Lesson 3: Disease And Pest Control
High Nitrogen Fertilizing
A very common and little understood cause of pest break out, particularly in the Spring, is the use of high nitrogen fertilizers. These potent greening agents act like a siren song to pests, begging them to come chomp on your plants. One solution is to use the slower releasing organic fertilizers, such as liquid fish emulsion or kelp, cottonseed meal, or a good granular organic feed. Besides making your garden less attractive to pests, they are much easier on your plants, providing a gentler greening, and much less overall stress. Roses, in particular, are extremely vulnerable to this nitrogen/insect interaction.
It is important to realize that nitrogen is a greening agent, and has little real impact on blooming or fruit production. You should also remember that the fast and furious flush of high nitrogen feeding can actually place enormous stress on young developing plants. Do chemical fertilizers have their place in the garden? Yes, they are valuable tools when you use them correctly. The systemic fertilizers in particular are great time savers for those of us too busy to use the slower organic feeds.
However, I do not personally like the combination time release feed/insecticides. Since I’m a strong proponent of organic gardening, I believe the insecticides these fertilizers contain are much too damaging to the garden environment. It is much better to use the straight time release fertilizers and seek organic controls for the pests.
All of these ideas will cut down on the use of chemical pesticides, making your garden a welcome place for birds, bees, and butterflies to visit. Understanding the why’s of insect behavior gives us a perspective on healthier ways to handle the problem, without harming the earth.
This is a handy site with an interesting range of organic feeds: http://www.fertiplus.co.uk/products/fert...
