Pest controls

At the first sign of pests you may want to start spraying, but biological controls can be more efficient

- Bob

WE used to resort to chemical sprays and fumigation, but now there are natural enemies for most ‘pests’ that we can get to do the work for us. The first is for greenhouse whitefly: these tiny ‘moths’ were found predated by Encarsia formosa, a tiny wasp. Simply release numbers of the wasp and they eat the whitefly!

Similarly, Phytoseiulus is let loose on red spider mites, and there are others for mealy bugs and aphids. Slugs, snails, vine weevils and other soil dwellers are easily controlled by adding microscopic worms called nematodes that soon destroy them. However, many folks seem to forget that these solutions are available, and don’t give them a go.