Natural Insect Control

A list of ways to handle the bugs in your life...

http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html

for example...
"Opal basil and marigolds may repel hornworms.
Pop goes the hornworm. Sprinkle cornmeal around plants. They cannot digest it and explode.
If you can find the Peron tomato it is said to be immune to hornworms! "
"Leafminer predators: Chickadee, robin, purple finch, ladybugs and lacewings."
Fungus gnats:"Probably the best trap ever for these annoying bugs is to put out small containers filled halfway with cider vinegar in areas where you are having problems with them. They dive into the vinegar and drown. Strain and reuse the vinegar until you have gained control of them."
Flea Beatles(my most hated enemy):"Adults are tiny at 1/10 of an inch and hop like a flea. They have a brown or black body (some with yellow stripes.) They lay eggs in the soil with 1-2 generations per year. Adults overwinter in garden debris. They will not eat in wet weather and hide.
Predators: Toads, which eat all stages of the bug as will chickadees, vireos, purple finches. Ground beetles and parasitic wasps will hunt them.
Repellent plants: Candytuft, catnip, garlic, mints, shepherd's purse, tansy and wormwood.

Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth as a barrier around plants or dust the whole plant with it.
Make sprays out of any of the repellent plants. Use white or yellow sticky traps.
Make a barrier of lime or coffee grounds around vulnerable plants.
Plant radishes or pak choi as trap crops. Stretch pantyhose over young cabbages. Tie top and bottom.
Use a mulch of chopped clover. Hot pepper or garlic sprays can help.
Scatter chopped and bruised leaves of tomato, mint, catnip, wormwood, bergamot or elderberry on and around plants the beetles like.
Wave strips of fly paper over plants. This disturbs the flea beetles, making them jump and get snared on the paper. This works extremely well! "

Earwigs:"Earwigs in general can be considered an ally in the garden as they will eat aphids and other pests at night as they are nocturnal. One truly good function of the insect is they eat the eggs of the codling moth which is a serious problem with apple trees. When you have an over population of earwigs they can become a nuisance and generally feed on your marigolds and they really go for clematis vines, dahlias, delphiniums, pansies and chrysanthemums. They cause the most trouble June through October.

One possible control in dealing with earwigs is to mix insecticide soap with isopropyl alcohol and spray the infested area every two to three days for two weeks. To make this spray add 1 tablespoon of the alcohol to each quart of insecticide soap.
Another method is to trap earwigs in pieces of old hose or rolled up newspapers. Check these during day and shake the insects into a bucket of soapy water.
A very successful method to get rid of earwigs is to take a shallow, straight-sided container and fill it half full with vegetable oil. Clean out the bodies every day and you may reuse the oil as often as you like. We have found that this works particularly well in a greenhouse situation. "

Borers:"Borers are terribly destructive insects and there are many kinds that can attack trees and shrubs. It our intention to speak generally about borer control and not get into each specific bug. Of all the borers they either turn into moths or beetles and include: ash borer, willow borer, peach tree borer, peach twig borer, maple borer, azalea stem borer, bronze birch borer, white pine shoot borer, lilac borer etc. The first signs we see from borers are usually a small hole in a tree that is either leaking sap or has frass extruding from the hole. Frass is the term for the brown, sticky sawdust substance that comes out of the borer holes. Plants that have been attacked by borers are more vulnerable to disease. Adversely plants that are diseased are also more prone to borer damage. We must remember that insects are scavengers, if something is ailing they will take advantage.

Female borers are out in the summer looking for trees to lay their eggs on. In Northern areas this is generally in July, for Southern areas usually August and September. They like to lay their eggs on tree trunks a few inches below the soil line, at the soil line and to about a foot above the soil line. Some species, such as the lesser peach tree borer will lay their eggs in crotches or damaged areas of the upper tree limbs. Borers produce one generation per year. All these areas need to be monitored as the sooner you intervene the better success your treatment will have. The larva hatch and as soon as cooler weather arrives they go into a rest period for the summer. The following season as soon as the weather warms up they are ready to feed and do their damage.

The larva do their damage when tunneling underneath the bark. If their tunnel makes a complete circle around the tree through the cambium layer it will kill the tree. Peach tree borers will also attack apricot, cherry, nectarine and plum trees.

Take some stiff wire and work it into the hole to kill them.
Make a solution of Diatomaceous Earth and inject it into the hole or, even better, inject a solution of Bacillus Thuringiensis v. Kurstaki (a biological control) into the hole. Beneficial nematodes can also be injected into borer holes. You can get veterinary syringes at farm supply stores to use for injecting the holes. When done use some plumbers putty or some floral clay to seal the hole. You can also use the frass to seal up the hole.
Encourage natural predators in the area like birds.
Carefully clean any loose or dead bark from the tree particularly a few inches below the soil line, at soil line and a few inches above the soil line. Keep an eye on the upper tree portion also looking for loose bark, dead limbs etc. These places are where the female borers look to lay their eggs in summer.
Use specific pheromone lures, which will confuse the males and keep them from mating with the females.
Planting garlic around the base of trees is said to repel borers. Try it but don’t rely on it.
Be sure to remove winter or other wise damaged limbs from your trees. When pruning don’t tear or strip bark when you cut and please make proper cuts. Your trees will appreciate it.
This method is not organic but we list it for your information. You use camphor crystals or balls to kill and repel them. Using the right amount per tree is critical as too much can damage the tree. You want to spread them in a circle around the base of the tree on top of the soil about 1 inch away from the trunk. Place some dirt on the camphor to make a mound. This mound will keep the vapors from the camphor contained around the trunk where you want them. The amount to use correlates with the age of the tree. For trees less than 3 years use ½ of an ounce. Trees that are 3-6 years old use ¾ of an ounce. Older trees require 1 ounce. Use this method with caution if you have small children and pets that like to dig.
Your best defense against borers is to keep your trees and shrubs healthy with proper fertilizing, watering and pruning. To keep your plants healthy try our Golden Harvest Natural Fertilizer and C-Spray for foliar fertilizing and root soaks. Our HumAcid is also very beneficial when used on the soil around trees and may be used as a foliar treatment too in conjunction with fertilizing.
Sanitation is important- get rid leaves, branches etc. that might harbor eggs over winter.
Other than that keeping your trees healthy and well fertilized is your best defense against borers. For now follow the above suggestions and keep monitoring your trees for any new holes. "

And much more! (Of course, they sell organic products too, but I thought it was nice of them to tell us how ELSE to do it)

Thanks for that link... lots of good info on that site and others linked to it.