When you see some bugs chewing on your veggies in the garden, don’t panic. Before you invest in pesticides, consider beneficial insects — the “good bugs”.

There are many different beneficial bugs, such as lacewing flies, lady bugs, ground beetles, syrphid flies, trichogramma wasps, etc.

These good bugs prey on a variety of common pest insects, including aphids, spider mites, sweet corn earworms, cutworms, grasshopper eggs, cabbageworms, etc, etc.

Many of the good bugs do their pest control work while they are larvae rather than in adult form, when they feed mostly on nectar and pollen from flowers.

To attract beneficial insects to your garden, plant flowers and plants that provide shelter and food to them.

Plants that provide a suitable environment for good bugs include, but not limited to, Alyssum, Marigolds, Clover, Coriander, Fennel, Yarrow, etc.

You can purchase many of the beneficial insects from nurseries or catalogues. But you will still want to provide them with the right plants for them to stay and establish in your garden.

Read more, check out this website as well as this one.

Also see “Organic Pest Control (1) — Poultry”.