May 13, 2025 • 39 mins
Are all bugs in your garden bad news? Not at all! In fact,some insects are your best allies when it comes to pest control and plant health.
Today on Just Grow Something, we’re talking about howto tell the difference between beneficial insects and destructive garden pests—even if you’re not an entomologist. Learn how to identify common bugs based on their behavior, body features, and habitat, and discoverwhich insects you want to attract to your garden and which ones to manage quickly.
Whether you’re a new gardener confused about who’s chewing on your cabbage, or a seasoned grower wanting to attract more natural predators to your space, this episode has practical tips for observing, identifying, andunderstanding the insects in your garden.
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
- The role of beneficial insects in natural pest control and pollination
- How to visually identify insects based on body shape, wing type, behavior, and feeding habits
- Examples of common garden pests like aphids, squash bugs, and hornworms
- Identification tips for good bugs like ladybugs, parasitic wasps, lacewings, and hoverflies
- Why local resources like university Extension services and conservation departments are your best tool for regional pest and beneficial ID
- How to build a garden that attracts and supports beneficial insects
- Why not all creepy crawlies need to be squished—some are silently helping your garden thrive!
Let's dig in!
References and Resources:
Save 20% on your new own-root rose plant at HeirloomRoses.com with code JUSTGROW https://heirloomroses.com
Get 10% off and FREE shipping on my favorite raised planters at Planter Box Direct using code JUSTGROW10: https://planterboxdirect.com/?ref=593BugGuide.net – Community-supported insect ID tool
Episode 24 - Aphids! https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/ep-24-garden-talk-tuesday-aphids
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We talk a lot as gardeners abouthow to do things in the garden
that deter pests specifically the insect pests, that likes you
to holes in our leaves. Devour our fruit, and just
generally, lay waste to all of our hard efforts.
We also talked about attracting beneficial insects to the
Garden, both pollinators and predators.
What we don't talk about as often is how to identify, which
(00:25):
of those Critters is beneficial and which is causing Havoc.
Sometimes they can look very similar to each other and
sometimes the ones that look, the most menacing are actually
the good guys ever seen a ladybug larvae.
Yeah, those tiny little orange and black alligator.
We want those in the garden. So today in just grow something,
(00:45):
we're talking insect identification, how do we know
what? Insects in our garden are pests
in our region. And how do we even start to
identify these pests? By the end of the episode?
You'll know what steps to take to find out, what's good, what's
bad and how to tell the difference let's dig in.
Hey, I'm Karen. And what started as a small
(01:07):
backyard garden 20 years ago turned into a lifelong passion
for growing food. Now, is a market, farmer and
horticulturist. I want to help you do the same
on this podcast. I am your friend in the garden,
teaching evidence-based, techniques to help you grow your
favorite and build confidence inyour own garden space.
So, grab your garden journal, and a cup of coffee and get
ready to just grow something. Before we jump in, this is your
(01:34):
gentle reminder to add nutrientsto your containers.
If you are growing in pots or small Planters, yes, we should
be amending our containers in some way.
And sometimes in the same way that we do our larger Planters
and our in-ground containers. But, but the smaller stuff, we
may not always feel the need to add compost or refresh the soil,
(01:56):
as often as we should the smaller the volume of soil.
The more quickly, the soil nutrients are going to be
depleted, especially if we have a very demanding planes in that
soil. So, we need to be adding some
food of some sort for that soil.And for those plants, if you've
got a lot of containers and you don't want to buy specific plant
(02:20):
food for each one, depending on what it is that you're growing
in each one. That's okay.
Just get yourself a balanced Amendment and followed
directions for using that Amendment on the package.
I like a liquid version. And I like to do it about once
every two weeks or so, or maybe once per month, depending on
what I'm growing. But a granulated version is
fine, too. If you want to work that into
(02:41):
the soil and then just let it slowly release into that soil,
over a period of six rate weeks.Just make sure that you are
feeding those plants so they cancontinue to produce for you all
season long or for as long as they are viable.
Also, shout out to Rook my newest Patron over on patreon.
(03:02):
Rick has joined at the bicar in a coffee level to support my
caffeine habit while I'm over here cranking, these episodes
out to you, if you want to be like rook and other patrons who
are supporting this show in different ways you can head to
patreon.com slash just grow something or buy me a coffee.com
slash just grow something for both monthly or one-time option
(03:24):
to support the show. Both of those links are always
in the show notes, thank you, Rick, for your support.
It really does mean a lot this episode was inspired by a
comment that I got from Manda onSpotify for the episode that we
did on companion planting myths and tips that was episode 246
(03:48):
She said can you please do an episode on beneficial bugs
versus the damaging one? I struggle to identify the good
and the bad ones. That was a great suggestion.
So here we are today. If you ever have a suggestion
for an episode, feel free to comment on the episode in
Spotify or on YouTube you can also send me a DM on socials or
(04:11):
just send me an email to grow atjust grow something podcast.com.
I read every single comment and every single message and every
single email and I am happy to have suggestions for Content
after four years of doing this every single week.
So thank you for the suggestion,mana on we go. so, Understanding
which insects are beneficial andwhich ones are harmful is really
(04:36):
crucial for maintaining a healthy garden.
Ecosystems, we obviously don't want the insects that are going
to continue to predate on our things that we are trying to
grow to be able to each or even just for the beauty of them.
And we also want to encourage the beneficials that are in
there at without damaging them. So we don't want to just blanket
Lee being, you know, spraying insecticides or using things
(04:59):
that might hurt the pollinators and all.
So the other beneficials that you know, kind of do pest
control for us. so, Just to kindof Define what it is that we're
talking about when I'm saying beneficial insects, I'm talking
about those insects that play very vital roles, like
pollination or Pest Control meaning they predate on other
(05:24):
insects and decomposition. So for instance, ladybugs
specifically ladybug larvae, they consume large quantities of
aphids. All right of course we're all
thinking about bees bees are ouressential pollinators and I'm
not talking about honey. Bees necessarily goes are
imported here in North America. If you're someplace over in
(05:45):
Europe, then yes. Maybe you know the bees, the
honey bees are you know, doing alot of the pollination there but
our native pollinators here as well are native bees, but all,
so butterflies and that sort of thing, even things like pill
bugs. They are very good for breaking
down that detritus. That is in our soil, or on top
of our soil. So those data indicating matter
(06:08):
and breaking that down. So it works its way as fresh
hummus into our soil, right? These are all beneficial things
that we want happening in our Gardens.
The pest insects are the ones that can damage what we are,
growing by feeding on the leaves, or the stems, or the
roots, or the fruits, or just bytransmitting diseases through
(06:33):
that, feeding activity, or even pollination activity.
So, you know, it may not be necessarily that they're feeding
is destroying the plant but thenin that point they transmit a
disease and that disease ends updamaging the plants.
So Aphids for example, they suckthe sap from the plants, they
can also spread viruses, but in most instances it's about, you
(06:56):
know, the damage that they do, if they get to be overwhelming
for a plant, a lot of plants canhandle a little bit of aphid,
predation, but once it starts toget overwhelming, then they
start to succumb cucumber beetles.
They don't necessarily damage the plants as much as you might
think. They damage the fruit.
They can absolutely damage the actual cucumber itself, but as
their feeding on the plant, theyare actually transmitting
(07:20):
bacterial Wilt and that is what eventually ends up killing off
your cucumber plant. Those pill bugs that I
mentioned. Yes, they are beneficial in the
garden because they are eating that dead and decaying matter.
And so it's turning that matter back into nutrients in the soil
and really good hummus for the soil.
But in two high of a quantity inthe garden.
