Pests – Page 22 – DougGreensGarden

Water

It really is as simple as knocking pests off plants with a strong jet of water. Knock them to the ground and a wide range of beetles and other predators will feast on them instead of them feasting on your plants.
Why spend the money on sprays that continue to disappoint and get ever more environmentally damaging when a jet of water will take care of the problem? Seems too simple doesn’t it? As in most things, the most elegant solution is often the simplest.
Some of my indoor plants had spider mites this spring and the solution to them is the same thing.
They went outside and now receive regular sprayings of water, particularly on the underside of the leaves where the pests like to hang out. The plants are looking quite good now and if I keep this up, the problem will disappear and the plants will be welcome into the house in the fall again.
Got aphids? A jet spray will knock them off the plants and the predators at soil level will eat them. The predators will not stop to thank you but – well fed – they will breed even more predators.
Weevil

Soap

If you really feel like you have to use something to control these pests, let me suggest insecticidal soap. The soap spray will clean off the protective coating from the insect resulting in a quick death.
Do be careful which plants you spray with soap and if you can keep it off the blossoms, this is a good idea.
Sometimes soap can change blossom colours dramatically and not always for the better. I used soap sprays on the office-bound houseplants to control the spider mite populations before they went outside for the summer.

Can you use household detergents on this instead of insecticidal soap.

My experiments with this say yes, they do kill pests, but you’ll have more plant and flower “burning” and leaf discoloration with the detergent than with the soap.

And you still don’t want to use it on plants like blue spruce.
A 40 parts of water to 1 part of soap is the recommended rate for mixing.
If you want the real thing – rather than using household detergents, you can get insecticidal soapright here.

The Really Easy Organic Pest Control Solution

And finally, the best solution to most pests is the hand of the gardener. A rubber-gloved hand can pick pests (squashing them if you’re brave or dropping them into a detergent water-filled container if you’re a bit squeamish) and eliminate them in the easiest and shortest time.
No messy sprays or noxious chemicals.

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Raccoons can be one of the most devastating pests to invade the water garden (right up there with Herons). There are however a few things you can do to deter this nocturnal pest. Build your pond deeper.
This animal doesn’t swim for their fish food and unless your fish come right up to the edge to be scooped out, a raccoon will not swim in to “harvest” lunch.

So When You Feed Your Fish

Many folks like to hand feed their larger fish and these get used to somebody disturbing the water surface. Usually it’s you wanting to feed the fish.

But the raccoons have figured this out too as they “wash” their hands or disturb the surface as well.

Fish come expecting dinner and they become dinner.

Build fish refuges in the bottom of the pond.

This is as simple as laying a two foot long section of six or eight inch drain pipe on the bottom of the pond for this fish to hide in. Cover this section over with gravel or larger stones so it will not shift and will seem part of the natural bottom of the pond. The fish will learn to hide there quite quickly. Make two – they are cheap to construct.

Get a dog and leave it out at night.

Yeah, I know, not practical in all cases but the picture below pretty much says it all when there’s a dog under the tree.
Just don’t let Fluffy corner a big old raccoon. Fluffy will come out the worst.

When I was a kid, I watched a big German shepherd take on a big raccoon. The fathers couldn’t get the dog to back off and it wouldn’t let them get close enough to collar it. They had to let the fight progress. (Note this is Canada and rifles were just restricted in our area because there were too many houses being built on the road. No hand guns. So the option was to get in the middle of this fight to stop it or let it happen.)
Bottom line. The dog won. Killed the raccoon after what seemed like a long and bloody fight. But the dog then had to undergo extensive vet surgery to repair all the wounds the raccoon inflicted.
Folks, these are wild animals and while they look “cute”, they’re not to be messed with.
Keep control of Fluffy.

Electronics For Controlling Raccoons

Use an electronic scarecrow or pest ultrasonic sound blaster (or both combined). These gizmos are controlled by a motion detector and when it detects motion (you have to remember to turn it off when you go out to the pond) it activates the device. Similar to the driveway light controllers for your house, these motion detectors run either a water sprinkler (excellent for cats) and/or a pest ultrasound device.
The ultrasound devices are common on some overwintered boats where the animal breaks into the boat and lives aboard for the cold months – leaving the interior of the boat a shambles. Be aware that this device will bother dogs and cats as well. It is also recommended that you put it on a timer of some kind as the animal may become used to it if it runs constantly.
If the animal is not bothering your fish but digging up your plants, you’ll find the electronic devices to be your best remedy. Here are a few options for you

Ultrasonic devices are controversial. I had a sailor friend swear by them. If he forgot to turn it on, the raccoons would find a way into his boat and live there for the winter. This prompted a total interior rebuild (they used it as a toilet as well) If he used the sonic, well they didn’t.
I tried them one year on mice in the basement. Mice weren’t bothered.
Your results may vary but don’t bet the farm on them is my .02

Fencing?

There is no fence they can not climb and literally no other deterrent (short of a totally electrified fencing system) that will keep them out of your garden.
You can find other pond articles here. And other pest articles here.

Category: Pests

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