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Pests such as snails, leaf bugs or flea beetles make life difficult for the gardener. Today everything is fine and overnight the leaves and plants are eaten. Symptoms and countermeasures below.

In a nutshell

  • Slugs clean beds overnight
  • Beetroot fleas gnaw holes in cruciferous plant leaves
  • Caterpillars love young leaves and leaf tips
  • Ants eat pests and their larvae
  • Caterpillars eat very large holes in the foliage

Different dimensions

Vegetables or ornamental plants are growing well, but suddenly overnight leaves are eaten, they have holes or plants have disappeared completely. The feeding damage caused by pests can take on completely different dimensions, such as:

  • Leaves have more or less large holes
  • Leaf edges with feeding damage
  • Scrape damage on the underside or top of the leaf
  • sometimes only leaf veins remain

Hail, fungal diseases and mainly animal pests can be responsible for these different types of damage to leaves or whole plants. It is important to recognize these in good time to avoid further damage to the garden. The most common of these are:

flea beetles

These are two to four millimeter small beetles. They are black in color, sometimes with yellow stripes. They occur particularly in large numbers during long periods of drought. Her favorite foods mainly include cruciferous plant leaves such as:

  • radish
  • radish
  • Kohlrabi
  • cauliflower

These are eaten and decorated with small holes. However, flea beetles are relatively easy to combat:

  • Loosen the soil regularly
  • keep well moist
  • Darken the soil with a layer of mulch
  • this keeps moisture in the ground
  • Use of lawn clippings ideal
  • Mixed culture with onions and garlic
  • Odor deters flea beetles
  • continued spreading of plant manure from tansy or wormwood
  • Glue strips between the rows

Tip: Dusting the plants with rock flour or algae lime also drives away these pests. They don't like the smell. At the same time, this fertilizes the plant.

leaf bugs

The bugs are particularly fond of young plants, and actually don't stop at any plant. Are very popular:

Source: Quartl, Elasmostethus interstinctus qtl1, edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • strawberries
  • other soft fruit
  • Vegetables like beans, potatoes and cabbage
  • Ornamental plants such as roses and hibiscus

The presence of leaf bugs can be recognized by the following characteristics:

  • typical pitting
  • irregularly large, roundish holes on leaves
  • Puncture site often discolored yellowish
  • with severe infestation completely sifted leaves
  • also affect fruit
  • this may result in deformities

Fighting these pests is quite simple:

  • just collect
  • preferably early in the morning
  • Animals are still lazy
  • in case of danger they drop to the ground
  • play dead
  • making it easy to collect
  • Keep soil evenly moist
  • always remove weeds
  • Spraying the plants with a jet of water
  • then cover the plants with vegetable fly netting
  • alternatively use soft soapy water
  • spray several times a day

Tip: Natural enemies of leaf bugs are birds and toads. Gloves should be worn when collecting as they squirt a stinky secretion.

vine weevil

They, too, are the terror of many gardeners. The vine weevils are nocturnal. The leaves are eaten, but this is not dangerous for the plant. However, the situation is different with their larvae, which become active in the root area of the plant. There they nibble off the fine roots, which are responsible for absorbing water, and later also the main roots. Eventually the plant dies. First symptoms are:

Otiorhynchus sulcatus. Source: anonymous, ARS Otiorhynchus sulcatus, crop from Plantopedia, CC0 1.0
  • small indentations and holes on the leaves
  • prefers ornamental plants such as roses, cherry laurel, angel's trumpet

Control measures are:

  • collect in the dark using a flashlight
  • alternatively place flower pots under plants
  • fill with wood wool
  • Animals hide there
  • then resettlement easily possible
  • Planting of strong smelling plants like marigold, marigold
  • use of nematodes
  • Larvae available as a powder
  • Addition to the irrigation water
  • pests destroyed within three days

rodent

Mice are very common in gardens, mostly the field mouse. It lives on cultivated land, meadows and grasses and digs long tunnels under the ground, so that the ground sometimes collapses. A well-designed vegetable patch is a perfect invitation for mice. They love fresh foliage and don't stop at fruits such as strawberries or the bark of bushes and trees.
Before there is a plague of mice, the first measures to combat it should be taken:

