Eliminate Those Nasty Vegetable Garden Pests

Pesky insects and bugs are a problem for most vegetable gardeners. Most bugs aren't particularly destructive, they're just annoying. However, discovering a garden pest making a meal of your crop would make anybody furious.

Among the ugliest garden pests is the tomato hornworm. This fat worm is green and white in color and has a horn like a stinger. You can pull it off the plant while wearing gloves, and kill it by dunking it in soapy water. Alternatively, you could spray the tomato hornworm with stomach poison insecticide, neem oil, or Bacillus thuringiensis.

Thrips overrun numerous plants and create uneven white markings on the plant's leaves. To get rid of them, use a hose to wash off the bugs and then spray on some contact poison.

You know when snails and slugs have been there because they leave behind a slimy trail and eat the leaves on the plants. You can buy bait to attract and kill them, but you can achieve the same thing with a shallow dish of beer; they'll be drawn to it and drown.

Those plump white worms that you see in the ground are most likely grubs. When grubs attack your plants they start to droop and their growth will be stunted. You can usually eliminate them with some milky spore added to the earth. Grubs eventually grow into beetles, which you can rid of with stomach poison insecticide.

Cutworms tend to attack a plant's stem at the base. The only successful means of controlling them is by placing a paper collar around your plants.

A corn earworm will attack your corn cobs and make a meal of the kernels. Similarly, the tomato fruitworm will chow down on the interior of eggplants, peppers and tomatoes. Try using an insecticide that specifically targets earworms.

Borers are found in many vine plants with thick stems. You have to cut them out of the plant in order to get rid of them. You might end up having to pull up the plant and destroying it if you find a borer near the base of the plant. Try using insecticide to discourage them.

Another annoying pest is the beetle, which likes to eat the leaves on your plants. They are able to do an astonishing amount of harm to a vegetable garden, therefore it's essential to eliminate them. You can either spray them with insecticide or just pick them off the plants.

Aphids are frequently found in a vegetable garden. Usually you'll spot them as a group of small bugs in a variety of colors. To eliminate aphids, use neem oil or insecticidal soap.