Attract Beneficial Insects for All-natural Pest Control and Greater Yields

March 3rd, 2010Filed under GardeningBeneficial insects kill the damage-causing pests in your garden and provide pollinating power for more flowers and higher yields.  Here’s how to attract them.

Beneficial insects are invaluable in the home garden.  They kill the bad bugs by eating them or parasitizing them, and increase flower production and crop yields by providing the valuable service of pollination.  Luckily, attracting beneficial insects is easy.  Provide a habitat they’ll like, avoid using chemical pesticides and attract and keep them around with all-natural, easy-to-use products.

Good Bugs Abound

Take a close look in your garden, and you may find that you already have a few species of beneficial insects calling your garden home.  These may include lady beetles, green lacewings, hover flies, parasitic wasps and predatory mites.  The predators, such as lady beetles, lacewing larvae and mites, prey on aphids, caterpillars, mealybugs, leafhoppers, whiteflies and insect eggs.  The parasites, such as wasps, defend your garden against tomato hornworm, cabbageworm and tent caterpillars by laying their eggs on or into them.

Providing a proper habitat for beneficial insects is the first step in attracting and retaining them.  Many predators and parasites feed on pollen and nectar, so growing a variety of flowers that bloom at different times will help sustain them throughout the season.  Try planting cosmos, buckwheat, hairy vetch, calendula, marigolds and dill, which are known to attract beneficial insects.

Beneficial insects also need a source of water and protection from heat, rain and predators.  Watering your garden with overhead sprinklers will create puddles and wet leaves for them to drink from.  Growing leafy plants offers protection from the sun, pounding rain and birds and predatory insects.

Avoiding chemical pesticides is also key to providing a healthy habitat for beneficials.  The same chemicals that kill the damage-causing insects in your garden will also kill the good guys, so you’ll want to steer clear of them.

What’s on the Menu?

The menu for beneficial insects changes constantly as the pest population in your garden dwindles and grows again.  To attract and keep beneficial insects in your garden, we recommend these all-natural, easy-to-use products.

When beneficial insects are done feasting on the pests in your garden, they’re likely to leave in search of a new source of food, allowing the pest population to return.  Use Benefeed from Gardens Alive!

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