles.

Neem oil is most effective against actively growing immature insects; it kills by suffocating the insect, the same as horticultural oil spray but with the addition of some insecticidal properties. Most neem oil products are available as concentrates made to dilute with water in a sprayer, but some are available as ready-to-spray.

Horticultural oils—also called insecticidal oils are plant-based organic or petroleum-derived not for organic gardens insecticides.

Organic insecticidal oils are made from oilseed crops such as soybean, rapeseed canola , or cottonseed. Horticultural oils are effective at killing insect eggs and immature insects, notably small soft-bodied pests such as whiteflies and aphids.

Insecticidal oils are usually applied with an emulsifier and mixed with water. Horticultural oils are nonselective, meaning they kill both pests and susceptible beneficial insects. The oil works by smothering the insects or their eggs or disrupting the way they feed. The insect must be thoroughly coated with the oil in order for it to work.

Once the oil dries on a plant it will have no effect on insects. Horticultural oils also control powdery mildew and the spread of plant viruses transmitted by aphids. There are both heavy and light horticultural oils. Heavy oils are applied to deciduous trees and shrubs during the winter months.

Light oil formulations—called summer, superior, or supreme oils—can be sprayed on plants with foliage. Pheromones are natural chemical attractants produced by insects that can be used by humans to bait insect traps.

Pheromone traps are used to attract and catch large numbers of specific insects to reduce future reproduction and generations.

A pheromone is a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an insect or an animal that affects the behavior or physiology of others of its species; it can arouse sexual interest or act to call others together.

Pyrethrin and pyrethrum are often used interchangeably to refer to an insecticide made from a species of chrysanthemum flower Chrysanthemum coccineum. The word pyrethrum is the name used for both the flower and the dust extracted from the flower. The term pyrethrin refers to the insecticidal compounds that are extracted from pyrethrum.

Pyrethrin is a contact insecticide; it must come in contact directly with an insect to be effective. Pyrethrin paralyzes insects almost instantly, but may not kill them. A flying insect will drop immediately when hit with pyrethrin.

Pyrethrins are often formulated with another poison to ensure that paralyzed insects die. Pyrethrin controls pests including aphids, beetles, moth larvae, mealybugs, thrips, flies, and mosquitoes.

Pyrethrin is non-toxic to most mammals, making it among the safest insecticides in use. It is the most widely used botanical insecticide used in the United States.

Pyrethroids are synthetic insecticides designed to imitate natural pyrethrum; they are not natural or organic. Rotenone is an insecticide derived from the ground-up roots of some plants in the bean family. The roots are ground into dust and used to poison potato beetles, cucumber beetles, flea beetles, asparagus beetles, cabbage worms, weevils, slugs, loopers, mosquitoes, thrips, and flies.

Rotenone is both a contact and stomach poison but it is slow-acting taking several days to kill an insect though the insect will stop feeding almost immediately after ingesting rotenone. In warm weather, the residual effect of rotenone lasts just a few days. It is non-toxic to honey bees. Rotenone-containing plants have been used for centuries by native peoples to disable fish— rotenone interferes with cellular respiration; fish exposed to rotenone gulp for air and rise to the surface where they are more easily caught.

Rotenone is moderately toxic to mammals, and highly toxic to fish and aquatic life. Sabadilla is an insecticide derived from the ground seeds of the sabadilla plant, Schoenocaulon officinale.

Sabadilla is both a contact and stomach poison; it is used to control caterpillars, leafhoppers, squash bugs, harlequin bugs, stink bugs, Mexican bean beetles, and citrus thrips. Sabadilla causes the loss of nerve function, paralysis, and death; some insects are killed immediately others will be paralyzed for several days before dying.

The active ingredient in sabadilla is an alkaloid known as veratrine. Wear a mask when applying sabadilla; it can cause lung and nose irritation and severe headaches. Little, if any, of the residue is left after the application of sabadilla because it breaks down rapidly in sunlight.

Soaps or insecticidal soaps damage the protective coat of soft-bodied insects such as aphids, leafhoppers, and spider mites causing them to dehydrate.

Some larger insects, such as Japanese beetles, are also susceptible. Soaps act on contact so they must be applied directly to the target insect pest to work. Some insects may die within a few minutes of exposure. The residual effect is lessened when the soap dries rapidly which can happen in warm weather.