(07:43):
They can also cause damage to the crops that we are trying to
grow if there isn't enough in the soil for them to be breaking
down. And they are being attracted to
those copious amounts of mulch that we're laying down and that
mulches too close, maybe to our plants or it's trapping a lot of
moisture. And we've had a really, really
rainy season. Then the pill bugs will, you
(08:03):
know, be there in Mass. There's nothing for them to eat,
so they start to eat your plantsor the roots of your plants.
I've, you know, how to radishes damage here recently, because of
the high number of pill bugs hada friend message me saying, oh
my gosh, these pill bugs are eating my lettuces.
What do I do? So, don't ever let anybody tell
you that pill bugs. Don't eat your plants, they
absolutely do, but they generally will do it.
(08:25):
When they're is a mass amount ofthem and they don't have
anything else. To chew on are they don't have
anything else to eat, right? So, these are all things that we
have to concern ourselves with and we talk about something
being a pest. When we are trying to identify.
What is in our Gardens in terms of good bug versus bad bug,
right? There are a couple of different
(08:46):
resources that I'm going to recommend to you and places for
you to start. I always think it's a great idea
to start with your local University, extension service
and or your State's Department of Conservation.
This is going to give you very region specific information on
(09:07):
insect ID. You know, I talk a lot about
squash bugs and Vine borers and cucumber beetles because again,
those are the bane of my existence in one of the largest
crops that I grow out here. People in other areas of North
America have no idea what those things are because they just
don't exist in that area or theyare so few and far between that
(09:30):
it's not something that they have to concern themselves with.
They don't need to identify those insects. but, In their
area. It may be Melanie worm or
pickleworm, which I have never seen and I would have no reason
to worry about what a melon morea pickle worm looks like or how
to keep them out of my garden because we don't have those
here, so your University extension service.
(09:54):
Oftentimes, they are going to have places on their website,
that is going to talk about the crops that are most commonly
grown in your area. Whether that is a commodity type
crop or it is something that gardeners are growing and every
University extension is different, you know.
It varies from state to state but this is, you know, a general
rule of thumb for your extensionservices.
(10:16):
They're going to have that information somewhere on the
site and under the description of each of those things,
oftentimes they will tell you what the insect pests are.
That predate on, that particularcrop for your particular area.
So, you know, if I go to a general website that says, okay,
(10:37):
you know if you're growing squashes you could potentially
have these insect pests. And it gives me a whole laundry
list of insects that might predate on squash, that's not
getting me anywhere. Because now, I think I have to
figure out what 12 different insects look like when maybe
only three of those actually exist in my state.
(11:01):
So starting with your Universityextension service or again going
to your Department of Conservation.
They oftentimes are also going to have lists of insect pests
for your particular state or at least your region that is going
to give you a place to start. So as you are planting your
garden or you are even just planning your garden and what it
(11:24):
is that you want to grow. You might want to familiarize
yourself ahead of time of what you might want to be looking
for. So another resource that you can
use or other resources, you can use online, are things like bug
guide.net. This is an online community and
a database that is how hosted byIowa State University.
So it offers a lot of information and identification
(11:47):
assistance for North American insects and for my non-north
American listeners. I apologize.
I am not super familiar with allthe resources that you have, but
I'm hoping that there is something that is the
equivalent. In your area to like our
University extension service or our Departments of conservation
that will help you all with regions, specific information.
(12:09):
And then maybe you have something like a bug guide dot
net. That does for you what they do
for us here in North America. It is specific to you know,
identifying North American insects and it's really good,
it's got pictures, it's got all kinds of things.
It's got a search function in there that will help you to
break down. You know, the identifying
(12:31):
characteristics of what it is that you're searching for and
help you to find it. You can also use Google and
other search functions to help you.
Identify these insect pests. Particularly, if you are able to
use Google's lens function, it'svery very helpful to take a
(12:52):
photo of the insect that might be in question and then use your
Google Lens search in order to be able to find images that are
very similar to what Google Lenssees in your photos.
So your guide for this is going to make sure that you're getting
as close up as possible, you're showing as much detail as
possible. You're kind of cropping out and
(13:14):
anything extra that might be in that photo so that the search
function. Can actually focus on just what
it is that, you want it to identify and then see what you
can find. That is very similar, then Trace
that image back to where it originated and make sure that it
is a trusted source for identification.
So, again, a University, extension website, Maybe it does
(13:37):
lead back to bugguide.net or some other service that is
helping to identify insects. The thing about using these
online searches is that you needto be very specific about what
information you are entering into these resources and how you
enter it in order to be able to really narrow down the search
(13:57):
and we will get to that in here in a second, okay?
And then finally, if you can getyour hand on something like a
Peterson's Field Guide for insects, this is what I use.
And the only reason I even have this is because I got it as part
of my undergrad studies. So it has a lovely pictured.
(14:20):
He to the principal orders of insects in the front and the
back cover, and it has a really cool.
So sort of method for being ableto Identify or break down what
you're looking at. By asking very specific
questions. Does it have wings, does it not
have wings? You know, if it does have wings,
(14:42):
is it got you know, two parts tothe wings?
Is it have four parts to the wings?
Are they visible all the time? Are they not?
Are they talked under, you know,and then it goes on to the next
thing and the next thing. And the next thing in bite order
of elimination, essentially it goes all the way through the key
until it finally gets you To at least the family that that
(15:05):
insect falls into and then you can go and look up the family
and it has all kinds of picturesin it of what the insects are
that fall into that family that are most common and so it gives
a description of each one of those insects and it shows a
picture, you know, breaking it down and makes it a lot easier
for you to figure out. Okay, if you figured out that
(15:26):
this insect is in the family homoptera, then we break it down
into the cicadas and The Hoppersand the white flies and the
aphids and then it breaks it down into.
Okay, well this is what a plant Hopper looks like and this is
what a white fly looks like. So it is very, very handy for me
and somebody who is very nerdy when it comes to this kind of
(15:51):
stuff. But I understand that not
everybody has a Peterson Field Guide for insects sitting on the
bookshelf in their office. For these particular things.
Something that you want to pick up, its really great.
All so for like when you go on ahike, And you see something that
you've never seen before. If you can take a picture of it
and come back, you can actually,you know, use this guide and a
(16:14):
very clear photo of the insect that you're trying to identify
to go through and figure out what it was.
You were actively looking for. But also you know the things
that this field guide talks about in terms of its
identification are really essential for helping us enter
in those parameters into an online search as well. the
(16:35):
identification of insects is notthat much different from iding,
a bird or a mammal or a plant, even if it's just a matter of
knowing, What to look for? And then using a process of
elimination, essentially, to figure out what we're looking
(16:56):
at. The thing that complicates
identifying insects is that there are so many different
kinds. I think in North America alone,
there are over 88,000 species ofinsects.
And a lot of them are really really small, which makes it
hard to see all the different parts that we need to see in
(17:19):
order to recognize those parts in order to ID them.
So, you know, yeah, this is not something that is easy to do and
it's people, you know, people spend their entire careers
identifying insects and and finding new ways to identify
them. And then we also have to take
into consideration that a large portion of these insects look,
completely different as larvae and as or juveniles as they do
(17:46):
as adults. So, I mean, remember, the
ladybug larvae I mentioned. Yeah, looks nothing.
Like a ladybug when it's in its infancy, right?
So I am going to try to give yousome key information that you
can use to help narrow down yoursearch.
When you are trying to identify an insect in your garden, the
(18:06):
more information you have, when you go and do that search, the
closer, you'll get you absolutely want to start with
understanding. What it is that you might be
looking for. Again, making sure that, you
know, what insect pests or beneficials are prevalent in
your area by looking at University extension or looking
(18:28):
at your department of conservation or natural
resources or whatever. And then understanding these
basic insect identification techniques.
So you can enter your search andbe more accurate.
