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Garden Pests

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  • 29-03-2009 5:59pm
    #1
    sun child
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭


    I have heard that there are certain plants you can plant in your vegetable patch that keep slugs, worms and pests away. Is this true? Any help would be appreciated as I am about to plant my first vegetable garden.


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    #2
    Gordon Gekko
    Registered Users Posts: 435 ✭✭Gordon Gekko


    Well, first thing, worms are your friends, they are not pests. No plants will keep slugs away - best (organic) thing for them is to sink old margarine pots into the soil and fill them with beer - slugs can't resist an oul' beer, drink it, get drunk, fall in and drown (happy!).

    Planting things like marigolds among your crops will help keep whitefly/greenfly at bay by (a) releasing a scent that they don't like, and (b) encouraging beneficial predators like hoverfly and ladybirds (this is the more important of the two benefits).

    Growing onions/garlic among your carrots will confuse the carrot root fly by masking the scent they detect from carrots, meaning the fly can't find the carrots to lay her eggs on them.

    Other plants like nasturtiums are used as 'sacrificial' crops e.g. they attract cabbage white butterfly and blackfly away from your food crops.


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    #3
    sun child
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭sun child


    Thank you!!! I will remember worms are a garden's friends.

    I'm thinking of photo documenting my gardening progress. Right now I have a huge overgrown garden that needs lots of love. The information is well appreciated.


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    #4
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    Gordon Gekko wrote: »
    Well, first thing, worms are your friends, they are not pests. No plants will keep slugs away - best (organic) thing for them is to sink old margarine pots into the soil and fill them with beer - slugs can't resist an oul' beer, drink it, get drunk, fall in and drown (happy!).

    Planting things like marigolds among your crops will help keep whitefly/greenfly at bay by (a) releasing a scent that they don't like, and (b) encouraging beneficial predators like hoverfly and ladybirds (this is the more important of the two benefits).

    Growing onions/garlic among your carrots will confuse the carrot root fly by masking the scent they detect from carrots, meaning the fly can't find the carrots to lay her eggs on them.

    Other plants like nasturtiums are used as 'sacrificial' crops e.g. they attract cabbage white butterfly and blackfly away from your food crops.

    Some nice tips there.


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