What’s Your Go-To Organic Pest Control Method? 🐛✨

[TEG Project Manager]

Every gardener has that one trusty trick to keep pests at bay without reaching for harsh chemicals. Some swear by neem oil sprays, others rely on companion planting, and a few keep a bucket of soapy water close by for hand-picking stubborn bugs.

Whether it’s something simple you’ve used for years, or a clever hack you recently discovered, we’d love to hear your secrets! Not only could your method save someone else’s garden, but it might also spark a few new ideas for your own.

So, what’s your favorite organic pest control method—and why does it work so well for you?

 

[flowerbug]

no sprays are used here for bugs. the birds, other animals, spiders, etc. all get their shot at eating what they can find.

once in a while if i'm feeling really peevish i can go out and squish JBs by hand, but i don't really have that kind of time these days so not much of that is going on - it is a very futile activity...

if we are talking about critter type pests then the best results i get are from good fences, and then rat traps for the smaller ones and the air rifle for the larger ones (in that order).

in a normal season i may have to shoot a few groundhogs and rabbits and trap a few chipmunks, but in extreme seasons i've had to trap chipmunks by the dozens and for a while we had a lot of rabbits around. i shot at a few of them and chased a small one and haven't seen them since. i also weeded the gardens. not much more extra bunny food in them now or places to hide. i do not hunt deer.

 

[Marie2020]

Diatomaceous earth, organic slug pellets Beer in cans also for slugs and salt

 

[Marie2020]

no sprays are used here for bugs. the birds, other animals, spiders, etc. all get their shot at eating what they can find.

once in a while if i'm feeling really peevish i can go out and squish JBs by hand, but i don't really have that kind of time these days so not much of that is going on - it is a very futile activity...

if we are talking about critter type pests then the best results i get are from good fences, and then rat traps for the smaller ones and the air rifle for the larger ones (in that order).

in a normal season i may have to shoot a few groundhogs and rabbits and trap a few chipmunks, but in extreme seasons i've had to trap chipmunks by the dozens and for a while we had a lot of rabbits around. i shot at a few of them and chased a small one and haven't seen them since. i also weeded the gardens. not much more extra bunny food in them now or places to hide. i do not hunt deer.

I'm saying nothing, for once.

Okay. I've changed my mind. Furry creatures

 

[digitS']

I am willing to ignore some pest damage in the vegetable garden.

Neem oil works for aphids and spider mites but seems harder on the plants than insecticidal soap, when the sun is out the next day. Our climbing rose has mildew almost every year. Mildew will cause me to pull vegetable plants. This year, I tried neem on the rose instead of sulphur fungicide or a synthetic and if made no difference that I could see. Sulphur works okay.

Spinosad works well for many insects and if a few are still around after a few days –– I can hit them with pyrethrin. That's a good One/Two punch with dissimilar bug killers.

I have had very good success with hammering rocks into ground squirrel and marmot burrows. Flooding the burrows of voles with a slow trickle of water has also worked.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

I'm saying nothing, for once.

Okay. I've changed my mind. Furry creatures

if i didn't have to, i wouldn't, i'd much rather do other things with my time.

 

[Dahlia]

Every gardener has that one trusty trick to keep pests at bay without reaching for harsh chemicals. Some swear by neem oil sprays, others rely on companion planting, and a few keep a bucket of soapy water close by for hand-picking stubborn bugs.

Whether it’s something simple you’ve used for years, or a clever hack you recently discovered, we’d love to hear your secrets! Not only could your method save someone else’s garden, but it might also spark a few new ideas for your own.

So, what’s your favorite organic pest control method—and why does it work so well for you?

View attachment 77446

My favorite pest control strategy is intended to battle slugs. I put out Dixie cups half full of beer here and there around my garden plants buried in the soil up to the rim. The slugs cant resist a drink after a hot day in the sun, so they dive in the cup, drink the beer and drown!

If you water by sprinkler, you can take it up a notch by putting those fancy cocktail umbrellas by each cup to keep them from filling up with water!

 

[ducks4you]

I got stung by a bumblebee several years ago. I was mowing next to their hive. I called out the Apiary guys who removed honeybees from DD's house. They identified the underground nest of the bumblebees, but had no solution, save water.
I ran my hose for a full hour and that flooded out the nest without chemicals.
They also told me that the stinger leaves and indelible scent and that if I get stung again, unlike lightening, they will strike me twice in the same spot.

 

[Dahlia]

I got stung by a bumblebee several years ago. I was mowing next to their hive. I called out the Apiary guys who removed honeybees from DD's house. They identified the underground nest of the bumblebees, but had no solution, save water.
I ran my hose for a full hour and that flooded out the nest without chemicals.
They also told me that the stinger leaves and indelible scent and that if I get stung again, unlike lightening, they will strike me twice in the same spot.

Bees, wasps, and hornets often target me and I scream like a little girl! I have been stung 3x in the same spot at the same time.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Ground bees are very aggressive in most cases this time of year. There is one exception and not aggressive bee nest and I leave that ground nest alone. But the aggressiveness of the other ground bees are a threat to anyone near by.
My best method to eliminate them is at night when they are all in the nest and no signs of lingering bees at the entrance , is pouring a bucket soapy water down the opening , then capping the nest with a heavy rock. That’s easy peasy and it works well on ground bees around my pastures and garden.