Lately my course has been focusing on pests and diseases in nurseries. Appropriate timing in Spring, the warm and damp weather is the perfect breeding ground for many garden pests. I have been dealing with mealy bugs, aphids, leaf miners (pictured below) and spittle bugs in the garden at home. It seems the more I learn, the more pests I find!
I believe it is important to find a more natural solution to pest control before resorting to nasty chemicals. This year I have tried to utilise some companion planting in my vegetable garden. I have planted calendula throughout the garden to attract beneficial insects and marigolds (pictured below) to keep away pests like whitefly and aphids, they are repelled by the scent. I am finding this is working well. I also have a homemade spray that I use on aphids which is effective. I fill a spray bottle with water then add two teaspoons of each- baking soda, vinegar, dishwashing liquid. I only use this if I cannot pinch off all the aphids, because it is damaging to beneficial insects also.
In a nursery situation it is harder to use natural remedies, but it is possible. Bioforce sell a number of beneficial insects for pest control. Biological controls create a healthy eco system and are much safer for the plants. Pesticides can be damaging to plants and unhealthy for the consumer, particularly if it is a consumable plant.
At NMIT we have experimented with two different biological controls. First we released some Hyper-Mite, these feed on fungus gnats which are a huge problem in our nursery. Next we released parasitic wasps, Aphidius colemani which target aphids. The mites were sent in a compost mix that we sprinkled on top of the pots, they are under 1mm so very hard to see! The wasps are bigger at 3-5mm and were visible in the small vile as pictured above. We are yet to see the results of these pest controls. However it seems a lot of nurseries are beginning to adopt a more natural pest control as we realise how bad chemical sprays can be.
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