From an earlier posting, you would have read that our vegetable garden this year was all in pots. I could easily use only organic soils, compost, fertilizer and bug removal. Early on, I observed the leaves of my tomato plants being so large, so green and free from insects. Out of 14 plants, I think I saw about 5 very small worms, that I just picked off the plants. My fertilizers were epsom salts, bone meal and a little bit of fish emulsion. We have never had such beautiful plants loaded with blooms and fruit! (Tomatoes are a type of fruit!)
In today's Houston Chronicle (8/8/10), Urban Harvest has confirmed my observations and expanded the subject to encourage me to include plants in the garden that encourage bugs that eat other pests and discourage disease. Sounds like a great plan to me!
I made a mistake and planted Cilantro this past spring--won't do that again. Urban Harvest suggests planting Cilantro and when it flowers, it will attract adult-beneficial insects. Other options are dill, mint, and Italian flat-leafed parsley. (My parsley is going to seed now. I'll need to start over soon, because it does so well in the winter months.) These plants are called "pest magnets", because when blooming, they attract tiny stingless wasps that lay eggs in the pests, killing them.
Check out the very informative website for Urban Harvest at www.urbanharvest.org.
How do you control pests in your garden and home?