PESTS + DISEASES - Edible Backyard NZ

Sign in Subscribe

PESTS + DISEASES

Preventing pests + disease only takes an ounce - and even better, the very same things that prevent pests are the things that have your garden be naturally healthy and strong.

How to deal with slugs and snails

PESTS + DISEASES

How to deal with slugs and snails

For the longest time slugs and snails perplexed me. Having tried all the tricks and found them wanting, I relied on Quash (iron + bran) the most natural, cost-effective bait I could find, and night hunts. Head torch on and bucket of limey water into which the molluscs go to

Natural Ways With Pests #1: Why Do Pests Come Along?

PESTS + DISEASES

Natural Ways With Pests #1: Why Do Pests Come Along?

There are 3 main reasons why pests come along. Let me greatly simplify the work of Dr Phillip S Callahan, John Kempf and Elaine Ingham: Stress. Pests are attracted to plants for a variety of reasons, all of which can be traced back to a stress of some sorts e.

Natural Ways With Pests #2: Four Steps to Prevention

Paid-members only

PESTS + DISEASES

Natural Ways With Pests #2: Four Steps to Prevention

Natural Ways With Pests #3: Simple, Natural Solutions

Paid-members only

PESTS + DISEASES

Natural Ways With Pests #3: Simple, Natural Solutions

blight-tomato-collapses-over-from-blight-ediblebackyardnz

PESTS + DISEASES

Dear Kath, my tomatoes have blight...

Dear Kath, the tomatoes in my greenhouse are suffering from blight. What can you advise to treat them? Is it a deficiency in the soil or a pest? thanks A deficiency, in this case, of soil microbes, and the solution is simple as. Read through my very simple, tomato growing

grass grub ediblebackyard nz

PESTS + DISEASES

Help! Our Garden is Full of Grass Grubs

Grass grubs are bronze beetle babies, and as far as pests go, a relatively easy one to balance in the home garden with natural practises such as I champion below. Mostly they reside in lawn - these are grass grubs after all!, but they can also make their way into your

Be Cabbage White Butterfly Free!

PESTS + DISEASES

Be Cabbage White Butterfly Free!

Summer of '22, I grew brassicas out in the open without any insect mesh, from seedling to finish. I was feeling confident in my parasitic wasp population, and they didn't disappoint. What a turn around! For most of my garden life I haven't bothered growing

Coping with Green Vegetable Bugs

PESTS + DISEASES

Coping with Green Vegetable Bugs

The Importance of the Right Name When learning about a pest, begin your journey by finding out it's scientific name. The bug I'm ruminating on today is the Green Vegetable Bug Nezara Viridula, also called green vegetable beetle, stink bug or shield bug. These other names

What to Do About Leaf Curl

Paid-members only

PESTS + DISEASES

What to Do About Leaf Curl

How To Prevent + Deal with Garlic Rust

PESTS + DISEASES

How To Prevent + Deal with Garlic Rust

Rust is an airborne, parasitic fungi that makes your plants look, well - rusty! The raised, orangey spots cover the foliage quickly when conditions are ideal and in a severe case, the leaves yellow, shrivel and die. With the foliage unable to convert energy in its usual efficient style, bulbs are

Preventing + Managing Fungal Disease

PESTS + DISEASES

Preventing + Managing Fungal Disease

By far and away the most common cause of garden disease is airborne fungi. The mild moist conditions of spring set the scene for primary infections of rust, black spot, leaf curl, shot hole, brown rot and other fungal delights. Great news is fungal disease can on the whole be

A Planting Plan to Entice the Beneficial Insects

COMPANION PLANTS

A Planting Plan to Entice the Beneficial Insects

Prepare to be amazed at the amount of larvae gobbling, pest destroying action going on around you in the micro. Beneficial insects keep your garden sorted. There's an army on your side: parasitic wasps, hoverflies, various bees and ladybirds, praying mantis, spiders, dragonflies, assassin bugs, lacewings, a variety

Help, My Tomato Has Wilted!

PESTS + DISEASES

Help, My Tomato Has Wilted!

There's nothing sadder than a crop gone awry, all that love and care down the tubes. In this case we have a wilted (past the point of recovery) tomato. When something goes awry in the vegie patch look to the obvious things first (I know how you love

5 ways to manage Tomato Potato Psyllid

PESTS + DISEASES

5 ways to manage Tomato Potato Psyllid

It's the psyllid season. With a potential to wipe out up to 80% of your gorgeous tomato crop it's an important pest to understand. Managing psyllids takes a bit extra, but come on guys - it's tomatoes were talkin' about! Are they worth it?