Organic Pest Control - What Works, What Doesn't? Mother Earth asks her Gardeners

As green gardeners, we always try to find an eco-friendly, non-polluting way to handle the pests that show up in our gardens. We know that any chemicals we apply may find their way into the groundwater and eventually our waterways. And certainly when it comes to growing food we are going to eat, we don't want to apply anything that could add any poisons.

So I was excited to see an article in a recent issue of Mother Earth News Magazine called Organic Pest Control: What Works, What Doesn't.

Last year, Mother Earth News launded an Organic Pest Control Survey, asking readers what works and what doesn't in the eco-friendly battle against the vile villians that infiltrate our vegetable gardens. About 1,300 gardeners from across North America responded, providing new, region-specific insight into organic pest control.

Here are some of the methods that were provided for dealing with garden pests, details of which can be read in the full article:

1. Aphid:Insecticidal soap, attracting beneficials, horticultural oil
2. Armyworm:Bt (Bacillus thuringiens), handpicking, row covers
3. Asparagus beetle:Poultry predation, neem, handpicking
4. Blister beetle:Poultry predation, neem, handpicking
5. Cabbage root maggot:Crop rotation, beneficial nematodes, diatomaceous earth
6. Cabbageworm:Bt, handpicking, row covers
7. Carrot rust fly:Crop rotation, beneficial nematodes, diatomaceous earth
8. Colorado potato beetle:Poultry predation, neem, handpicking
9. Corn earworm:Bt, horticultural oil, beneficial nematodes
10. Cucumber beetle:Poultry predation, neem, handpicking
11. Cutworm:Rigid collars, Bt, diatomaceous earth
12. Flea beetle: Insecticidal soap, garlic-pepper spray, row covers
13. Harlequin bug:Handpicking, good garden sanitation, neem
14. Japanese beetle: Handpicking, row covers, milky spore disease
15. Mexican bean beetle:Poultry predation, neem, handpicking
16. Onion root maggot:Crop rotation, beneficial nematodes, diatomaceous earth
17. Slugs:Handpicking, iron phosphate slug bait, diatomaceous earth
18. Snails:Handpicking, iron phosphate slug bait, diatomaceous earth
19. Squash bug:Handpicking, good garden sanitation, neem
20. Squash vine borer: Growing resistant varieties, crop rotation, beneficial nematodes
21. Stink bug:Handpicking, good garden sanitation, neem
22. Tarnished plant bug:Handpicking, good garden sanitation, neem
23. Tomato hornworm: Bt, handpicking, row covers
24. Whitefly:Insecticidal soap, attracting beneficials, horticultural oil

There were many additional comments added by the respondees, including things like: "Plant more than you can use", garden to attract beneficial insects, and garden to attract birds (which eat a lot of insects). Those are some of the tactics that my hubby and I use in our garden, too.

What about you? Have you found any good eco-friendly methods of controlling insects in your garden that you would like to share?