I am super excited that my rose bush from Heirloom Roses has its
first Bloom of the Season. It opened up this week and there
(18:51):
is another one not far behind and I cannot wait to see how
many I get this year after I gotthree immediately after I
planted it last fall. The one thing I'm paying
attention to is the nutrition ofthe plant and Heirloom Roses has
me covered on that one with all kinds of options on their
website. They have multiple options for
feeding your roses and one thingI'm obsessed with and that's the
(19:14):
mint compost. Mint compost is exceptional, at
providing. Moisture, retention in Sandy dry
soils, while also rich in natural humans to help break up
hard, clay soils, if you're planting your rows in the
ground, your I, of course, optedfor a container from my roads.
And the mint compost can also beused as a mulch, top dressing
(19:34):
around my rose bush to help repel aphids and spider mites.
And the other damaging insects that Talking about today that
like to play our roses head to heirloom roses.com, pick out
your beautiful rose plants, add some soil, amendments, and some
mint compost and use code. Just grow at checkout to save
20%, heirloom roses.com with code, just grow the link as
(19:59):
always is in the show notes. Okay.
So what are the basic sort of insect identification techniques
that we can use in order to track down what it is that we're
looking at? The first thing to do is
identify its physical characteristics.
(20:19):
Now, This is going to be a lot easier.
If you can take a picture and then you have time to sit and
look at the darn thing and figure out what it is that
you're looking at. If you try to do this on the
Fly, I mean, yes. Unintended I guess it makes it a
little bit more difficult because you're trying to think
(20:41):
back in your brain, okay, what am I supposed to be figuring out
what? So, you know, I get it.
If you have your phone with you out in the garden, you can snap
a picture great. This makes it easier if you
happen to be out there with a notebook in your, maybe taking
notes in your garden journal, wink, wink nudge.
Then you might be able to write down some quick notes about
this, but just know that this isgoing to take some practice in
(21:04):
in figuring out what it is that you're looking at.
So, you know, don't beat yourself up if this sounds like
it's hard. the first thing that you want to do is, Note its body
shape and size. So is it elongated?
Is it oval? Is it more round?
How big is it? And if you can kind of compare
this to something else that is stable in the garden.
(21:25):
So, you know, if you see it landon a flower and then it flies
away and you're trying to approximate its size.
Well, then measure the size of the flower and then you can add
that in there. This is an insect that is, you
know, 0.25 inches long, or it's four centimeters or whatever it
might be, okay? So the body shape and the size
are some identifying characteristics Coloration and
(21:48):
marking, this is something else.So what colors does it have,
does it have any distinctive patterns or spots on it?
And when we talk about the colors, you know, is it orange
and black? And where is the orange?
And where is the black? Is it happen?
Orange. Body with black wings, does it
have, you know, orange and blackwings with a black body?
(22:09):
All of these things are very particular information that you
could be entering into these search engines or into these
online resources. That is going to help you
further identify what it is thatyou're looking at.
So determine whether or not it has wings.
Whether or not those wings remain visible at all times, say
(22:30):
like a dragonfly, or if it's something that it tucks
underneath a hard shell, like certain Beatles, okay?
If you can count the number of wings, it's a single set of
wings. Are they dual sets of wings like
again on a dragonfly where it has two larger ones, and then
two smaller ones behind it. Also, what about its legs?
(22:51):
How long are the legs are they tucked up underneath its body?
Are they out splayed out to the side.
These are things that you can you know, put in as another
identifier, another one that's really good.
Is whether or not it has antennae if it does have
antennae How long are they antenna?
And what is the shape? There are some very specific
(23:12):
shapes to antenna that will indicate what family that insect
is in. Does it look like a fan?
Is it straight with like a little ball at the end of it?
Like, we typically think of, oh,and antennae are those actually
antenna or are they eyeballs. That's the other thing.
Make sure you understand what itis.
It's you're looking at. So that is why it's really a
(23:34):
good idea if you're trying to IDsomething that you take a
picture of it, okay? The next thing that we want to
observe is its behavioral traits.
Specifically, we are looking at feeding habits.
So what does it doing? When it's eating, is it chewing
on the leaves? Is it sucking the sap or is it
(23:55):
praying on another insect? Right?
This is going to let us know number one, if it's a problem in
the garden, if it's chewing the leaves, or if it's sucking the
sap or if it's praying under insect, that's likely a
beneficial insect. In our garden.
The feeding habits of the insectis going to indicate to us what
its mouth parts are like. And so we have you know biting
(24:18):
mouth parts, we have sucking mouth parts and we have chewing
mouth parts and so these are things that we can use to
identify the insect, the time that it is active in, the garden
is also important. Is it during the day, or is it
more at night? Obviously, a lot of us aren't
out there in our Gardens, in thepitch black.
But if you're out there very, very early morning, like Dawn,
(24:41):
or if you're out there late at night, or late in the evening,
when it's dust, you know, our pollinators and our beneficials,
a lot of the time are really most active between.
Like 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. So if you're out there very
early morning, just as the sun is coming up and you're seeing
this insect activity, it very well, may be something that's
left over from the overnight hours.
(25:02):
Same thing as you're going late into the evening, the Moon is
coming out. The Sun is going down.
If you have a lot of very activeinsects out there, those also
might be more nocturnal insects and that is going to help you
determine what it actually is. And whether or not, it's a good
guy or a bad guy, right? And then all so consider, you
(25:23):
know, its habitat, its location.Where was the insect found was
it on specific plants? Was it in the soil?
Was it out and flying around theflowers Its Behavior and where
you're finding, it is all going to be something that's going to
(25:44):
help narrow down what it is thatyou're looking at and keep in
mind. A lot of insects can be
recognized. By their General parents as
belonging to a specific family and that's going to give you
some really good information. So, you know, you know you you
generally know what like a grasshopper looks like.
(26:05):
You don't necessarily need to know what kind of grasshopper it
is. Because, you know, most
instances, The Grasshoppers are not going to do things that are
really, really good for your garden.
So if you have too many of them,I might be a problem. but, The
closer you look. And the more information that
you have about the insects body parts, its behaviors its habits.
(26:26):
The more likely you will be to track down the insect, the
actual insect that you are. Looking at on one of your
resources, and get more info is to whether or not, it's always a
pest or if it's only sometimes apest, if it's there in Mass
again, like, you know, the Pill bugs, or even grasshoppers, or
(26:46):
if it's something that's always a beneficial or, you know, it's
always one of the bad guys, right?
So I mean look we have some verycommon beneficial insects
ladybugs and generally speaking,this is all ladybugs and when I
say all ladybugs, I mean anything that is in the Cox of a
Cox in Nelly, I think I said that properly Cox and yellow Day
(27:10):
family. Um, we do have certain ones here
specifically in Missouri that are not like the ladybugs that
we are used to, in terms of, youknow, eating the aphids and that
sort of thing. They're a Japanese ladybug I
believe or Japanese lady Beetle.That tend to congregate in the
(27:33):
fall around, door jambs, Etc, and they can actually bite you
but they also are beneficial. They tend to be treated rollers
rather than you know, dwelling down on our Gardens and so yes,
they again can be a nuisance if they are there in Mass.
So even though all ladybugs are predators of aphids and mites
(27:55):
and other soft body insects, where they reside and what type
of ladybug they are is going to determine whether or not they
are helpful in your garden or ifthey are helpful in other ways,
maybe up in the trees, but can be a pest if they are a mask
Gatherings, right? Green lacewings.
Anything in the Christopher De family.
They are larvae feeds on aphids and caterpillars and other
(28:20):
pests. So those are good guys to see in
your garden generally speaking and anything in that family
parasitic wasps, okay? These are going to lay eggs
inside or on the past like the caterpillars, of course, that's
going to lead to the pests demise obviously.
Hover flies surface, the adults,pollinate flowers.
(28:40):
So those are great in terms of being a pollinator, the larvae
also eat aphids so, and among other things, too, I know
there's a few other things that the hoverflies will also predate
on. So, These are good guys to keep
in the garden regardless of where you are.
