Beyond the popular beneficial lady beetle, lies a host of not-so‐well known insects and organic products that are surprisingly efficient at keeping pest populations and plant diseases in check. This episode looks at using natural predators and insects to keeps pests in check. We’ll also explore natural remedies for dealing with some common plant diseases in the home garden.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
I’m happily binge watching your shows for a while today and am so very pleased to come upon this one!
One criteria of completing my local university’s (wonderful!) master gardener class was volunteer hours at the (county) extension service hotline. I was many times dismayed by the permission to advise the use of so many synthetic products when I KNEW alternatives such as this were available, but I was never quite sure enough of the recipes to give them out with confidence. Until now:)
Thank you SO MUCH for such a thoughtful, informative program. Entertaining; created & executed with integrity & intelligence…. it’s such a necessary joy in my world! Joe, your garden is my screensaver (& sanity saver) at the office 🙂 What a dream job you have! In that, I thank you all for the work you do to make Growing A Greener World available to us.
Question: are there any plants that cannot handle the hot pepper spray? And how often can one spray (if one must)? Thanks for any feedback on this!
Peace & blessings~
What is attacking my beautiful Basil plants? Almost looks like black spot on roses. Is it that you are not supposed to wet the leaves? Any organic answers? Also what do you recommend using as an organic pesticide for herbs? I can only plant in pots. Thank you.
Sally,
I’m not sure where you live but is it possible the plants could have been hit by some cold temperatures?
I would cut them back and avoid using any pesticides, even if organic. Basil should recover quickly. I hope this helps. Have a great season in the garden.
Hi Joe,
I love your show. I have a question about organic pesticides. I live in Florida and for several years, it took several seasons to get the hang of gardening here ( it’s NOT easy) Moved from South Carolina. Anyway, I have these tiny black worms on my tomatoes, mostly the leaves. I am not familiar with them. This place has some weird critters!! Can you tell me what to use? Thank you so much!
Sabrina,
Thanks for your positive feedback. Florida is a great place to grow tomatoes but it also has its own set of challenges with the intense heat and humidity. If you send a photo of the worm on your tomato leaves (email) to your local Cooperative Extension Service I’m certain they can identify the culprit. There are tomato fruit worms, pinworms and hornworms to name a few.
An organic pest control is Bt. Here is more information about it. https://www.britannica.com/science/Bacillus-thuringiensis
For more information on tomatoes, Craig LeHoullier has a website and has been featured on Growing a Greener World, https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/episode-803-epic-tomatoes/ ://www.craiglehoullier.com/intro/. I hope this helps. Best of luck.
I watched today’s episode but didn’t catch the number of it so I can’t find what I was looking for which is the product Joe recommended for getting rid of caterpillars and bugs. Can I find that somewhere on this site?
Hi Josie. For caterpillars, you need B.t (Bacillus thuringiensis). It’s safe to use as an organic control that only kills caterpillar larvae. So that is what I suggest for them. I don’t make a recommendation for “bugs” without knowing which bugs you’re trying to control. However, insecticidal soap is effective for many soft-bodied pests if you make direct contact.
Loved the show! I too had been wondering about many of the “concoction” books. Even have a couple. I am very grateful for the scientific research information presented that helps to eliminate the time spent doing our own trial and error. Never enough time these days.
Hello Joe,
I discovered your program only last year. Have enjoyed and learned from many of your shows. Never knew that watering measured amount of water everyday to a newly planted or transplanted shrubs is better than deep watering every few days. (Let me know if this is correct interpretation).
I also plan to get Jeff Gilman’s book . I was fascinated by few points he discussed about myths and truths of organic gardening. Please tell me asap if giving Epsom salt in early spring to perennials and shrubs is a good practice??
I love growing a greener world. I learn so much from this show, so informative. Also thanks to Jeff Gilman I now know that milk could be used to control pest, I will try it on my Knock out rose bush.
I love this series. I was happy it explained about the dishwashing liquid.
I loved learning about the natural pest, and plant disease recipes. Is there a way to get the recipes without having to re-watch the show and copy them down?
Not at this time Patricia. But I suggest you get Jeff Gilman’s book, The Truth About Organic Gardening. It’s got all that and much more.
Excellent show. Lots of good basic information and some fun DIY tips–I’d never heard of using milk as a pest control agent before!P Thanks for the great gardening guidance.