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Gardening Practices Designed to Reduce Bug Damage Insect pests can damage or destroy practically every vegetable crop grown in Georgia. Fortunately, available insecticides will control most of them. In many cases an insecticide will be required to control insects adequately. However, there are several practices you can follow to avoid or at least reduce insect damage and problems. Before planting your vegetables, plow or spade the garden site and keep it free of weeds and grasses for at least 3 weeks prior to planting. Many soil insects will die because of exposure at the soil surface. Insects will overwinter in low numbers but increase to damaging numbers rapidly as the season progresses. So plant as early as possible to avoid insect problems. Remember to check your calendar and do not plant before the danger of freezes and frost has passed. Stronger plants more tolerant… Once the vegetables have been planted, use the correct fertilizing, liming and watering practices to keep your plants growing vigorously. Strong healthy plants are able to tolerate more insect damage than weak, neglected plants. Weed and grass problems… As your plants are growing vigorously, weeds and grasses may still become a problem. They not only compete with your vegetables for water and nutrients in the soil, but they also serve as a food source for insect pests. In fact, many insects will rapidly build up to large populations on weeds and then they will move to the vegetable plants. This problem is even more severe if you allow weeds or grasses to flourish for a lengthy time before you remove them. Keep your vegetable garden area free of weeds throughout the season and many insect problems can be avoided. Keep the grass cut around your garden if possible. Over-ripe attracts pests… As vegetables in your garden reach maturity they should be harvested to prevent damage and reduce losses. The longer a vegetable is in the garden, the longer it is subject to insect attack. Over-ripe vegetables are often more attractive to insect pests. Remove old plants… After your vegetables have been harvested, and the plants are no longer producing, remove plants from the garden or cover it deeply with soil by either plowing or spading. Many insects overwinter in or on the plant they were feeding on. Removal of the old plants will help reduce pest insects and the number that will emerge next spring. Plowing the soil in the fall again exposes soil insect pests to drying winds, cold and predators. Got a good
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