And then these big-eyed bugs, this is Geo courses, no Geo
chorus, sorry species, they feedon mites, they also eat insect
(29:04):
eggs and small insects. So these are all good guys that
we want in the garden. Of course, really common Garden.
Pests aphids, I don't know of anywhere in Northern or North
America that doesn't have aphidsin some way.
These are those really small soft body insects that suck on
the plant sap. They lead to very distorted
(29:25):
growth. If you get them in Mass, this is
what a lot of our beneficials doactually predate on.
In fact, these are such a problem for gardeners that I
actually did a standalone afib episode way back in episode or
in season 1. I think it might have been like
episode 8 or something like that.
So that should tell you exactly how many people complain about
(29:48):
having aphids as a problem. Tomato hornworms.
This is another big one for a lot of people that was very
large fat caterpillars that can defoliate a tomato plant very
rapidly. These are also tobacco hornworms
and I actually have to look it up.
I cannot remember whether or notthey are the same And they just
go by two different names or if they're actually two different
(30:11):
insects. I have to look that one up, I
don't remember Japanese beetles.This is one that a lot of people
have problems in Sometimes they are overwhelming in their
numbers and other times we have had to where we've just seen a
handful of them and then that's it.
So I'm not familiar enough with their life cycle to be able to
tell you whether or not they sort of Go In Waves.
(30:33):
I do know that we used beneficial nematodes the year
after we realized we had a really bad Japanese beetle
problem, because they overwinteras grubs in the soil and they
feed on a wide range of plants. They will skeletonize the leaves
(30:54):
and they seem to be have a particular affinity for fruit
trees and rose bushes. And there's one other thing too.
I think that of anyway they especially are a problem when
they start to become, you know, an overwhelming new sense.
Squash bugs. You know, I had to mention
squash bugs, they go after squash, right?
And they also go back to, you know, some of the related
(31:16):
plants. They'll go after your cucumber
plants, if you if you allow themto they'll even go hang out in
your tomato, plants. If you don't, they don't have
anything else to eat. So they're gonna cause the
wilting and you know, death of your plant.
Rose saw flies. These are the larvae that feed
on rose leaves. They create this sort of window
painting effect. This is something else that is
very common for folks. I have not seen them here yet.
(31:39):
Hoping my heirloom Rose stays clean of these pests.
I have not seen them, I haven't looked up to see whether or not
that's something that we have toworry about here.
I do know the Japanese beetles go after them.
So I am just keeping an eye out this season.
I am looking to replace some of the last few wooden raised beds.
(31:59):
I have in my kitchen garden withnew beds from plants for box
direct. I'm not one to waste money or
materials just for Aesthetics. So I've been doing this slowly
over the past few years as the wooden beds that we built begin
to break down. It's not just that they look
awful which they do. But there are literally falling
apart at the seams and they're not holding the soil in properly
(32:21):
anymore. I love planter box directs
Planters because they're UV coated.
So they're not going to break down on me and I can get them in
any color combo. I want and in so many different
style as and sizes, three of thebeds.
I'm replacing are tiered bets, but they're in a very narrow
strip on my driveway. The good news is I can choose
(32:41):
from Cascade Planter's. Just like the ones I already
have only sturdier or I can configure two long boxes, just
for that specific space, with all of the options that planter
box direct has on their Website and they go together in mere
minutes for me to be able to jump right in and get them
filled so I can continue on withmy gardening season.
(33:04):
You can save 10% and score free shipping on your new raised
Planters by going to planter boxdirect.com and using Code just
grow 10 at checkbox. Planter box direct.com with
code, just grow 10 for 10% off and free shipping on my favorite
Garden Planters. The link is in the show notes.
(33:24):
So, like we've talked about before, we really want to
regularly, inspect our plants for signs of insect activity.
Good bugs. Bad bugs in different, right?
We want to know what is going onin and around our plants so that
if we do start to see damage, weknow what insects have been most
(33:45):
prevalent out there and we're going to know what to look for.
Take clear photos of anything that you don't recognize as
something in your garden, whether it's good or bad, you
know. And that way you can go and you
can use all of these identifiersfor a search.
Now, how do you do this? You know, I am have been a long
(34:08):
time, the Google Queen, like I can find just about anything on
Google with a little bit of time, but I have to have the
right information and you have to know what to put in to the
search. Be as specific as possible.
You can enter something like flying insect that eats
cucumbers, that has Two wings. That tuck under a hard shell
(34:34):
that are yellow and black. And fly during the day.
Alright, whatever search engine you type that into is going to
take all of that information andit's going to pair it up with
whatever and you likely are going to come up with the answer
of a cucumber beetle. But again, if you can take the
(34:55):
photo that is going to narrow itdown, if you can use like Google
lens and take the photo and all.So add in that additional
information, then you are going to get much clearer results or
at least you're going to have fewer results to shift through,
okay. All in all.
(35:15):
We want to avoid taking any immediate reaction.
So before removing, or destroying an insect out of your
garden, make sure that, you know, what its role is in your
garden ecosystem. I know, You know, there's this
sort of knee-jerk reaction sometimes, like, you see some
damage on your plant, and then you see these insects there and
(35:37):
you make the automatic assumption.
That that thing that is on your plant is responsible for the
damage to that plant, and that may not necessarily be the case.
The other thing too is to understand if it is a beneficial
insect that is just not beneficial when it is in your
garden and mass. Remember what I said about the
(35:57):
pill bugs? I get messages.
Especially this time of the yearwhen the soil tends to be very
damp around here all the time. And I get messages from people,
like, oh my gosh, I have these pill bugs, they are just
destroying my garden, how do I get rid of them?
And my answer to that is always you relocate them, you don't
(36:18):
destroy them. So I give tips and tricks for
how to remove the pill bugs fromthe garden.
Which, by the way, my favorite trick is to cut a potato in half
and put the cut side down into your garden beds in and around
the plants that are being predated on and the pill bugs
will more attracted to the moisture and the decay under
(36:38):
those potatoes and they will gather underneath those potatoes
slices and start to feed on them.
So then all you got to do is walk out.
With a little container of some sort pick up your potato, you
know, tap it into the bucket to drop all the pill bugs off and
put the potato back down again and just keep doing that over
and over again. You will remove a large, you
know, number of the population out of your garden bed, and you
(37:00):
can go and relocate it someplaceelse into a different, you know,
area of your yard, or your garden or whatever, we don't
want to get rid of these insectsbecause they actually are
helping in the garden, there's just too many of them at the
moment, right? The other thing too, is when you
have an insect that is predating, on your insects, on
your insects, on your plants, wewant, we want insects per dating
(37:21):
insects all so, but if you have insects that are predating on
your plants, Make the determination as to whether or
not that damage is actually significant enough to warrant.
Killing off that insect. Because like, I've mentioned
before with aphids, if you have aphids and you are doing what
you can to encourage a really good ecosystem in your garden,
(37:43):
you might find that after a few days of their being some aphid
activity. You start to see ladybug
activity, and they very quickly,keep each other in check.
So I'm never a proponent of removing, an insect or harming
an insect in the garden. Before understanding what is
role is in that Garden ecosystem, but also
understanding whether or not youhave any predators that can come
(38:05):
in and feed on that inceptive, okay?
I I don't know if it's I I don'twant to say it's like oh, you
know all things deserve to live or whatever.
I mean that might be part of it,but I think it really is if we
are trying to be balanced in ourGardens and we are trying to,
you know, avoid a monoculture and we're using all these
(38:26):
interplanting techniques and everything else and it doesn't
make any sense to All Sorts or remove something else.
That is a part of that ecosystem.
Yeah. Well unless it's a squash bug,
and then by all means, go right ahead.
