Insect Pest Treatment Strategies
Please use chemical controls only as a last resort!
|
Insect Pest |
Cultural Controls |
Mechanical Controls |
Biological Controls |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ants |
Keep indoor surfaces clean. |
Seal entrances into your home. Pour boiling or soapy water down holes or on ants. Apply diatomaceous earth in active areas. |
|
|
Aphids |
Do not over-fertilize plants. |
Apply soap wash to aphid- infested areas. Pull heavily infested plants. |
Apply ladybugs around infested plant. |
|
Boxelder Bugs |
|
Control nymphs with a soap wash. Clean up leaf debris to control over-wintering adults. |
|
|
Cabbage Loopers |
|
Plant dill with cabbage. |
Spray with Bacillus Thurigensis (BT). |
|
Cockroaches |
Eliminate clutter. Keep areas clean. |
Seal up cracks. Apply diatomaceous earth in active areas. |
|
|
Elm Leaf Beetles |
|
|
Larvae can be controlled with a new strain of beetle BT. |
|
Flies |
Compost food waste outside. Seal up garbage and dispose of regularly. |
Install, fix or replace screens to keep out flies. Use a fly swatter. |
|
|
Mites |
Do not over-fertilize plants. |
Wash plants with soap and water. Apply 1:4 dilution of rubbing alcohol and water. |
Apply predatory mites.
|
|
Mosquitoes
|
Stay inside during times when mosquitoes are especially active. |
Eliminate standing water. Use screens on doors and windows.
|
Attract birds (such as swallows) and bats to you yard that feed on mosquitoes or put BT cakes in ponds and bird baths. |
|
Potato Beetles |
|
Plant beans near potatoes. |
|
|
Scale |
|
Scale Gently scrub scales off plant with a stiff brush or scrub pad. Apply a 1:4 dilution of rubbing alcohol and water to plant and soil. Spray with dormant oil to suffocate larvae. |
|
|
Slugs |
|
Apply diatomaceous earth in active areas. |
|