Pest And Disease Management

General resources

• NC Plant Disease and Insect Clinic
• Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management

Diagnosis of problems

• What’s Wrong with My Garden? Part 1: How to Manage Common Insect Pests
• What’s Wrong with My Garden? Part 2: Demystifying Common Diseases
• Pest ID:
  • http://www.insectidentification.org/
  • http://www.garden.org/pestlibrary/
  • http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/library/spotid/index.html

Non-toxic pest control info & recipies

• Beneficial Nematodes - Info about the different types and what pests they target. It seems like Heterorhabditis bacteriophora is the best general variety.
• Home Garden Bug Solution - recipe for a garlic/onion spray concentrate:
  • Ingredients
    • 3 heads, not cloves, of garlic - crushed
    • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
    • 1/4 cup mineral oil
    • 2 Tsp pure liquid dish soap - (Dr. Bronner's is best - it is organic) do not use any detergent - it lasts too long and upsets the biological balance of the soil organisms.
    • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
    • 1 Tsp extra hot pepper sauce (Dave's Insanity Sauce is great!)
  • For the Garlic/Onion Extract
    • Add crushed garlic and chopped onion to 1/4 cup mineral oil and let soak for 24 hours.
    • Dissolve liquid dish soap into 1 pint of warm water, stirring well.
    • Slowly soap-dissolved water to mineral oil, stirring well.
    • Strain out solids through fine gauze or cheesecloth, then store in glass container - do not use a metal one as the extract will react with it!
  • For the Bug Solution
    • Add Garlic/Onion extract to apple cider vinegar and hot sauce.
    • Stir well, making sure not to get any on your hands - it will burn!
    • Use a 20:1 dilution ratio as a starting point - 20 parts water to 1 part bug solution. If bugs die rapidly, increase dilution to 30:1 or 40:1 until bugs don't die off as rapidly, then go back one dilution.
  • Notes:
    • It is best to make this fresh as needed, as the oils will work best on the bugs when they are at their peak. Another approach is to use garlic essential oil that has been distilled and is many times more potent than the home-grown extract. If using the essential oil, start with 5 - 10 drops of oil in place of the extract.
    • This is a very powerful solution, so go easy at first - test on a small area before declaring all-out war!
    • This will chase off all bugs that it comes in contact with, so be sure to use sparingly and only on areas that are showing undesirable insects. Once you see a reduction in the insect population or an increase in plant health, reduce the amount and number of times the bug solution is applied.

Info on specific pests

Late Blight of Potato and Tomato

• Late blight of Tomato - NCSU
• Organic Management of Late Blight of Potato and Tomato (Phytophthora infestans)
• Organic Management of Late Blight of Potato and Tomato with Copper Products
• Steps For Managing Late Blight In Organically Produced Tomato And Potato - Cornel U.

Wire Worm

• Wireworms - U. Minn. article covers life cycle and management
• Wireworm Control
• Creating the Wire Worm-Free Garden - several interesting techniques
• Main points:
  • Use traps of potatoes or other mixes (see articles) and track regularly, removing them.
  • Benef. nematodes

Powdery Mildew

• Powdery Mildew discussion on Garden Web - touches upon various remedies
• Preventing and Controlling Powdery Mildew
• Main treatments:
  • Select resistant varieties
  • Remove infected leaves and destroy. Don't put in compost.
  • Water helps but make sure plants will dry off before nightfall.
  • Sprays: neem, sulfur, copper
  • Spraying milk: mix 1 part milk with 9 parts water and spray the stems and tops of leaves with the solution. Reapply after rain.
• Baking soda spray for powdery mildew
  • Spraying leaves with baking soda (1 teaspoon in 1 quart water) raises the pH, creating an inhospitable environment for powdery mildew.
  • Ingredients:
    • 1 gallon of water
    • 1 tablespoon of baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
    • 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid

Miscellaneous

• Sugar ants: ½ teaspoon (or less) of boric acid in 2½ fluid oz. of honey or corn syrup or molasses - heat and stir until the boric acid or borax is dissolved completely - mix in at least 1 - 2 equal parts of water (dilute the bait more if you see dead ants by the bait) then put in small vials or lids or small tin foil "cups" where you have seen ant activity - but safely out of the reach of children, pets and wildlife. Bait until control is achieved.

Japanese Beetle

• Japanese Beetles - Learn how to keep these shiny beetles from skeletonizing your precious plants.
• How to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles
• Japanese Beetles
• Summary points:
  • Pick off by hand and put in soapy water. Keeping numbers low will attract less - they like crowds.
  • Spray with soapy water
  • Neem
  • Apply milky spoor to infect grubs
    • treat grubs in late summer

Squash Bugs

• Squash Bugs and Ways to Deal With Them - They recommend neem oil and guinea hens. They also present the following homemade spray:
  • Ingredients
    • 4 Tsp baking soda (anti fungal properties, also stops powdery mildew type problems)
    • 1 Tsp vegetable oil (smothering agent) Neem oil would work well here. The amount could be doubled.
    • 1 Tsp soap (emulsifier/sticker/smothering agent) Best to use a natural soap such as Dr. Bronner’s and not a detergent that can harm the soil organisms as it sticks around much longer. The peppermint variety seems to work well from Dr. Bronner's.
    • 1 to 2 tbs garlic juice (kills) To make juice: 1 medium bulb (not clove) of garlic blended with 1 to 2 cups of water. Let sit a minimum of 15 minutes and strain.
    • 1 medium onion, made into a juice concentrate as above.
    • 1 Tbs dried cayenne pepper.
  • Instructions
    • Add all ingredients together in a bottle with a screw top and shake well to mix.
    • Add concentrate to a gallon of water and spray liberally. Repeat as often as needed to drive off or kill the squash bugs.