And of course, one more thing that we want to do, I know this
is all about identification, youknow, of the insects but we
really do want to plant a diversity of vegetables and
(38:48):
flowers to attract and support those beneficial insect
populations. And that is going to help us.
If we understand the different roles at the various insects
have in our garden, it helps us make informed decisions that are
not just going to promote our plant health and maybe give us
some peace of mind, but it's also going to promote that
ecological balance. And I think the long the longer
(39:11):
we do that in our own Gardens, the better off we are going to
be each successive season thereafter.
So if we can observe our Gardensvery, very closely utilize our
local resources for identification and online
resources. When we make sure that we trust
the source, we can foster environments that support
(39:32):
beneficial insects and ones thatpredate on those harmful insects
and have a better and healthier Garden overall.
Until next time my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
that dream garden and we'll talkagain soon.
We talk a lot as gardeners abouthow to do things in the garden
that deter pests specifically the insect pests, that likes you
to holes in our leaves. Devour our fruit, and just
generally, lay waste to all of our hard efforts.
We also talked about attracting beneficial insects to the
Garden, both pollinators and predators.
What we don't talk about as often is how to identify, which
(00:25):
of those Critters is beneficial and which is causing Havoc.
Sometimes they can look very similar to each other and
sometimes the ones that look, the most menacing are actually
the good guys ever seen a ladybug larvae.
Yeah, those tiny little orange and black alligator.
We want those in the garden. So today in just grow something,
(00:45):
we're talking insect identification, how do we know
what? Insects in our garden are pests
in our region. And how do we even start to
identify these pests? By the end of the episode?
You'll know what steps to take to find out, what's good, what's
bad and how to tell the difference let's dig in.
Hey, I'm Karen. And what started as a small
(01:07):
backyard garden 20 years ago turned into a lifelong passion
for growing food. Now, is a market, farmer and
horticulturist. I want to help you do the same
on this podcast. I am your friend in the garden,
teaching evidence-based, techniques to help you grow your
favorite and build confidence inyour own garden space.
So, grab your garden journal, and a cup of coffee and get
ready to just grow something. Before we jump in, this is your
(01:34):
gentle reminder to add nutrientsto your containers.
If you are growing in pots or small Planters, yes, we should
be amending our containers in some way.
And sometimes in the same way that we do our larger Planters
and our in-ground containers. But, but the smaller stuff, we
may not always feel the need to add compost or refresh the soil,
(01:56):
as often as we should the smaller the volume of soil.
The more quickly, the soil nutrients are going to be
depleted, especially if we have a very demanding planes in that
soil. So, we need to be adding some
food of some sort for that soil.And for those plants, if you've
got a lot of containers and you don't want to buy specific plant
(02:20):
food for each one, depending on what it is that you're growing
in each one. That's okay.
Just get yourself a balanced Amendment and followed
directions for using that Amendment on the package.
I like a liquid version. And I like to do it about once
every two weeks or so, or maybe once per month, depending on
what I'm growing. But a granulated version is
fine, too. If you want to work that into
(02:41):
the soil and then just let it slowly release into that soil,
over a period of six rate weeks.Just make sure that you are
feeding those plants so they cancontinue to produce for you all
season long or for as long as they are viable.
Also, shout out to Rook my newest Patron over on patreon.
(03:02):
Rick has joined at the bicar in a coffee level to support my
caffeine habit while I'm over here cranking, these episodes
out to you, if you want to be like rook and other patrons who
are supporting this show in different ways you can head to
patreon.com slash just grow something or buy me a coffee.com
slash just grow something for both monthly or one-time option
(03:24):
to support the show. Both of those links are always
in the show notes, thank you, Rick, for your support.
It really does mean a lot this episode was inspired by a
comment that I got from Manda onSpotify for the episode that we
did on companion planting myths and tips that was episode 246
(03:48):
She said can you please do an episode on beneficial bugs
versus the damaging one? I struggle to identify the good
and the bad ones. That was a great suggestion.
So here we are today. If you ever have a suggestion
for an episode, feel free to comment on the episode in
Spotify or on YouTube you can also send me a DM on socials or
(04:11):
just send me an email to grow atjust grow something podcast.com.
I read every single comment and every single message and every
single email and I am happy to have suggestions for Content
after four years of doing this every single week.
So thank you for the suggestion,mana on we go. so, Understanding
which insects are beneficial andwhich ones are harmful is really
(04:36):
crucial for maintaining a healthy garden.
Ecosystems, we obviously don't want the insects that are going
to continue to predate on our things that we are trying to
grow to be able to each or even just for the beauty of them.
And we also want to encourage the beneficials that are in
there at without damaging them. So we don't want to just blanket
Lee being, you know, spraying insecticides or using things
(04:59):
that might hurt the pollinators and all.
So the other beneficials that you know, kind of do pest
control for us. so, Just to kindof Define what it is that we're
talking about when I'm saying beneficial insects, I'm talking
about those insects that play very vital roles, like
pollination or Pest Control meaning they predate on other
(05:24):
insects and decomposition. So for instance, ladybugs
specifically ladybug larvae, they consume large quantities of
aphids. All right of course we're all
thinking about bees bees are ouressential pollinators and I'm
not talking about honey. Bees necessarily goes are
imported here in North America. If you're someplace over in
(05:45):
Europe, then yes. Maybe you know the bees, the
honey bees are you know, doing alot of the pollination there but
our native pollinators here as well are native bees, but all,
so butterflies and that sort of thing, even things like pill
bugs. They are very good for breaking
down that detritus. That is in our soil, or on top
of our soil. So those data indicating matter
(06:08):
and breaking that down. So it works its way as fresh
hummus into our soil, right? These are all beneficial things
that we want happening in our Gardens.
The pest insects are the ones that can damage what we are,
growing by feeding on the leaves, or the stems, or the
roots, or the fruits, or just bytransmitting diseases through
(06:33):
that, feeding activity, or even pollination activity.
So, you know, it may not be necessarily that they're feeding
is destroying the plant but thenin that point they transmit a
disease and that disease ends updamaging the plants.
So Aphids for example, they suckthe sap from the plants, they
can also spread viruses, but in most instances it's about, you
(06:56):
know, the damage that they do, if they get to be overwhelming
for a plant, a lot of plants canhandle a little bit of aphid,
predation, but once it starts toget overwhelming, then they
start to succumb cucumber beetles.
They don't necessarily damage the plants as much as you might
think. They damage the fruit.
They can absolutely damage the actual cucumber itself, but as
their feeding on the plant, theyare actually transmitting
(07:20):
bacterial Wilt and that is what eventually ends up killing off
your cucumber plant. Those pill bugs that I
mentioned. Yes, they are beneficial in the
garden because they are eating that dead and decaying matter.
And so it's turning that matter back into nutrients in the soil
and really good hummus for the soil.
But in two high of a quantity inthe garden.
(07:43):
They can also cause damage to the crops that we are trying to
grow if there isn't enough in the soil for them to be breaking
down. And they are being attracted to
those copious amounts of mulch that we're laying down and that
mulches too close, maybe to our plants or it's trapping a lot of
moisture. And we've had a really, really
rainy season. Then the pill bugs will, you
(08:03):
know, be there in Mass. There's nothing for them to eat,
so they start to eat your plantsor the roots of your plants.
I've, you know, how to radishes damage here recently, because of
the high number of pill bugs hada friend message me saying, oh
my gosh, these pill bugs are eating my lettuces.
What do I do? So, don't ever let anybody tell
you that pill bugs. Don't eat your plants, they
absolutely do, but they generally will do it.
(08:25):
When they're is a mass amount ofthem and they don't have
anything else. To chew on are they don't have
anything else to eat, right? So, these are all things that we
have to concern ourselves with and we talk about something
being a pest. When we are trying to identify.
