Marigolds, sage and rosemary
These plants are known to naturally repel pests. Marigolds, while adding a beautiful pop of colour to your garden, release a smell that keeps flies, mosquitos and aphids away.
While humans may like the smell of rosemary or sage, bugs can’t stand it. Growing the herbs provide a function in the garden, and you can use them to add some flavour to your meals as well.
Beer traps
This one may sound strange, but placing bowls of beer around your garden can help keep slugs from eating your leaves. Slugs are attracted to the yeast in beer, meaning they will be drawn toward your beer bowls instead of your plants.
The slugs will fall in the bowls and drown, keeping your plants safe.
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Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth is a naturally occurring mineral-based pesticide, made from fossilised water plants and siliceous sedimentary mineral compounds. Gardening Know How said the plants are from Earth’s ecosystem dating back to prehistoric times.
It comes in a chalky-like powder, and is made from 3 percent magnesium, 5 percent sodium, 2 percent iron, 19 percent calcium and 33 percent silicon, along with other trace minerals. It can be applied to your plants by dusting it on the top and bottom of the leaves, just be sure to wear a mask.
DIY Pesticide
There are several recipes for DIY pesticides, but most include these ingredients: dish soap, water and vinegar. Grace shares that she also mixes together peppermint oil, putting the solution in a spray bottle and misting it on her plants.
Grow vertically
This isn’t always possible, but growing your plants vertically will keep the fruits or vegetables off the ground. That way, they are less likely to come in contact with pests.
Do this by providing a support like a trellis, or using wire racks to keep plants off the ground.
Harvest often
Once you see a ripe fruit or vegetable, that’s the time to harvest. By continually checking your garden, you won’t leave the produce on the vine for too long, limiting the amount of time for a bug to get to it first.
Ripe fruits and vegetables will attract bugs. Once they feed on the harvest-ready plant, they’ll move on to the unripe plants as well.
