Pest are an important part of every ecosystem, in their own right, they maintain the sensitive balance of nature. To put it quite plainly, they are unavoidable.
However, if they do wander away from their habitat into your garden, it is time to enforce the ‘circle of life rule’ and come out guns blazing, well, chemical warfare if you will.
Vegetable garden image via Flickr
As in every war, the first key to victory is to know your enemy. The following are the pest you should look out for in your garden.
1. Aphids
Aphids are known for their ability to suck plants dry. They are known for their love of plant sap and infest a garden in large numbers.
They appear as white mounds on top of plant leaves or on the stalk. They have been known to cause devastation by drying out crops and vegetables. They are one pest you have to watch out for and avoid.
2. Birds
In gardens, birds are the largest pests, they are known for their good timing; this is when the crop is ready. Some birds come in large numbers and can cause devastation over a large tract of land. Their main advantage is that they are aerial and you never see them coming. For bird control, prevention is the way to go.
3. Snails and slugs
Snails and slugs never occur harmful, that is until you find them in your seedling nursery, with nothing left on the nursery.
They are a major cause of destruction because of their large appetite, when they infest a garden, it is vital to get rid of them immediately they are discovered. Compared to slugs, snails reproduce slowly, this could be because slugs are hermaphrodites and reproduce by themselves.
4. Ants
Ironically, ants are admired for their hard work while in some cases all they do is steal from you. While on their food hunting errands, ants can invade your garden and collect your produce as food. They have an advantage of attacking other pests, such as snails but it is important not to ignore the harm they can cause to your crops.
These pests are to be controlled, and in most cases, eliminated from your garden in order to ensure maximum productivity and profit. In some cases, they can be prevented from invading your farm as in the case of birds, by use of scarecrows and shiny tape, which confuses them.
For the other pests, it is important to identify the best insecticide or pesticide for the job. In case you are unsure of what to use, it is easy to ask your supplier next time you go out to buy your garden supplies.