What is in our Gardens in terms of good bug versus bad bug,
right? There are a couple of different
(08:46):
resources that I'm going to recommend to you and places for
you to start. I always think it's a great idea
to start with your local University, extension service
and or your State's Department of Conservation.
This is going to give you very region specific information on
(09:07):
insect ID. You know, I talk a lot about
squash bugs and Vine borers and cucumber beetles because again,
those are the bane of my existence in one of the largest
crops that I grow out here. People in other areas of North
America have no idea what those things are because they just
don't exist in that area or theyare so few and far between that
(09:30):
it's not something that they have to concern themselves with.
They don't need to identify those insects. but, In their
area. It may be Melanie worm or
pickleworm, which I have never seen and I would have no reason
to worry about what a melon morea pickle worm looks like or how
to keep them out of my garden because we don't have those
here, so your University extension service.
(09:54):
Oftentimes, they are going to have places on their website,
that is going to talk about the crops that are most commonly
grown in your area. Whether that is a commodity type
crop or it is something that gardeners are growing and every
University extension is different, you know.
It varies from state to state but this is, you know, a general
rule of thumb for your extensionservices.
(10:16):
They're going to have that information somewhere on the
site and under the description of each of those things,
oftentimes they will tell you what the insect pests are.
That predate on, that particularcrop for your particular area.
So, you know, if I go to a general website that says, okay,
(10:37):
you know if you're growing squashes you could potentially
have these insect pests. And it gives me a whole laundry
list of insects that might predate on squash, that's not
getting me anywhere. Because now, I think I have to
figure out what 12 different insects look like when maybe
only three of those actually exist in my state.
(11:01):
So starting with your Universityextension service or again going
to your Department of Conservation.
They oftentimes are also going to have lists of insect pests
for your particular state or at least your region that is going
to give you a place to start. So as you are planting your
garden or you are even just planning your garden and what it
(11:24):
is that you want to grow. You might want to familiarize
yourself ahead of time of what you might want to be looking
for. So another resource that you can
use or other resources, you can use online, are things like bug
guide.net. This is an online community and
a database that is how hosted byIowa State University.
So it offers a lot of information and identification
(11:47):
assistance for North American insects and for my non-north
American listeners. I apologize.
I am not super familiar with allthe resources that you have, but
I'm hoping that there is something that is the
equivalent. In your area to like our
University extension service or our Departments of conservation
that will help you all with regions, specific information.
(12:09):
And then maybe you have something like a bug guide dot
net. That does for you what they do
for us here in North America. It is specific to you know,
identifying North American insects and it's really good,
it's got pictures, it's got all kinds of things.
It's got a search function in there that will help you to
break down. You know, the identifying
(12:31):
characteristics of what it is that you're searching for and
help you to find it. You can also use Google and
other search functions to help you.
Identify these insect pests. Particularly, if you are able to
use Google's lens function, it'svery very helpful to take a
(12:52):
photo of the insect that might be in question and then use your
Google Lens search in order to be able to find images that are
very similar to what Google Lenssees in your photos.
So your guide for this is going to make sure that you're getting
as close up as possible, you're showing as much detail as
possible. You're kind of cropping out and
(13:14):
anything extra that might be in that photo so that the search
function. Can actually focus on just what
it is that, you want it to identify and then see what you
can find. That is very similar, then Trace
that image back to where it originated and make sure that it
is a trusted source for identification.
So, again, a University, extension website, Maybe it does
(13:37):
lead back to bugguide.net or some other service that is
helping to identify insects. The thing about using these
online searches is that you needto be very specific about what
information you are entering into these resources and how you
enter it in order to be able to really narrow down the search
(13:57):
and we will get to that in here in a second, okay?
And then finally, if you can getyour hand on something like a
Peterson's Field Guide for insects, this is what I use.
And the only reason I even have this is because I got it as part
of my undergrad studies. So it has a lovely pictured.
(14:20):
He to the principal orders of insects in the front and the
back cover, and it has a really cool.
So sort of method for being ableto Identify or break down what
you're looking at. By asking very specific
questions. Does it have wings, does it not
have wings? You know, if it does have wings,
(14:42):
is it got you know, two parts tothe wings?
Is it have four parts to the wings?
Are they visible all the time? Are they not?
Are they talked under, you know,and then it goes on to the next
thing and the next thing. And the next thing in bite order
of elimination, essentially it goes all the way through the key
until it finally gets you To at least the family that that
(15:05):
insect falls into and then you can go and look up the family
and it has all kinds of picturesin it of what the insects are
that fall into that family that are most common and so it gives
a description of each one of those insects and it shows a
picture, you know, breaking it down and makes it a lot easier
for you to figure out. Okay, if you figured out that
(15:26):
this insect is in the family homoptera, then we break it down
into the cicadas and The Hoppersand the white flies and the
aphids and then it breaks it down into.
Okay, well this is what a plant Hopper looks like and this is
what a white fly looks like. So it is very, very handy for me
and somebody who is very nerdy when it comes to this kind of
(15:51):
stuff. But I understand that not
everybody has a Peterson Field Guide for insects sitting on the
bookshelf in their office. For these particular things.
Something that you want to pick up, its really great.
All so for like when you go on ahike, And you see something that
you've never seen before. If you can take a picture of it
and come back, you can actually,you know, use this guide and a
(16:14):
very clear photo of the insect that you're trying to identify
to go through and figure out what it was.
You were actively looking for. But also you know the things
that this field guide talks about in terms of its
identification are really essential for helping us enter
in those parameters into an online search as well. the
(16:35):
identification of insects is notthat much different from iding,
a bird or a mammal or a plant, even if it's just a matter of
knowing, What to look for? And then using a process of
elimination, essentially, to figure out what we're looking
(16:56):
at. The thing that complicates
identifying insects is that there are so many different
kinds. I think in North America alone,
there are over 88,000 species ofinsects.
And a lot of them are really really small, which makes it
hard to see all the different parts that we need to see in
(17:19):
order to recognize those parts in order to ID them.
So, you know, yeah, this is not something that is easy to do and
it's people, you know, people spend their entire careers
identifying insects and and finding new ways to identify
them. And then we also have to take
into consideration that a large portion of these insects look,
completely different as larvae and as or juveniles as they do
(17:46):
as adults. So, I mean, remember, the
ladybug larvae I mentioned. Yeah, looks nothing.
Like a ladybug when it's in its infancy, right?
So I am going to try to give yousome key information that you
can use to help narrow down yoursearch.
When you are trying to identify an insect in your garden, the
(18:06):
more information you have, when you go and do that search, the
closer, you'll get you absolutely want to start with
understanding. What it is that you might be
looking for. Again, making sure that, you
know, what insect pests or beneficials are prevalent in
your area by looking at University extension or looking
(18:28):
at your department of conservation or natural
resources or whatever. And then understanding these
basic insect identification techniques.
So you can enter your search andbe more accurate.
I am super excited that my rose bush from Heirloom Roses has its
first Bloom of the Season. It opened up this week and there
(18:51):
is another one not far behind and I cannot wait to see how
many I get this year after I gotthree immediately after I
planted it last fall. The one thing I'm paying
attention to is the nutrition ofthe plant and Heirloom Roses has
me covered on that one with all kinds of options on their
website. They have multiple options for
feeding your roses and one thingI'm obsessed with and that's the
(19:14):
mint compost. Mint compost is exceptional, at
providing. Moisture, retention in Sandy dry
soils, while also rich in natural humans to help break up
hard, clay soils, if you're planting your rows in the
ground, your I, of course, optedfor a container from my roads.
And the mint compost can also beused as a mulch, top dressing
(19:34):
around my rose bush to help repel aphids and spider mites.
And the other damaging insects that Talking about today that
like to play our roses head to heirloom roses.com, pick out
your beautiful rose plants, add some soil, amendments, and some
mint compost and use code. Just grow at checkout to save
20%, heirloom roses.com with code, just grow the link as
(19:59):
always is in the show notes. Okay.
