Questions tagged [pests]

For questions about garden pests such as insects, birds and mammals.

In horticulture, the word "pests" is usually used for macroscopic animals, although smaller organisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes) could be considered pests, as well as invasive plants (e.g. vines and parasitic plants).

Macroscopic animal pests are dominated by insects and mammals, although other arthropods, reptiles, and birds could all be pests.

All of these groups primarily contain beneficial or neutral organisms, so generally control methods should be limited and in the form of deterrents rather than chemical poisons.

544 questions
9
votes
3 answers

Will growing Garlic in a garden keep insects away?

I was reading about how Garlic keeps insects away, and was wondering if just growing garlic in the garden will keep insects like Mosquitoes away.
black thumb
  • 8,786
  • 2
  • 30
  • 67
9
votes
1 answer

Should I let brown snails in the garden?

I have a small garden and it is full of cactus, wild aloe vera and beautiful pink roses. I buy vegetables from a organic farmer and some of them have brown garden snails. Instead of throwing them away or kill them, I simply put them in a big pot…
kidra.pazzo
  • 1,181
  • 3
  • 12
  • 20
9
votes
1 answer

How can I organically prevent green caterpillars from eating up my kale plants?

Possible Duplicate: What is an effective organic pesticide to use against aphids or cabbage loopers? So these little green caterpillars have been eating most of my kale plants. What can I do to prevent this from happening without chemical…
Matt Rockwell
  • 392
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
8
votes
7 answers

What to do about grubs in vegetable garden and potted tree?

This Spring there seem to be grubs all over my garden, in just about any handful of dirt you flip over. There are lots of articles about how to handle grubs in your lawn, but I don't have a lawn, just a vegetable garden. (Left image is public…
Robert
  • 255
  • 1
  • 3
  • 6
8
votes
10 answers

How can I remove moles from my lawn?

The pest control professional told me that there may be moles in my yard. Some parts of the lawn were torn up, especially in small areas where the lawn did not grow well and was bare. They told me that removing moles can be quite expensive. Are…
user288609
  • 203
  • 2
  • 3
8
votes
2 answers

Should I clear my plants of cobwebs?

I have a few plants that have cobwebs on them. Should I clear these cobwebs and discourage the spiders that live there, as they may cause damage to the plants, or should I leave them, as they might take care of a few airborne pests? This answer…
Danger Fourpence
  • 1,328
  • 2
  • 12
  • 29
8
votes
3 answers

How can I keep snails off my Day Lilies?

I have never had a problem with snails, but since planting a large swathe of day lilies I have found between twenty and fifty snails a day in that patch. I have been disposing of every one, to no avail. Are day lilies especially tasty to snails? Is…
Rory Alsop
  • 2,211
  • 1
  • 17
  • 30
8
votes
1 answer

Is something wrong with my zucchini plant?

I have three large zucchini plants in my garden, and all three have been producing nice fruits for a few weeks. The last couple days, one of them has started to turn yellow and sickly: I've never grown zucchini before, so I'm not sure if this is…
Flimzy
  • 1,180
  • 2
  • 12
  • 24
8
votes
1 answer

White Bead on an indoor pepper plant

I moved my pepper plants indoors to overwinter them and one has recently developed some small white beads on the leaves that I am unfamiliar with. Which pest am I dealing with and how best can I handle them to keep my peppers healthy? Located in…
8
votes
5 answers

Fig tree - white holes & bald spots

I’ve searched for fig tree ailments (and there are many!) but can’t find a match for my problem. Can anyone help? Many of the leaves look like this - the leaf bulk has been eaten away and there is left either a hole, or a fine white mesh (I guess…
VarFrance
  • 145
  • 1
  • 4
8
votes
1 answer

What is the best way to keep deer away?

I've been contemplating putting up a fence, but I'm not exactly sure how high it should be. Can anyone point me to some instructions on what specs a good deer fence should have as well as how to build it? I have also seen motion sensor sprinklers…
Abe Miessler
  • 1,438
  • 2
  • 10
  • 19
8
votes
1 answer

What is happening to our potato plants? (going black, wilting)

We have a row of 3 different heirloom potato varieties, 50 originally, of which we've lost about 15 to a problem we'd like to identify. The following photos show the start of the issue, through to a completely wilted and near dead plant over the…
Lamar Latrell
  • 243
  • 3
  • 7
8
votes
1 answer

What is eating the leaves of my rubber plant?

They were fine few days ago, now these almost transparent patches exist on the leaves. I inspected the leaves, and there is no bug I can see. But they look like they got chewed by some small insect. What is this and how should I avoid…
4-K
  • 3,117
  • 10
  • 42
  • 61
8
votes
2 answers

Brown spots around the veins on a hot pepper plant's leaves

I noticed this on some on my Carolina Reaper plants. A lot of the leaves have this kind of spots surrounding the midrib and the veins. The plants grow indoors in 5l pots but I kept them in the garden for a period of about half a year when the…
toniedzwiedz
  • 440
  • 3
  • 12
8
votes
1 answer

Pinus sylvestris yellowing problem

I'm pretty new to gardening and I recently (~2 weeks ago) got a Pinus sylvestris 'Fastigiata' plant and I noticed that some needles started to yellow. Here are a few pics:- The yellowing is mostly on the internal and lower needles, but there is…
Milan
  • 81
  • 4
1 2
3
36 37