Insects (an integrated approach)

 Insects are all over your garden, what to do. First off, enjoy nature. Insects are a link between plants and the world around them. Insects do little damage in a healthy ecosystem. Insect problems are an indication of an imbalance. Around 97% of all insects are beneficial. Most of them feed on other insects, like the argiope spider on the right.  So when you spray insecticides you are killing more beneficial insects then those that do damage. Insecticides do not work long term. They simply breed resistance. For instance, if you spray a poison on insects you may kill say 85% of all of them. There are members that have superior genes that make them resistant to the spray. The next time you spray you only kill 70%, then 50%. Eventually all you have left are the ones that are resistant to the poison. You have bred a resistant strain. Now you must go to a stronger poison and start the process all over. In the end you have accomplished very little and may end up with organ cancer. I choose to encourage habitats that attract beneficial insects. I also use Organic IPM practices. Integrated Pest Management involves understanding the insect cycles and working with them to curb their growth by emulating what nature does. I grow around 30 varieties of cut flowers. I integrate them into the beds next to the ones with food. Some of the flowers attract beneficial insects that feed on the harmful ones. One example is that I grow Borage around tomato plants. The Borage is a host plant for Braconid wasp. This wasp pictured below will sting the tomato horn worm planting eggs inside. The immature wasp will feed on the inside of the caterpillar. What you see in the picture are pupae ready to hatch out of the almost dead horn worm . Do not disturb them. Some birds are useful for eating lots of insects as well. Monitoring your garden or farm for insect populations is a useful tool for evaluating who is around.
Take a piece of plastic and paint it yellow.
Apply tanglefoot on one side and hang it.
This can be done during each season to
 see who is there. Using a net is another
 device to collect insects. To identify the
insects go to; www.insectidentification.org  Cohabitating with your environment teaches you how to become a better steward of the land. More information can be found in my book: Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming, published by Rowman and Littlefield., available on Amazon books.

The video below shows Golden Rod (solidago altissima). This is a wonderful plant to attract a wide range of beneficial insects. It also provides necessary bee food for the fall. The diversity of plants helps create a balanced ecosystem. The healthy garden is manifested by practicing good stewardship practices.