Managing pests in organic gardens can sometimes feel uncontrollable if you don’t want to use most pesticides in the market. (And many of these “organic safe” sprays often target beneficial insects, so they can actually do more harm than good.)
So, what will the gardener do when aphids and caterpillars threaten to destroy your crops?
Simple: Plant trap crops.
Trap crops sound exactly like that. Plants that attract and “trap” pests should stay away from vegetables. Decoys for desirable crops such as tomatoes, cabbage, kale, cucumbers, squash, and often do not leave gardens without holes or hitchhikers.
And while the idea of planting more plants when you’re having problems with what you already have seems crazy, let me assure you that trap crops are a really easy way to control pests and that it comes with zero chemicals!
Suitable Case: I grow calendula on the corners and grow along the edges of some raised beds. These burgeoning flowers (also known as pot marigolds) bloom all summer long until the first frost of my climate.
Calendula is an amazing trap crop for planting near lush greenery to attract all aphids. The greenery in my salad rarely harms pests, but looking at the calendula growing right next to them, the stems and flowers are absolutely covered with aphids (and Sundays enjoying the complimentary buffet).
I sow calendula seeds early in spring and then completely ignore them. I don’t even deadhead them. But they do the job heroically, sacrifice themselves, trapping aphids and keeping them away from the plants I care about.
Benefits of Trap Crops
If you are growing organically, the harvest of the traps should be an integral part of your garden. why?
Trap tripping is a completely organic solution
There is no pesticide, neem oil spray, granules or diatomaceous earth, or anything that needs to be applied to plants. Skipping these is much better for the overall health of your garden and will also result in less work for you.
It’s cheap (and we like cheap)
Seeds only have a few dollars in the packet. At the end of the season, you can replenish the flower seeds to a smaller extent. (I am a fan who buys Calendula and Marigold Seeds from the Dollar Store.)
It surrounds all your pests in one place
Rather than sprinkling pests throughout your garden, they end up (almost) with your trap crops. (Details below.)
How to use trap crops
The key to successful harvesting of trap crops is knowing what types of pests you are dealing with, what kinds of plants you prefer, and timing your trap crops properly.
Ideally, you want the trap crop to be a little more mature than the plant you are trying to protect. If your tomatillo plant has plenty of lush green growth by early summer, your nasturtium should already be strong. (Needless to say, large plants will be able to better deal with the onslaught of hungry pests.)
With that in mind, always start up trap crops early and have enough extras as a backup in case you lose trap crops to bold pest damage.
This is a list of trap crop plantings to protect the most valuable plants.
Calendula and nastrutium are grown near the lush greenery to trap aphids. Nastoltium is also a magnet for flea beetles, so plant it all over your garden. As the season goes on, they aren’t that great, but your crops will be! Grow radish as a trap crop for flea beetles that attack tomatillos, tomatoes, spinach, melons and brassicas. Radishes that mature by early spring are also an effective trap for cabbage worms that replicate cabbage and broccoli seedlings. The leaves of radish are damaged by pests, but the roots themselves are free of damage and can be harvested. Grow sunflowers and lock in bugs with stenching and leaves. Fresh marigolds (Tagetes Patula) are grown around carrots, chard, beets, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash to control root ties. (I recommend these nematode-controlled marigolds.) Marigolds are also effective trap crops for earwigs, which can cause serious damage to these flowers. Grow flowering tobacco (Nicotiana) around your garden and maintain horn worms from tomato plants. Mature dill planted near tomatoes helps trap horn worms. Planted at the edge of your garden, amaranth will keep cucumber beetles away from cucumbers and squash plants. Grow sherbils around lettuce and other sensitive crops to trap slugs and snails. Grow millets among squash plants and trap squash bugs that actually like this grain crop. Grow blue Hubbard squash around the garden to attract cucumber beetles, squash bugs and squash grape insects. Make sure to plant the blue Hubbard at least 2-3 weeks before the main squash crop. This will make the blue Hubbard bigger and more desirable for pests. Grow zinias throughout the garden to protect fruits and fruit trees from Japanese beetles.
What to do with the pests you trapped
Well, now you have sacrificial plants that flock with pests. What do you do with that?
In some cases, you can leave it as is. Pest invasions attract natural predators that ultimately come to feast. And keeping these predators is good for your garden!
Here’s how to use predatory insects for biological pest control:
In other instances, it is best to remove destructive pests before moving from the trap crop. Check the leaves and flowers frequently, frequently check visitors such as budding insects, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, squash grape worms, and even squash grape worms, and destroy them as soon as they see them. Caterpillars like horn worms, cabbage worms, and cabbage loopers are large enough to be picked and smoothed by hand (or left in the bird feeder as a feed).
If the stems are severely invaded, cut them off and drop them in a bucket of soapy water. Plants that have been invaded too far will be pulled completely, sealed in a bag and thrown into the garbage to prevent pests and their eggs from remaining in your garden.
Don’t forget that trap crops are just one of the pest control puzzles
Having some pests in your garden is normal and healthy. Every pest has a purpose, even if they are simply there as a source of food for other insects and wildlife. Whether you find a caterpillar or two on the leaves (please pick it up), or aphids on old, tired plants (leave them for predators or remove infected leaves).
Trap cropping is a useful technique for managing bad bugs naturally, but it is important to plant vegetables and various beneficial flowers to attract good bugs.
