BATTLING PESTS

Bugs That Can Destroy Your Herbs

If you have the space and time to plant a large garden, a diverse garden can help keep most unwanted pests at bay. However, if you do come across destructive pests, or can only maintain a small herb garden, here are a few ways to help get rid of them. Since your herbs will be used for medicinal and culinary purposes, avoid chemical pesticides.

Aphids

Problematic For: Parsley, Chervil, Oregano, Caraway, Nasturtiums

Control With Bugs: Lady bugs/beetles, syrphid flies, lacewings, aphid midges, parasitic wasps.

Personal Control: Remove with hard water spray or squashing by hand.

Organic Maintenance: Organic insecticidal soap, using foil mulch, ensuring your plants have proper plant nutrition.

Earwigs

Problematic For: Angelica

Control With Bugs: Tachinid Flies

Personal Control: Handpicking from plants.

Organic Maintenance: Don’t use wood mulch, rake away dried fallen leaves.

Mint Flea Beetles

Problematic For: Mints

Control With Bugs: None

Personal Control: None

Organic Maintenance: Use Diatomaceous Earth or Lime Dust around your soil. You can also cover younger plants with floating row covers in your garden beds or use a light covering for planters.

Snails

Problematic For: Calendula

Control With Bugs: None

Personal Control: You can remove by handpicking or use beer traps.

Organic Maintenance: When the weather is wet and rainy, pull the mulch away from the plants.

Slugs

Problematic For: Violet, Basil, Sage, Calendula, and many others.

Control With Bugs: None

Personal Control: Using beer traps or handpicking.

Organic Maintenance: When the weather is wet and rainy, pull the mulch away from the plants.

Whiteflies

Problematic For: Rosemary, Lemon Verbena, Scented Geraniums

Control With Bugs: Endoparasitic Wasp (Encarsia Formosa)

Personal Control: Using yellow sticky traps.

Organic Maintenance: Using organic insecticidal soap or pyrethrins.

Mites

Problematic For: Lemon Verbena, Mints, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Angelica, Oregano

Control With Bugs: Ladybugs, Lacewings, Predatory Mites

Personal Control: Frequently misting your plants or spraying them with water. Also, use of sulfur or insecticidal soaps.

Organic Maintenance: None

Parsley Worms

Problematic For: Parsley

Control With Bugs: Soil Dwelling Bacteria (Bacillus Thuringiensis)

Personal Control: Handpicking them from plants.

Organic Maintenance: None.

Rose Chafers

Problematic For: Basil

Control With Bugs: Vedalia Ladybugs

Personal Control: Using organic insecticidal soap or swabbing them individually with alcohol.

Organic Maintenance: None.

Cutworms

Problematic For: Seedlings from most herbs.

Control With Bugs: Nematodes

Personal Control: None

Organic Maintenance: Adding cardboard liners along garden bed, adding 3-5 toothpicks around the plants stem.

Japanese Beetles

Problematic For: Basil

Control With Bugs: Nematodes

Personal Control: Handpicking them from plants.

Organic Maintenance: Setting pheromone traps.

Leafminers

Problematic For: Lovage, Oregano, Angelica, Sorrel, Nasturtiums

Control With Bugs: None

Personal Control: You’ll need to remove all infested leaves and make sure you destroy them completely.

Organic Maintenance: Floating row covers for garden beds or netting for planters.

Mealybugs

Problematic For: Rosemary

Control With Bugs: Mealybug Destroyer, Lacewings

Personal Control: Insecticidal soaps, spraying them hard with water, or swabbing each one individually with alcohol.

Organic Maintenance: None

Carrot Weevils

Problematic For: Parsley

Control With Bugs: Nematodes

Personal Control: Squashing them by hand

Organic Maintenance: Compost, Rotating Your Crops

Scales

Problematic For: Rosemary

Control With Bugs: Vedalia Ladybugs

Personal Control: Individually swab with alcohol.

Organic Maintenance: None

Spittlebugs

Problematic For: Sage

Control With Bugs: Endoparasitic Wasp (Encarsia Formosa)

Personal Control: Using organic insecticidal soap, yellow sticky traps.

Organic Maintenance: None