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Garden slug belong to the large group of animals known as the mollusks. It is really no more and no less than a snail which has almost or quite lost its shell. Of course garden slug can be an irritating pest for anyone who is into gardening. But we must not forget that there are benefits for the environment from them. Garden slug is able to re-grow its head, hermaphroditic and the slime trail it leaves is an indication of its presence. Early in the morning this trail may appear as silver streaks on the plant surface, but as the day progresses it dries out and becomes less visible. A garden slug?s eggs can lie solemn and dormant for many years without being activated. Therefore, however it could be controlled with less-toxic methods and products such as trapping and baiting with pellets and hand harvesting.

Hand picking emerges as the most popular method of picking slugs although it could be quite tiring. So here’s how you start: lay boards, overturned pots and grapefruit halves spent in the garden soil, before dusk. And also adding some rops of liquid dish soap to water and resting the hand picked garden slug in it too would work. Then they can be recycled into your garden pond as fish food or offered to the birds.

Garden slugs are commonly known as annoying pests, but they are caught red handed very rarely because they start coming out at night. When they are out, they usually hide in dark and moist places, such as in underground spaces underneath pots. Another popular way of hunting garden slugs is the beer trap. By making a weak coffee brew with ground coffee and water and spraying the plants too work and most commonly known as the coffee spray.

When it comes to the chemical methods; mixing 1 part Ammonia to 6 parts water is a great solution for killing garden slugs. Metaldehyde which is originally sold as a solid fuel is one of best ways to control the garden slug and Methiocarb is the next thing which is ten times more poisonous to mammals than Metaldehyde. If you have to use chemicals to kill garden slugs, it is better to use Metaldehyde and for economic and successful results, use it sparingly. Iron phosphate is known as quite environmentally friendly although it is a pesticide. It has shown no toxicity for mammals, fish, birds, earthworms and beetles if applied as per the correct instructions. It?s guaranteed that garden slugs are known to stop feeding afterwhich they die within 3 to 6 days upon consuming iron phosphate laced bait.

It?s a must to control the garden slug if you want to see healthy, uneaten plants in your garden once again. But it is better if you can use chemicals only as a last resort.

Aphids control

Aphids, also known as plant lice, greenflies, whiteflies and black flies in different parts of the world are a type of sap- sucking insects that belong to family Aphididea. Even though from the zoological standpoint aphids are known to be one of the hardiest animals, they are the worst enemies of gardeners and farmers in the temperate region. There are over 4400 known species of aphids and they differ anatomically. In fact, some aphids are comparatively larger and bright green in color whereas others are almost colorless and tiny.

Aphids feed on thousands of varieties of plants and that?s exactly why you can never be too sure that your field or garden isn?t vulnerable to a sudden attack. They pierce the outer layers of the plant and suck of phloem sap that will in turn cause the plant to wither and die due to the lack of nutrients. Apart from damaging vital tissue of plants directly, aphids are successful vectors of plant viruses. For example, the green peach aphid is a vector for over 100 plant viruses.

Therefore, it is crucial to be ready for an aphid attack and be knowledgeable about aphids control. There are several methods in which you can control these pests. Chemical methods, that is, using insecticides are the quickest, easiest and most convenient mode of aphids control. However, using artificial chemicals isn?t recommendable due to its environmental and health hazards. Thus, rather than using artificially synthesized chemicals like organophosphates and orgonochlorines, it is safer and also more effective to use some naturally produced insecticide.

An easy pesticide that can be made at home is to mix a couple of vegetable or white mineral oil with 2 teaspoons of soap and some water. This mixture can be used to defend your home garden from pests and is a very effective, plus inexpensive method of aphids control. Mixing ground garlic with veggie oil and applying those on the trunks of the plants will ensure that aphids are repelled from your garden. If in case the aphids have already started attacking the garden, the best to do is to trim away the attached parts. It is likely that mutant aphid mucus will be inside the attacked plant parts so by chopping them away, you can ensure that the rest of your favorite plant is safe.

Experts also recommend hand picking as an effective method of aphids control, but this is time consuming and not one of the favorite tasks of gardeners. Another fact is that aphids get attracted to highly nourished plants. In other words, if you use a lot of nitrogen fertilizers in your garden, it is more likely that aphids may decide to settle there. Therefore, using natural fertilizers such as dead leaves or manure is better. In fact, it is more environmentally friendly too.

If you follow one of the few methods mentioned above, you can be guaranteed that your garden is free from aphids without having to spend dollars and dollars on expensive aphids control methods that are advertised on television.

Japanese beetles mate during the summer and lay their eggs on the ground. When the eggs hatch the larvae delve into the ground. During the larval stage, the Japanese beetles live in lawns and other grasslands, and it eats the roots of grass. One year later the Adult Japanese beetles arise. These insects damage plants by consuming only the leaf material between the ribs. The Japanese beetle is a serious pest of sod and ornamental plants. It needs to be monitored and controlled in nursery commodities, golf courses, recreational fields, and home lawns. It is important to minimize damage to turf and nursery plants and prevent Japanese beetles spread to other areas. Japanese beetles tend to be most active when temperature is over 85 degrees Fahrenheit and the air is relatively still. Stay alert and you will see new beetles coming into your yard during these conditions.

Nature does its best to control this threat but it just isn’t enough. Some natural predators like meadowlarks, cardinals, and golf course ducks and geese are a solution but now you can find a lot of commercial traps on the market. Most use a pheromone to attract the Japanese beetles to the trap. Or else you have to follow the manual way by immediately pick them off and drop them into a container of soapy water.

Natural trapping is little old fashioned but it?s a simple method to get rid of these pests. Even though you won’t get rid of all of them, you can at least reduce their numbers. If you plant garlic around your garden area, Japanese beetles apparently have very little tolerance to this.

Commercial Pesticides are the most trusted way to get rid of Japanese beetles but be careful using, when you?re your kids around. An added problem is that sometimes your beneficial bugs too may be killed. Milky Spore, a bacterium, is used as an organic control for grubs. Japanese beetles usually have babies in lawns. So all you need to do is spread the milky spore (bacillus papillae) before you could see the grubs die.

It is true that Japanese beetles are a serious pest of about 300 species of plants including rose bushes, grapes etc. which costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million in damage each year in USA. If you see a few of the bugs in your garden, they?ll probably attract more. Get rid of Japanese beetles early, before they can invite more of their friends to feed on your plants. If the pest is bothering you bad enough, get rid of the pest quickly, quietly, effectively, and be efficient doing it. If you discourage them early, Japanese beetles will definitely pass on your garden in favor of a more attractive and habitable spot.