Biological pest control is a method that allows you to control pests and diseases with natural predation rather than chemicals. Many organic gardeners believe in biodiversity to further health. A landscape is more sustainable with the more variety it has. Therefore, an organic gardener works to develop a biological pest control system that keeps the insects at a manageable level with a complex system rather than eradicating them.
Biological pest control is a holistic approach that works to develop an understanding of the interaction between the myriads of organisms that make up garden fauna and flora rather than the conventional gardening practices that rely on chemical methods. An organic gardener who is using biological pest control will often consider the eradication of pests impossible and undesirable, since without the insects the beneficial parasites won t be able to survive.
An important part of biological pest control is to become familiar with the life forms that are found in your garden such as predators and pests. Be familiar with the life cycles, feeding patterns and the habitats that the insects prefer. Knowing this information will help you to determine which insects to focus your biological pest control on and which ones will be taken care of naturally.
Types Of Insects
Once main predator of aphids is ladybugs which are active between May and July. They consume mites, scale insects and small caterpillars. Another welcome predator in your garden is the hoverflies which look like slightly darker bees or wasps. These feed primarily on the greenfly, as well as the fruit tree spider mites and small caterpillars. Their egg production relies on adults eating nectar and pollen. Hoverflies can also encourage the growth of attractant flowers during the growing season such as poached egg plant, marigolds and phacelia.
Another important predator of mosquitoes are dragonflies which attack mosquitoes both in the air and in the water. However, mosquito control programs that spray chemicals will often also kill dragonflies which shows how it can affect the biological pest control methods and in the long run increase the population of the mosquitoes.
There are also larger breeds which are important such as cats which focus on keeping the rat, mice and bird populations down as well as dogs which chase away pests such as gophers and rabbits that burrow underground and cause problems in the garden. A specific bred of dog that works for these tunnel pests is Dachshunds which can fit within the tunnels.