Soaps are sometimes combined with other insecticides such as pyrethrin to increase their effectiveness. Dilute solutions of liquid dishwashing detergents can be used as soap insecticides, but it is important to test the spray on a leaf or two first to make sure plants are not accidentally injured.

Spinosad is an insecticide derived from chemical compounds found in the soil-dwelling bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinose. Spinosad controls dozens of insect pests including caterpillars, loopers, leafminers, bagworms, borers, beetles, spider mites, thrips, spider mites, ants, fruit flies, and mosquitoes.

Spinosad is primarily a stomach poison. It causes insects to stop eating immediately; the insects usually die within two days. It is most effective against insect larvae. Spinosad is active for five to seven days, but once dry it only kills insects that ingest it.

If sprayed in the evening, spinosad is less likely to harm beneficial insects. Spinosad is a relatively new pesticide; it was discovered in in an old Caribbean rum still. Insecticidal soaps kill soft-bodied pests including mites, aphids, immature scales, psyllids, thrips, and whiteflies.

Soaps also kill the eggs and larvae of many pests. Soaps are contact insecticides; they must be sprayed wet directly on the insect pest to be effective. To treat a severe pest infestation, spray a plant or crop every 2 or 3 days for two weeks.

Once the soap spray dries, it has no residual insecticidal effect. Insecticidal soaps are not toxic to people, pets, or wildlife, but it is best not to inhale soap spray or get it in your eyes.

Insecticidal soaps are made from potassium salts of fatty acids, also called soap salts. You can buy insecticidal soaps at garden centers or nurseries or you can make your own.

Make insecticidal soap by adding 2 tablespoons of vegetable-oil-based liquid soap such as castile soap to 1 gallon of water. Do not use laundry detergent or liquid dish soap. Soaps are made with olive oils and vegetable oils—renewable resources.

Detergents are made from petroleum-based oils and nonrenewable resources. Use a soap with no additives or perfumes which may harm plants. Apply insecticidal soap with a spray bottle. Spray directly on insect pests.

Spray the tops and undersides of leaves where pests lay eggs and hide and all growing points of plants—tender tissue that insect pests feed on. Insecticidal soaps kill by damaging the outer cell membranes or coating of the insect causing dehydration and paralysis.

All soft-bodied insects sprayed with soap will be harmed or killed including beneficial insects, so be careful to spray only the insects you want to kill.

Before spraying an entire plant or crop, test spray a leaf or two on one plant from a crop then wait a day or two to make sure the soap does not damage the plant. Some very tender plant leaves may be burnt by soap sprays. Some plants will deter insects in the vegetable garden.

This is one form of companion planting. Companion planting—growing plants singly or together—to repel insects, fight disease, or enhance the growth of another plant is a technique that many gardeners have used for generations.

For example, some aromatic compounds may mask the scent of companion plants: the aroma of garlic will chase away bean beetles and potato bugs. And the color of some plants will confuse some insect pests and send them on their way before they can do any harm.

One way to get started with companion planting is to draw on the science and wisdom of gardeners. Try some of these combinations and draw your own conclusions based on your observations and planting successes. Keep a record of what works and let others know.

The companion plantings in this chart are aimed at deterring pests from the garden. Note that there are also companion plantings that will attract beneficial insects to your garden. These pests live underground or feed at night; they are not commonly visible: cutworms, grubs, root maggots, and wireworms.

Most chewing pests feed on the outside of a plant: ants, asparagus beetles, Mexican bean beetles, blister beetles, cucumber beetles, flea beetles, potato beetles, squash vine borers, cabbage loopers, cabbage worms, corn earworms, grasshoppers. hornworms, parsley caterpillars, leaf miners, slugs and snails.

These controls include the biological insecticides rotenone, sabadilla, and pyrethrum; these are organic controls but they are poisons that can affect other life forms other than the target pests. Vegetable Garden Organic Weed Control.

Vegetable Garden Organic Pest Control. Vegetable Garden Diseases Problem Solver. Stephen Albert is a horticulturist, master gardener, and certified nurseryman who has taught at the University of California for more than 25 years.

He holds graduate degrees from the University of California and the University of Iowa. com has more than 10 million visitors each year. Get the best gardening tips straight into your inbox! Email Address:. Join our gardening family to receive the latest tips.

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