  • Animals are sensitive to smells
  • hate smells like turpentine, elderberry, cypress, garlic, imperial crowns
  • place a soaked turpentine cloth at the entrances and exits
  • Spread garlic or make a broth
  • also suitable brew from elderberries
  • Distribution along the aisles
  • Planting of cypresses or imperial crowns
  • Mouse ears are sensitive, therefore
  • bury glass bottles halfway into the ground
  • wind whistling through opening is very uncomfortable
  • Installation of metal wind turbines
  • natural enemies: cats, birds of prey such as owls, buzzards

Tip: Mice, especially voles, are also active underground. They prefer to eat roots, bulbs and tubers. Affected growths die.

caterpillars

Young foliage and shoot tips of various trees and other plants are very popular with them. The occurring caterpillars can be green, brown but also gray in colour. A severe infestation can lead to defoliation. Most of the damage is done by various butterfly larvae or sawfly larvae. Feeding damage to the edge of the leaf or very large holes in the leaf itself can occur. Measures can be:

Source: Bernd Kirchberg, Cabbage White caterpillars, edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • collecting the animals
  • planting of garlic
  • Distribution of algae lime around the plant

snails

Slugs are arguably every gardener's worst enemy. Lettuce is particularly popular, but herbs, vegetables and flowers are not scorned either. Whole cultures can be destroyed overnight. Not only leaves are eaten, but there is sometimes a complete defoliation. Measures must be taken as soon as snails appear:

  • collect regularly
  • Set out bowls filled with beer
  • Animals drown in it
  • Laying out slug pellets or self-adhesive copper tape
  • Place barriers of pine needles, nut shells or egg shells around beds
  • water beds in the morning
  • lay out pieces of cardboard or boards before it rains
  • Animals hide underneath
  • easy pick up in the morning
  • natural enemies: bird, toad, hedgehog, shrew, runner duck

Tip: Ants do not eat pest larvae, but also snail eggs.

birds

Birds are usually considered beneficial in the garden as they actively help in pest control. However, some feathered friends like starlings, blackbirds, pigeons and sparrows can also cause a lot of damage in gardens like:

  • Feeding damage to fruits
  • mainly blackbirds and starlings
  • Leaf damage on young vegetable plants
  • Salad is very popular
  • Causes mainly pigeons and sparrows
  • no protection of seeds and seedlings

However, there are several ways to protect against birds:

  • Cover with bird protection nets
  • mainly vegetable and strawberry beds
  • Installation of scarecrows
  • Use of glittering, fluttering and noise-making materials
  • Bird deterrent strips made of colorful aluminum strips
  • CD discs can also be used
  • Installation only for a short time
  • Animals get used to it quickly

wildlife

Wild animals such as deer and wild rabbits also like to rest in local gardens. Deer love the foliage of fruit trees, ornamental plants, rosebuds and tree bark, and wild rabbits like to get lost in vegetable and flower beds. Here leaves are eaten or completely consumed. Appropriate measures should therefore be taken to prevent browsing by game:

  • high fence or hedge
  • at least 150 cm high
  • close-meshed
  • only 4 cm large mesh
  • Bury 40 cm deep in the ground
  • Protect trees with plastic log protectors or wire pants
  • alternatively white lime paint
  • Powder roses, vegetables with rock flour
  • has a bitter taste
  • Place branches of apple trees away from growth
  • distract rabbits from the vegetable patch
  • Use of deterrent "wild stop"
  • unpleasant smell and taste
  • consists of blood meal

frequently asked Questions

Can a pest infestation in the garden be prevented?

A healthy plant in its optimal location is usually spared from pests. With regular green manure, the addition of compost or mulching, the plants are strengthened. Dusting with rock flour or algae lime also puts pests away, but promotes plant growth. Plant manure can also be used. To prevent snail infestation, beds should be raked smooth in autumn and only dug up after the first frost. This prevents eggs from being laid in cracks in the ground.

Does an insect hotel help with pest control in the garden?

Naturally. This attracts natural predators such as earworms, parasitic wasps, ladybugs, etc. into the garden. A wide variety of plant pests are at the top of their menu.

Can you buy natural predators?

In some garden centers and on the Internet, eggs from a wide variety of predators are offered. These stick to small cards and only have to be hung up on the plant. After a few days, the animals hatch and begin their work.

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Category:

Garden pests