Pest Control Strategies: Part One

There are countless ways to manage pests in the garden, and every grower has to find the approach that works best for their goals, growing conditions, and tolerance for bug damage. 

When I first started growing things over a decade ago, I had ZERO tolerance for bug damage so I was on the defense at the first sight of them. Let's just say my sanity forced me to outgrow that mindset pretty quickly.  

These days, my ideal garden is teeming with all kinds of life. Yes, that includes a few pests here and there because I also want it to include ladybugs, praying mantises, assassin bugs (what a tough name), green lacewings, and minute pirate bugs—all of which play an important role in feeding on and keeping pest populations in check. Oh, and birds. Did I mention birds?

So…my pest-control strategy has evolved from reaching for a spray bottle at the first sight of insects (though I'll admit I'm still tempted sometimes—I'm looking at you, tarnished plant bugs) to strategizing what I can do before the season starts and throughout to achieve my ultimate goal.

Which is—to strike a balance between keeping pest pressure in check, preserving the beneficial insects and birds that help me do that work, and still produce a marketable crop.

Tricky balance, huh? And as one that has imperfectly attempted it for years now, I'mmma shed some light I've learned on the subject—starting with prevention.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 

Smart guy, Benjamin Franklin. This couldn't be more true than when dealing with pests.

Our overall prevention strategy is to do whatever we can to grow the healthiest plants possible because healthy, thriving plants are less attractive and palatable to pests.

We focus on the health of our soil because it directly affects the health of our dahlias.

For us, this starts with testing and amending our soil at the beginning of each season to make sure the macro and micronutrients dahlias need are in balance so they have all the tools they need to thrive. You can read more about soil testing here.

We also work throughout the season to increase our plants' BRIX levels, which makes plants less palatable (and therefore less desirable) to pests. We do this in several ways but a big one that doesn’t take pre-season planning is a bi-weekly foliar spray or soil drench.

Our “recipe” includes fulvic acid, humid acid, kelp meal, fish emulsion (before bud set) and unsulphured blackstrap molasses—all chosen to provide the soil microbes with the micronutrients and sugar they need to thrive which in turn, helps our dahlias thrive.  You can read more about this recipe here.

Another pest-prevention strategy we employ is dedicating permanent rows within our dahlia field to a diverse mix of flowers that attract beneficial insects.

These plantings include coneflowers, coreopsis, cosmos, sunflowers, yarrow, calendula, and a variety of other annual and perennial flowers.

These biodiversity beds—or our“bio beds,” as I call them—provide a continuous bloom source from spring through fall for all those beneficials.

By offering habitat, nectar, and pollen throughout the growing season, these bio beds support populations of predatory and beneficial insects that help keep pest pressure in check.

Even though these bio beds have a more wild, untidy look to them, they also host the highest concentration and diversity of insect life on the farm. I’m a BIG fan of cramming bio beds in every nook and cranny.

Check out the next blog in this pest control series to learn what we do when pest pressure breaks through our prevention stratgies!