Protecting Seedlings From Pests

If you are a proud owner of plants, then you already know that your biggest enemies are pests, especially if your plants are still seedlings. That is because seedlings represent the perfect food for pests to munch on, since they are still young and soft. So, the best advice I could give you is to identify, plan and attack. You need to properly know what you are dealing with, first, to be able to effectively eliminate it. So, here is what I would do to protect my seedlings.

1. Build physical barriers

This type of barrier is perfect if your culprit is an animal like rabbits, deer or maybe even caterpillars. The damage they do is larger than other types of pests, so if you find that your whole garden is gone or half of your seedlings are dead, then you are probably dealing with one of those. The easiest and the most effective way to get rid of them is to surround your garden with a physical barrier. Your barrier needs to be high enough so they can’t jump over it and properly installed in the ground so they wouldn’t be able to crawl from under it.

2. Don’t use pesticide

I find that most people who are suffering from pests tend to go for pesticides because they think it is the easiest and fastest way to get rid of them. But you wouldn’t do that if you ever experienced pesticide poisoning. Using pesticides, especially artificial ones, could have detrimental consequences, so I would suggest you steer away from it completely.

Basically pests are attracted to light so they would be drawn to the light of the zappers and your problem would be solved. Instead of using pesticides that could cause harm you could try searching for the best bug zapper you could find. The best kind are the LED ones because they save energy and produce brighter light, so technically they are more effective no matter where you put them. You could also set traps for animals like mice all around, this could work too. There are various alternatives to pesticides that are just as effective and pose less danger to you or your plants.

3. Grow different plants

You see, specific pests are attracted to specific plants and are repelled by others. Royal acorns are resistant to squash bugs for example. So if I were you, I would mix and match my plants to protect them from the different types of pests. This way, they are confused and their senses are overwhelmed which leaves the seedlings safe from their clutches.

4. Take note

One thing you need to be very careful of is that not all pests are harmful some are very beneficial to your plants. Yes, they do feed on some of them, but essentially they are also good for your garden. That’s why if you ever encounter those, just leave them be. They aren’t worth the effort and if you actually do get rid of them, then you might be doing more harm than good.

It’s an experiment

Growing your very own seedlings and trying to protect them is a form of trial and error. You need to do a lot of research and try to understand what dangers they might face and how you could take care of them. It’s a lot of work I know, but it’s also very rewarding, especially when you see your plants growing and realize that you are the one responsible for that. In the end, it’s all worth it, so I wish you the best of luck growing the plants you love.