Most gardeners face pest issues from time to time, with some not being able to identify or salvage the problem. There are many plant-loving insects, but some do more damage than good. We have a few ideas on how to identify and deal with these pests.
Understanding garden pests
For insects to be deemed pests, they need to do significant damage to your plant. Although a lot of insects eat plants, most of them do not cause any particular damage. These pests may not be life-threatening but they may ruin the aesthetic of the plant.
As a gardener, you need to understand that gardens are a complex eco-system with many layers of organisms living in them, hence the existence of pests. Most gardeners know that these leaf-munching insects are not out to kill the plants. You can implement a few management tactics to try and avoid persistent pests.
Image Credit: Unsplash
Methods for identifying garden pests
Identify pests by their physical description
This method helps describe the insect by size, shape, and other physical attributes. It’s a useful method if you are trying to identify which pest is damaging your plant. It gives you an understanding of how it looks and what you need to look out for next time the pests visit your garden.
Identify garden pests by the type of damage
Most of the time, when you notice damage to your plant, the pest is nowhere to be found. This method, however, is easier than it might seem. Many insects have very distinctive feeding patterns and the damage they leave behind is unmistakable and easily noticeable.
When you find a particular type of damage, it helps to narrow down and identify which insect might have caused the damage and how to avoid them.
Identify the pests by their host plant
Usually, a leaf-munching insect pest only munches on a select few species or families of plants. Most pests are known to consume specific species of a host plant, like lettuce, or cabbage.
Matching up the plant species with the pests that commonly feed on it is just another key to unlocking and identifying the pest easily. Some pests have very distinctive damage that makes identifying them easy. For example, the larvae holly leaf pests are known for leaving hole-filled leaves.
Image Credit: Unsplash
Sometimes just one of these methods is all you need for identifying these garden pests. Other times, it may require using a combination of two or three of them. Use these tips to eliminate garden pests for good.
ALSO SEE:
Feature Image: Unsplash
Originally published in Garden&Home magazine.
