What is The Organic Gardener

Being an organic gardener can be challenging at times. Even committed organic gardeners occasionally long to spray poison ivy or goutweed with herbicide. When Japanese beetles or rose chafers arrive in large numbers just before your garden party, you might feel like you're back in the good old days, when you didn't know that spraying an insecticide would kill both harmful and beneficial bugs, thereby making your pest problems worse. However, there are likewise issues that are all the more handily tended to with natural arrangements. The Ecological Landscaping Association meets every winter. Researchers, landscapers, gardeners, and environmentalists gather at the eco-marketplace and conference to exchange information and ideas. The University of Rhode Island's Dr. Richard Casagrande's presentation on biocontrol of invasive species was one of my favorites this year. He explained that organic controls are superior to chemical controls for some issues. According to Casagrande, gardeners have a reflexive reaction when they learn that foreign insect species have been introduced to assist in the control of invasive plants like purple loosestrife: Great. And what will transpire following their consumption of the loosestrife? Will they eat my delphiniums or my peonies? He explained that, despite the fact that good people brought in some evil exotics like kudzu and oriental bittersweet, the process of bringing in foreign insects to fight these plants is tightly controlled. Quarantine labs at the University of Rhode Island are tightly controlled, just like the White House's perimeter. To begin, researchers investigate the invasive species' performance in its native environment. At the beginning of the 1800s, purple loosestrife arrived from Europe, most likely in ship ballast soil. However, there is no issue there. Why not? It advanced there, and over the long haul approximately 120 types of bugs figured out how to adore it. 14 of these are host-specific, meaning they only consume their host. A few of these insects were brought into quarantine labs to see if they would harm any of our major crops, like corn, wheat, or soy, or if they only consumed species that are related to the plants being studied. If you've ever tried to remove purple loosestrife, you know how difficult it is with its impressive root system to do so. New plants can be started from leftover roots that have been dug up. In addition, each mature plant produces millions of tiny seeds annually; consequently, even if a plant is poisoned or removed, the soil is full of time-release capsules—seeds that will begin the process all over again the following year, and so on. The issue cannot be resolved by simply burning the plants. Introduced beetles, on the other hand, can be used to keep it under control. Beetles that consume purple loosestrife have been successfully reducing this exotic's stands since 1994. They reduce the number of plants to about 10% of what they were before the introduction; Predator beetles also decrease in number as the number of plants decreases. Similar efforts are being made to control phragmites, the tall grass that grows in wetlands and ditches next to roads and produces such beautiful flowers. Casagrande has been utilizing biocontrols to decrease populaces of the lily leaf creepy crawly that has been wrecking our oriental and Asiatic lilies lately. You might want to wear the beetles as earrings because they are so pretty: approximately 3/8th of an inch long, it is bright red with black trim. On the other hand, their larvae are disgusting: To deter birds and organic gardeners, they carry their waste on their backs. Casagrande and his associates have presented parasitoids from Europe, minuscule wasps that decrease the beetles populace. The parasitoids are establishing themselves at release sites in New Hampshire and Maine, as well as at test sites in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. So, what options do home gardeners have? First and foremost, be aware that biocontrols are on the way to assist. Second, be aware that both insecticides for beetles and herbicides for plants ultimately fail. Sprays are effective at killing loosestrife and lily leaf beetles, but they cannot eradicate them. Thirdly, select pest-resistant species like "Black Beauty," a lily that the lily leaf beetle finds less appealing. Finally, pick beetles by hand. Last summer, I handpicked lily leaf beetles twice daily but never saw a larva. We organic gardeners must accept that we are not completely in control of the environment and may have to wait or suffer losses from time to time. Biological controls are effective. Some exotic pests, like the birch leaf miner, are now just a minor nuisance, and purple loosestrife is already gone from some locations. Therefore, remain consistent and organic.