What is the most difficult pest you deal with in your garden?

I just defeated the potato bugs with peppermint oil, but it doesn't seem to work on the Japanese Beetles.

Japanese beetles and earwigs. What is the best way to get rid of the beetles?

Squash bugs. They have gotten a foot hold in my garden, I've lost a pumpkin plant and 3/4 of my zucchini plants. I've picked the eggs (bottom of the leaves) and sprayed all that I have seen with soapy water (which kills them). All that and they still are winning the battle. I spotted a couple on my cukes as well. Last year I only got one cuke before they killed the plants.

I am battling some ants which are killing my Chia plants by stealing the top leaves from the plants which are over my head now. They have ruined over a third of my test plot. I have tried Diatomaceous Earth, which only slows them a bit, Terro from Home Depot, which is sugar and borax. The Terro is supposed to be weak enough so that it doesn't kill them until they carry the syrup back to the colony, but it kills them right there. I have dug around to try to find the queen, but only find all the grubs they are also saving. I have seen them gang up on a June bug to drag it to their nest! I will save some of them today in a plastic baggy and freeze them, to identify what ants they are. If anyone has organic suggestions, please let me know.

Big pest and little pest

veggiegardener said:

What is the most difficult pest you deal with in your garden? I know this will vary by region, but I'd like to hear what people are having the most trouble with.

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My big pest is blacktail deer, but I have solved that by tying my labrador retreiver on a run cable next to my garden. My little pest is cucumber beetles,, and I am still researching a solution for permantly ending their appetites.

Japanese Beetles.... I hate them. I sprayed my whole yard with a product by Bayer that I bought at Stein's and put out a bag and that seemed to help.

had to put the chickens back on lock down they where getting a little over kill on my beet greens. plus I planted my second crop of peas for this year.

The best way that I have found to take care of squash bugs is to plant marigolds among the squash. They attract the right type of bugs that kill squash bug eggs and eat on the squash bugs. I have not had a problem with them at all since doing this. I have had an abundance of zucchini's every time. Try it!

Woodworker said:

Squash bugs. They have gotten a foot hold in my garden, I've lost a pumpkin plant and 3/4 of my zucchini plants. I've picked the eggs (bottom of the leaves) and sprayed all that I have seen with soapy water (which kills them). All that and they still are winning the battle. I spotted a couple on my cukes as well. Last year I only got one cuke before they killed the plants.

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ok so I caught bamby and her sister pulling up my carrots this morning. ordering a motion sensitive sprinkler for the garden now. Had to yell at hubby to scare the deer out of the garden, they are not fearful of us I can walk to with in 10 feet of any deer that comes on the property. I don't feed them they tend to steal food from the horses, donkeys,barn and my garden.

ingridg said:

I HATE white flies!!! It's almost impossible to get rid of them.

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Use worm castings around the plants. It will take time once infested but it works. It causes a chemical reaction that repels the white flies. Check out the research.Y

squash vine borers kill everything we love. I've injected the stems with BT, cut out the worms, buried the stems with dirt, I think I hve done everything. Next year everything will be covered with row cover, but what about the bugs hatching inside? I want my pumpkins.

nematodes for next years garden should help wonders with any pests that live in the soil. I use them every year and my root crops and plants never suffer from grubs killing them or eating them.

Grasshoppers and mayflies,They annoy you the most than anyone else...

ingridg said:

I HATE white flies!!! It's almost impossible to get rid of them.

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I cannot find any means to get rid of white flies without using harsh chemicals that will effect the food we eat out of the greenhouse. Does anyone have a safe method of getting rid of them. Also aphids. They are a nightmare.

have you put lady bugs and praying mantis in your green house or using a trap crop such as nasturtiums? my nasturtiums took a beating this year with the aphids but kept them off my other crops for the most part. It was a crazy year for aphids and white flies. but adding these things to your green house should help.