Insects That Will Set You Free

Gardening: Insects That Will Set You Free

If you want to use natural predators to fight destructive bugs, here's a rundown of friendly enforcers and the garden pests that they can help control.

Assassin bugs: Aphids, caterpillars, Colorado potato beetles, Japanese beetles, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles.

Encarsia formosa: Whiteflies.

Fireflies: Mites, snails, slugs.

Green lacewings: Aphids, corn carworms, leafhoppers, mealybugs, mites, nymphs, scales, thrips, whiteflies.

Ladybugs: Aphids, chinch bugs, rootworms, scales, spider mites, weevils, whiteflies.

Minute pirate bugs: Aphids, spider, mites, thrips, whiteflies.

Praying mantis: Aphids, beetles, caterpillars, flies, leafhoppers.

Robber, syrphid and tachinid flies: Aphids, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, Japanese beetles, leafhoppers, mealybugs, scales, many varieties of caterpillar.

Spiders: Almost all kinds of insects (be careful of poisonous species).

Wasps: (Braconid Chalcid, Ichneumon and Trichogramma). Armyworms, cabbage loopers, corn borers, cutworms, hornworms, fruitworms, harmful butterflies, and moths.

Fertilizers help grow your garden. Picture by Elena.

The Organic Alternatives

Organic fertilizers are substances derived from plants, animals, or minerals. They contain essential elements for plant growth. In contrast to synthetic fertilizers, they occur naturally, which means they may be physically processed but are never chemically altered or mixed with synthetic materials. To ensure effective use, consult these application guidelines from the American Horticultural Society, adjusting them when necessary to take into account soil conditions and the type of plants being raised:

Fertilizer – Application Rate per 1,000 sq.ft - Uses

• Alfalfa meal – 40-50 lb, 4 appl./yr – A green manure. Breaks down easily to provide nitrogen.
• Blood meal – 10-30 lbs, 1 appl./yr – Readily available nitrogen; speeds decomposition of compost.
• Bone meal 10-20 lbs, 1 appl./yr – Excellent sources of phosphorus; raises pH. Good for fruits, bulbs, flowers.
• Cattle manure 30 lb – Valuable soil additive. If fresh, will burn.
• Compost – 2-inch depth, 1 appl./yr – Valuable source of trace elements such as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganses, sulfur, zinc.
• Cottonseed meal 2-30 lbs, 1 appl./yr – Acidifies soil: lasts 4-6 months.
• Fish emlusion 2 oz per gal.water (2-3 spray appl./yr) – A goof foliar spray, or liquid fertilizer, for early spring.
• Fish meal 20 lbs (1-2 appl./yr) – Readily available nitrogen; speeds decomposition of compost.
• Seaweed – 1 oz per gal.water – Contains natural growth hormones.
• Sul-Po-Mag 20 lbs, 1 appl./yr – High in potash. Recommended for plants suffering iron chlorosis.

Converting Fertilizer Rates

Fertilizers often are labeled with big-time planters in mind, but if your are planting only a small corner of your backyard, it's easy to convert the application rates. Gardening experts say it's better to measure by volume than by weight when you are dealing with small quantities of fertilizer. You can convert rates assuming that two cups of fertilizer weigh about a pound – the standard weight of most commercially available fertilizers.