So what are the basic sort of insect identification techniques
that we can use in order to track down what it is that we're
looking at? The first thing to do is
identify its physical characteristics.
(20:19):
Now, This is going to be a lot easier.
If you can take a picture and then you have time to sit and
look at the darn thing and figure out what it is that
you're looking at. If you try to do this on the
Fly, I mean, yes. Unintended I guess it makes it a
little bit more difficult because you're trying to think
(20:41):
back in your brain, okay, what am I supposed to be figuring out
what? So, you know, I get it.
If you have your phone with you out in the garden, you can snap
a picture great. This makes it easier if you
happen to be out there with a notebook in your, maybe taking
notes in your garden journal, wink, wink nudge.
Then you might be able to write down some quick notes about
this, but just know that this isgoing to take some practice in
(21:04):
in figuring out what it is that you're looking at.
So, you know, don't beat yourself up if this sounds like
it's hard. the first thing that you want to do is, Note its body
shape and size. So is it elongated?
Is it oval? Is it more round?
How big is it? And if you can kind of compare
this to something else that is stable in the garden.
(21:25):
So, you know, if you see it landon a flower and then it flies
away and you're trying to approximate its size.
Well, then measure the size of the flower and then you can add
that in there. This is an insect that is, you
know, 0.25 inches long, or it's four centimeters or whatever it
might be, okay? So the body shape and the size
are some identifying characteristics Coloration and
(21:48):
marking, this is something else.So what colors does it have,
does it have any distinctive patterns or spots on it?
And when we talk about the colors, you know, is it orange
and black? And where is the orange?
And where is the black? Is it happen?
Orange. Body with black wings, does it
have, you know, orange and blackwings with a black body?
(22:09):
All of these things are very particular information that you
could be entering into these search engines or into these
online resources. That is going to help you
further identify what it is thatyou're looking at.
So determine whether or not it has wings.
Whether or not those wings remain visible at all times, say
(22:30):
like a dragonfly, or if it's something that it tucks
underneath a hard shell, like certain Beatles, okay?
If you can count the number of wings, it's a single set of
wings. Are they dual sets of wings like
again on a dragonfly where it has two larger ones, and then
two smaller ones behind it. Also, what about its legs?
(22:51):
How long are the legs are they tucked up underneath its body?
Are they out splayed out to the side.
These are things that you can you know, put in as another
identifier, another one that's really good.
Is whether or not it has antennae if it does have
antennae How long are they antenna?
And what is the shape? There are some very specific
(23:12):
shapes to antenna that will indicate what family that insect
is in. Does it look like a fan?
Is it straight with like a little ball at the end of it?
Like, we typically think of, oh,and antennae are those actually
antenna or are they eyeballs. That's the other thing.
Make sure you understand what itis.
It's you're looking at. So that is why it's really a
(23:34):
good idea if you're trying to IDsomething that you take a
picture of it, okay? The next thing that we want to
observe is its behavioral traits.
Specifically, we are looking at feeding habits.
So what does it doing? When it's eating, is it chewing
on the leaves? Is it sucking the sap or is it
(23:55):
praying on another insect? Right?
This is going to let us know number one, if it's a problem in
the garden, if it's chewing the leaves, or if it's sucking the
sap or if it's praying under insect, that's likely a
beneficial insect. In our garden.
The feeding habits of the insectis going to indicate to us what
its mouth parts are like. And so we have you know biting
(24:18):
mouth parts, we have sucking mouth parts and we have chewing
mouth parts and so these are things that we can use to
identify the insect, the time that it is active in, the garden
is also important. Is it during the day, or is it
more at night? Obviously, a lot of us aren't
out there in our Gardens, in thepitch black.
But if you're out there very, very early morning, like Dawn,
(24:41):
or if you're out there late at night, or late in the evening,
when it's dust, you know, our pollinators and our beneficials,
a lot of the time are really most active between.
Like 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. So if you're out there very
early morning, just as the sun is coming up and you're seeing
this insect activity, it very well, may be something that's
left over from the overnight hours.
(25:02):
Same thing as you're going late into the evening, the Moon is
coming out. The Sun is going down.
If you have a lot of very activeinsects out there, those also
might be more nocturnal insects and that is going to help you
determine what it actually is. And whether or not, it's a good
guy or a bad guy, right? And then all so consider, you
(25:23):
know, its habitat, its location.Where was the insect found was
it on specific plants? Was it in the soil?
Was it out and flying around theflowers Its Behavior and where
you're finding, it is all going to be something that's going to
(25:44):
help narrow down what it is thatyou're looking at and keep in
mind. A lot of insects can be
recognized. By their General parents as
belonging to a specific family and that's going to give you
some really good information. So, you know, you know you you
generally know what like a grasshopper looks like.
(26:05):
You don't necessarily need to know what kind of grasshopper it
is. Because, you know, most
instances, The Grasshoppers are not going to do things that are
really, really good for your garden.
So if you have too many of them,I might be a problem. but, The
closer you look. And the more information that
you have about the insects body parts, its behaviors its habits.
(26:26):
The more likely you will be to track down the insect, the
actual insect that you are. Looking at on one of your
resources, and get more info is to whether or not, it's always a
pest or if it's only sometimes apest, if it's there in Mass
again, like, you know, the Pill bugs, or even grasshoppers, or
(26:46):
if it's something that's always a beneficial or, you know, it's
always one of the bad guys, right?
So I mean look we have some verycommon beneficial insects
ladybugs and generally speaking,this is all ladybugs and when I
say all ladybugs, I mean anything that is in the Cox of a
Cox in Nelly, I think I said that properly Cox and yellow Day
(27:10):
family. Um, we do have certain ones here
specifically in Missouri that are not like the ladybugs that
we are used to, in terms of, youknow, eating the aphids and that
sort of thing. They're a Japanese ladybug I
believe or Japanese lady Beetle.That tend to congregate in the
(27:33):
fall around, door jambs, Etc, and they can actually bite you
but they also are beneficial. They tend to be treated rollers
rather than you know, dwelling down on our Gardens and so yes,
they again can be a nuisance if they are there in Mass.
So even though all ladybugs are predators of aphids and mites
(27:55):
and other soft body insects, where they reside and what type
of ladybug they are is going to determine whether or not they
are helpful in your garden or ifthey are helpful in other ways,
maybe up in the trees, but can be a pest if they are a mask
Gatherings, right? Green lacewings.
Anything in the Christopher De family.
They are larvae feeds on aphids and caterpillars and other
(28:20):
pests. So those are good guys to see in
your garden generally speaking and anything in that family
parasitic wasps, okay? These are going to lay eggs
inside or on the past like the caterpillars, of course, that's
going to lead to the pests demise obviously.
Hover flies surface, the adults,pollinate flowers.
(28:40):
So those are great in terms of being a pollinator, the larvae
also eat aphids so, and among other things, too, I know
there's a few other things that the hoverflies will also predate
on. So, These are good guys to keep
in the garden regardless of where you are.
And then these big-eyed bugs, this is Geo courses, no Geo
chorus, sorry species, they feedon mites, they also eat insect
(29:04):
eggs and small insects. So these are all good guys that
we want in the garden. Of course, really common Garden.
Pests aphids, I don't know of anywhere in Northern or North
America that doesn't have aphidsin some way.
These are those really small soft body insects that suck on
the plant sap. They lead to very distorted
(29:25):
growth. If you get them in Mass, this is
what a lot of our beneficials doactually predate on.
In fact, these are such a problem for gardeners that I
actually did a standalone afib episode way back in episode or
in season 1. I think it might have been like
episode 8 or something like that.
So that should tell you exactly how many people complain about
(29:48):
having aphids as a problem. Tomato hornworms.
