Trap Cropping To Control Pests In Your Garden
by John Yazo
Trap cropping is a practice that can be very beneficial to organic garden, and is a natural method of pest control. It is the planting of a crop to protect a main crop from a certain pest or a variety of pests. These trap crops can be from the same or different family as the main crop being protected. There are two ways that a trap crop can be planted, perimeter, or as an inter-crop.
Trap crops are also called sacrificial crops. It is the planting of a specific crop or group of crops to attract pests away from your garden, and there are several factors that need to be considered before planting, like insect preference, timing, plant layout and beneficial insects.
Plant layout is very important, all insects don't have the same needs. Some can be attracted to a border planting, and others are easier controlled with inter-plantings to attract them off the main crop you are trying to protect. The amount of plantings that will be required to control the pest problem will depend on the insect you are trying to deter.
Choosing the proper plantings will require observation of what the pest are attracted too, along with experimenting of your own. If a plant isn't attractive to the pest you are attempting to control, it wont be of any use. Watch closely what is going on throughout you yard and garden, and experiment with a variety of different plantings to see what will work best in your area.
Timing is another major factor in being successful with trap cropping. Most insects only invade a crop at a specific time of the season. It is very important that trap crops are planted, and well established before they arrive.
Beneficial insects are a great companion with trap cropping. Companion planting flowers that attract friendly insects, like ladybugs and lacewings, to feed on the pests that are causing damage to your garden can be very beneficial and a great way to add plant diversity to your garden.
Beneficial insects are an essential component of a healthy ecosystem. Planting native plants will create a habitat to attract a variety of natural pollinators and predators that will greatly benefit your garden, and landscape. Almost every plant will sustain some type of damage from pests, it is just part of the natural balance in an ecosystem. But in a natural ecosystem pests don't over populate due to the presence of natural predators. In a healthy yard that is pesticide free and landscaped with native plants, pest will be attracted, and so will their natural predators.
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