Handling pests in the greenhouse is usually one of those troublesome tasks that you prefer to put off. However, neglecting the pests that creep into your greenhouse can easily produce a greenhouse epidemic that will send you running for the house to avoid the unwanted pests and critters residing in your treasured greenhouse garden. Here are several tips to make greenhouse pest control easy this season.
Effortless Ways To Get Control Over Greenhouse Pests
1. If you want to re-use your potting soil from year to year but don’t want to stress about bacteria and insect infestations, you can bake your potting soil in the oven to destroy unwanted bacteria and insects eggs and larvae. To sterilize, spread soil four inches deep in a culinary dish and cover tightly with a double layer of foil. Cook in a 180 degree oven for a half hour. Leave in foil-covered pans to keep sterile until ready to use. Be sure you don’t bake it any higher than 200 degrees, however. If you do, you can produce toxins that might kill your plants.
2. For aphid and mite infestations, try using an insecticide soap. You can even dump your used dishwater (soap and all) onto your greenhouse plants that will help repel pests.
3. Introduce beneficial insects and nematodes into your garden greenhouse to control numerous types of greenhouse pests. Lady Bugs, Phytoseiulus persimili, Encarsia formos, and Aphidoletes aphidimyza are normally used in the greenhouse to manage pests.
4. During winter months, keeping rodents out of the greenhouse can be tough. Electronic pest repellents can be helpful, as can old-fashioned spring traps, but closing up entrances into the greenhouse, securing water sources, and removing any material that can be used as bedding can be very effective in discouraging rodents in the greenhouse too.
5. When you have snake problems, you may be excited to know how to get rid of them! To help discourage these slithering fellows from camping out in the heated greenhouse, try removing any materials, like rocks, low-level benches, and large planters from the greenhouse floor. Without sufficient cover to crawl below, snakes may visit your greenhouse, but they’re less likely to hang around.
Controlling pests in the greenhouse is easier when you take the proactive, preventative approach to greenhouse garden pest control. Modify the atmosphere in your greenhouse, sterilize your potting soil, use insecticidal soaps, and introduce useful insects into your greenhouse to help you control pests the simple way.
The Author:
Michelle Torres has nearly 20 years experience using and designing greenhouse kits and is an avid gardener.