Pests
- Pest: Hornworm Caterpillar – Hornworm caterpillars are a pest. They can get huge while munching on your tomato plants. The best method for control in the home garden is hand picking. Understanding their lifecycle is a good place to start. Read more →
- Beneficial Insect: Syrphid Fly or Hover Fly – These guys are your friends! Adult hover flies resemble small wasps, with a black and yellow or white striped abdomen. They will hover like a hummingbird as they drink nectar from flowers. Hover flies do not sting. They range in size from 1/4” to 1/2” depending on the species. The adults are the pollinators and its the larvae that consume pests. Read more →
- Pest: Cabbage Worm – Cabbage worms are very common on cabbage plants and their relatives. Often times you spot their damage before their camouflaged bodies. Read more →
- Pest: Aphid – Aphids are a common tiny pear-shaped, soft-bodied insect up to 1/8” long. They are usually found in masses feeding on flowers and crops. Read more →
- Pest: Japanese Beetle – Adult Japanese beetles are iridescent green with copper wing covers and are, unfortunately, very common in gardens in mid-summer. Read more →
- Pest: Slugs – Wet weather brings slugs which wreak havoc on your plants close to the ground, especially those that are very moist like lettuce, cabbage, and many other greens. Read more →
- Pest: Flea Beetles – Flea Beetles are tiny little shiny, black beetle that hop away when you approach plants. Read more →
- Geotextiles: Row Cover or Reemay Cloth – In the Northeast, row cover is a farmer’s best friend. Read more to find out how you can benefit from using this geotextile in your home garden. Read more →
- Pest: Leafhopper – If your legume leaves are turning yellow, potato leaves are turning brown or your rose leaves are stippled with white, you might have leafhoppers. Read more →
- Pest: Earwigs – Wet weather bring masses of earwigs which wreak havoc on your plants close to the ground, especially those that have hollow stem or are very moist like lettuce, cabbage, and many other greens. Read more →