This is another big one for a lot of people that was very
large fat caterpillars that can defoliate a tomato plant very
rapidly. These are also tobacco hornworms
and I actually have to look it up.
I cannot remember whether or notthey are the same And they just
go by two different names or if they're actually two different
(30:11):
insects. I have to look that one up, I
don't remember Japanese beetles.This is one that a lot of people
have problems in Sometimes they are overwhelming in their
numbers and other times we have had to where we've just seen a
handful of them and then that's it.
So I'm not familiar enough with their life cycle to be able to
tell you whether or not they sort of Go In Waves.
(30:33):
I do know that we used beneficial nematodes the year
after we realized we had a really bad Japanese beetle
problem, because they overwinteras grubs in the soil and they
feed on a wide range of plants. They will skeletonize the leaves
(30:54):
and they seem to be have a particular affinity for fruit
trees and rose bushes. And there's one other thing too.
I think that of anyway they especially are a problem when
they start to become, you know, an overwhelming new sense.
Squash bugs. You know, I had to mention
squash bugs, they go after squash, right?
And they also go back to, you know, some of the related
(31:16):
plants. They'll go after your cucumber
plants, if you if you allow themto they'll even go hang out in
your tomato, plants. If you don't, they don't have
anything else to eat. So they're gonna cause the
wilting and you know, death of your plant.
Rose saw flies. These are the larvae that feed
on rose leaves. They create this sort of window
painting effect. This is something else that is
very common for folks. I have not seen them here yet.
(31:39):
Hoping my heirloom Rose stays clean of these pests.
I have not seen them, I haven't looked up to see whether or not
that's something that we have toworry about here.
I do know the Japanese beetles go after them.
So I am just keeping an eye out this season.
I am looking to replace some of the last few wooden raised beds.
(31:59):
I have in my kitchen garden withnew beds from plants for box
direct. I'm not one to waste money or
materials just for Aesthetics. So I've been doing this slowly
over the past few years as the wooden beds that we built begin
to break down. It's not just that they look
awful which they do. But there are literally falling
apart at the seams and they're not holding the soil in properly
(32:21):
anymore. I love planter box directs
Planters because they're UV coated.
So they're not going to break down on me and I can get them in
any color combo. I want and in so many different
style as and sizes, three of thebeds.
I'm replacing are tiered bets, but they're in a very narrow
strip on my driveway. The good news is I can choose
(32:41):
from Cascade Planter's. Just like the ones I already
have only sturdier or I can configure two long boxes, just
for that specific space, with all of the options that planter
box direct has on their Website and they go together in mere
minutes for me to be able to jump right in and get them
filled so I can continue on withmy gardening season.
(33:04):
You can save 10% and score free shipping on your new raised
Planters by going to planter boxdirect.com and using Code just
grow 10 at checkbox. Planter box direct.com with
code, just grow 10 for 10% off and free shipping on my favorite
Garden Planters. The link is in the show notes.
(33:24):
So, like we've talked about before, we really want to
regularly, inspect our plants for signs of insect activity.
Good bugs. Bad bugs in different, right?
We want to know what is going onin and around our plants so that
if we do start to see damage, weknow what insects have been most
(33:45):
prevalent out there and we're going to know what to look for.
Take clear photos of anything that you don't recognize as
something in your garden, whether it's good or bad, you
know. And that way you can go and you
can use all of these identifiersfor a search.
Now, how do you do this? You know, I am have been a long
(34:08):
time, the Google Queen, like I can find just about anything on
Google with a little bit of time, but I have to have the
right information and you have to know what to put in to the
search. Be as specific as possible.
You can enter something like flying insect that eats
cucumbers, that has Two wings. That tuck under a hard shell
(34:34):
that are yellow and black. And fly during the day.
Alright, whatever search engine you type that into is going to
take all of that information andit's going to pair it up with
whatever and you likely are going to come up with the answer
of a cucumber beetle. But again, if you can take the
(34:55):
photo that is going to narrow itdown, if you can use like Google
lens and take the photo and all.So add in that additional
information, then you are going to get much clearer results or
at least you're going to have fewer results to shift through,
okay. All in all.
(35:15):
We want to avoid taking any immediate reaction.
So before removing, or destroying an insect out of your
garden, make sure that, you know, what its role is in your
garden ecosystem. I know, You know, there's this
sort of knee-jerk reaction sometimes, like, you see some
damage on your plant, and then you see these insects there and
(35:37):
you make the automatic assumption.
That that thing that is on your plant is responsible for the
damage to that plant, and that may not necessarily be the case.
The other thing too is to understand if it is a beneficial
insect that is just not beneficial when it is in your
garden and mass. Remember what I said about the
(35:57):
pill bugs? I get messages.
Especially this time of the yearwhen the soil tends to be very
damp around here all the time. And I get messages from people,
like, oh my gosh, I have these pill bugs, they are just
destroying my garden, how do I get rid of them?
And my answer to that is always you relocate them, you don't
(36:18):
destroy them. So I give tips and tricks for
how to remove the pill bugs fromthe garden.
Which, by the way, my favorite trick is to cut a potato in half
and put the cut side down into your garden beds in and around
the plants that are being predated on and the pill bugs
will more attracted to the moisture and the decay under
(36:38):
those potatoes and they will gather underneath those potatoes
slices and start to feed on them.
So then all you got to do is walk out.
With a little container of some sort pick up your potato, you
know, tap it into the bucket to drop all the pill bugs off and
put the potato back down again and just keep doing that over
and over again. You will remove a large, you
know, number of the population out of your garden bed, and you
(37:00):
can go and relocate it someplaceelse into a different, you know,
area of your yard, or your garden or whatever, we don't
want to get rid of these insectsbecause they actually are
helping in the garden, there's just too many of them at the
moment, right? The other thing too, is when you
have an insect that is predating, on your insects, on
your insects, on your plants, wewant, we want insects per dating
(37:21):
insects all so, but if you have insects that are predating on
your plants, Make the determination as to whether or
not that damage is actually significant enough to warrant.
Killing off that insect. Because like, I've mentioned
before with aphids, if you have aphids and you are doing what
you can to encourage a really good ecosystem in your garden,
(37:43):
you might find that after a few days of their being some aphid
activity. You start to see ladybug
activity, and they very quickly,keep each other in check.
So I'm never a proponent of removing, an insect or harming
an insect in the garden. Before understanding what is
role is in that Garden ecosystem, but also
understanding whether or not youhave any predators that can come
(38:05):
in and feed on that inceptive, okay?
I I don't know if it's I I don'twant to say it's like oh, you
know all things deserve to live or whatever.
I mean that might be part of it,but I think it really is if we
are trying to be balanced in ourGardens and we are trying to,
you know, avoid a monoculture and we're using all these
(38:26):
interplanting techniques and everything else and it doesn't
make any sense to All Sorts or remove something else.
That is a part of that ecosystem.
Yeah. Well unless it's a squash bug,
and then by all means, go right ahead.
And of course, one more thing that we want to do, I know this
is all about identification, youknow, of the insects but we
really do want to plant a diversity of vegetables and
(38:48):
flowers to attract and support those beneficial insect
populations. And that is going to help us.
If we understand the different roles at the various insects
have in our garden, it helps us make informed decisions that are
not just going to promote our plant health and maybe give us
some peace of mind, but it's also going to promote that
ecological balance. And I think the long the longer
(39:11):
we do that in our own Gardens, the better off we are going to
be each successive season thereafter.
So if we can observe our Gardensvery, very closely utilize our
local resources for identification and online
resources. When we make sure that we trust
the source, we can foster environments that support
(39:32):
beneficial insects and ones thatpredate on those harmful insects
and have a better and healthier Garden overall.
Until next time my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
that dream garden and we'll talkagain soon.
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