Before we even start talking about pests , permit ’s be exculpated : Most bugs are dependable hemipterous insect , and trying to keep your vegetable garden microbe - free is not only an example in futility , it ’s not good for the food you are going to deplete or the planet . One way to keep destructive pest at bay is to plant aboriginal plants that draw good dirt ball nearby . We ’ll cover that in another web log post , and you may learn about aboriginal plants to choose in the Northern Natives column in each issue ofNorthern Gardener .
Here are four pest most likely to be take care in northerly veggie garden .
Colorado Potato Beetle . Colorado potato beetlesspend the winter in gardens and potato fields , emerging in May , about the same time as spud . The adults married person and females can lay up to 350 eggs on the leaves of a potato plant . When larvae emerge , both adults and larvae eat the leaf , which can really carry off industrial plant . Once they get through the Solanum tuberosum , they move to tomatoes , peppers and other members of the nightshade category . For home gardeners , the honest control is to police your potato patch on a regular basis , picking the adults and either slop them or dropping them in a bucket of water and looking for the distinctive orangeness - yellow egg masses on the backsides of the leaf . When you see those masses , smoosh them . That should do a lot to reduce the population .
USDA photo
cutworm . There are severalspecies of cutwormsthat bother northern home gardeners . Most cutworm damage occurs in outflow when the worms , which are larvae of moths , slice through the stem of transplanted vegetables . A sure sign of cutworms is the neat cut at the al-Qaida of the plant , with the seedling toppled over beside it . If cutworms are a problem , essay using cutworm collars made of composition board roll , such as throne paper roll . You station the rolls around the shank , a few inches below and above ground , effectively blocking the worms from getting at your plant . Here ’s avideoshowing how to employ cutup drainage tube in a similar fashion .
Squash Vine Borers . Squash vine borersare the larvae of another eccentric of moth , the clearwing . They are a problem for a relatively short period of time of time each summertime , but they can wrack havoc in the vegetable garden during those hebdomad . The adults emerge from the flat coat in later June or early July and lie bollock at the base of susceptible plants , normally summer squash , wintertime squash and pumpkins . The eggs hatch and burrow into the stems and vines of the flora , essentially eating their way through the vine , and killing the plant from the inside . Once they are done feeding , the drop into the ground , make a cocoon and stay there until the next summer . They can be baffling to curb and your best strategy may be to plant vine craw that the borers do n’t care , such as butternut squash , cucumbers and melon . you may also cover your plants with row screen when the clearwings are flying around , though you want to remove the book binding after the plants have bloom to give bee access to the plant for pollenation . Finally , some gardeners await until mid - July to plant out their squash . depend on the variety , you likely will still get a crop and the borer are safely underground at that point .
Tomato Hornworm . These may not be super common , but I ’m including them for two ground . 1 ) I have a very coolheaded photo of one . 2 ) When you have tomato plant hornworm , your tomato plants can be destroyed in day . Hornworms get their name because of the stingerlike horn protruding from their back end and they are the caterpillar ofsphinx moth . They feed only on member of the Solanaceae or nightshade menage . love apple , peppers , spud and eggplants are the most renowned vegetable members of the nightshade family , which also includes petunias , tobacco plant , tomatillos and Datura , among others . Hornworms are about the size of it of your pinky , but because of their color , they are very difficult to see on industrial plant . If you see defoliation on the top of your tomato plants , channelize to the garden correctly away and look for hornworms . If you get hold one , rationalize it in one-half . ( Gross , but effective , and whole constituent . ) There probably are not very many hornworms there — but get rid of them if you need tomatoes . This picture has more selective information on hornworm and on a parasitical wasp that feeds off hornworms and is a good insect in the garden .
Cutworm and its handiwork
This Wiley Post is getting very long , but let me close with three resources vegetable nurseryman can plow to when bothered by plague . First , the University of Minnesota has a greatwebsite on garden insectsand a very helpful symptomatic page , What Insect is This?you could also check out out this book , Garden Insects of North America : The Ultimate Backyard Guideby Whitney Cranshaw ( Princeton University Press , 2004 )
— Mary Lahr Schier
Borer inside vine
Can you spot the hornworm? They are good at hiding.
