Biological plant protection: 10 simple tips with great effect

 

 To keep pests and diseases in check, you do not need chemicals. Most problems in the garden can also be solved with biological plant protection.

More and more hobby gardeners prefer biological plant protection, because "organic" is also an important topic in the garden. 

People deliberately avoid chemicals in their everyday lives and buy goods of organic production and origin - whether it be food, textiles, 

cosmetic products or even pesticides. 

We have put together ten tips for you to show you how easy it is to implement organic plant protection in your garden.

Biological plant protection: The most important facts at a glance

If you prefer to use biological plant protection instead of conventional pesticides, you should generally avoid chemicals in the garden. 

It is much more environmentally friendly to use biodegradable products, promote beneficial organisms and strengthen plants against diseases and pests from within.

 1. dusting instead of spraying

Biological pesticides such as rock flour and algal lime are very popular with organic gardeners. 

The flours, which are scattered over the soil and easily raked in, enrich the soil with various minerals and trace elements such as selenium or iron. 

If this biological plant protection is applied regularly, it increases the absorption of these substances by the plants and increases their resistance. 

If the fine powder is dusted directly over leaves and shoots, eating insects, such as potato beetles or cabbage-white caterpillars, seek other victims. 

It can also prevent star soot dew on roses or celery leaf spots. Caution: 

However, too frequent use hinders photosynthesis.

2. biological plant protection through beneficial organisms

Friedrich Strauss

It couldn't be more natural: beneficial insects such as the ladybird larva are a wonderful biological plant protection

Anyone who relies on biological plant protection in the garden cannot avoid beneficial organisms. 

Because beneficial insects such as hoverflies, earwigs and their offspring prevent lice and other harmful insects from getting the better of them. 

One of the most effective hunters is the ladybird. 

Offer the ladybirds natural hiding places for hibernation, such as a "forgotten" pile of leaves. 

In spring, the beetles attach their yellow egg clusters to the underside of the leaves. 

The up to eight millimetre long, black, orange-spotted larvae ("aphid lions") consume up to 600 aphids, spider mites and young bugs during their development.

3. biological treatment of powdery mildew in the orchard

Powdery mildew is one of the most common plant diseases. 

The fungus usually infests cucumbers, zucchini and lettuce, roses and larkspur. 

Apple trees are already infected in spring when they bud out. 

Buds and young leaves appear as if they were powdered with flour, and if the infestation is severe, the shoot tips die. 

If you want to implement biological plant protection in the garden, 

you should therefore either choose mildew-resistant varieties or spray preparations with net sulphur several times at the first signs at intervals of 14 days (for example "organic powdery mildew free").

Alamy/Zoonar GmbH

Powdery mildew likes to occur in warm and humid weather

4. observe the packing instructions

Anyone who attaches importance to biological plant protection should also not use organic sprays without hesitation. 

Please read the concentration indicated on the package, the recommended number of applications and the spraying distances carefully and adhere to them. 

This applies in particular to natural plant toxins, such as extracts of the Indian neem or the active ingredient pyrethrum, 

which is extracted from a certain type of chrysanthemum. 

Both substances also damage beneficial insects such as butterfly caterpillars, bumblebees and bees on direct contact.

5. biological plant protection with homeopathy

What has proven to be successful with humans and animals is now also used in the garden. 

If homeopathic remedies are used in biological plant protection, they can drive away pests and help plants to grow more vigorously. 

Calendula C 30 (6 globules/30 litres of water) is said to promote the root development of young plants. 

Ready-to-use preparations such as homeopathic plant elixir are also administered via the irrigation water, rose elixir stimulates the flower formation in roses and is also said to help strawberries to produce a rich fruit set.

6. not to be afraid of the box-tree borer

An inconspicuous, grey-brown butterfly called the boxwoodzünsler and its voracious caterpillars repeatedly cause owners to resort to hard chemistry out of desperation in the form of carefully cut boxwood balls and bed borders. 

Collecting the Zünsler caterpillars is only possible with smaller individual trees. 

The pests are welcome protein food for titmice and wasps, 

but with a real invasion they can hardly get the plague under control. 

A reliable effect can be achieved with Bacillus thuringiensis preparations (for example "Neudorff Xentari Caterpillar-free"). 

This soil bacterium, which is harmless to humans, birds and most beneficial insects, causes the caterpillars to die within a few days. 

Application: Spray from the hatching of the first caterpillars and at the same time moisten the leaves and shoots well inside the bushes.

7. snails spoil the appetite

You quickly fall behind in the fight against the powerful slime - but there is a plant protection trick that is purely biological: Effective is the laying out of boards as day hiding places and regular collection of the snails. 

Of course, this takes time and is not everyone's cup of tea: If you spread slug pellets around endangered plants, you should choose preparations containing the active ingredient iron-III phosphate. 

The bait granulate acts as a food stop and is harmless to pets, hedgehogs and snail-eating birds.

8. green power: plants help plants

Even prepared plant extracts are often used as fertilizer - but the natural pharmacy also keeps some herbs ready that can be used in biological plant protection. 

Each herb has its own specialty when it comes to controlling pests and plant diseases: real comfrey prevents fungal attack, 

while chamomile protects vegetables, strawberries and ornamental plants from root rot. 

Stinging nettle spray expels aphids, while wormwood is used to combat blackberry mites and vegetable flies. 

Rain fern is used as a watering agent and prevents the settlement of ants. 

Preparation of the broths: Leave about 1 kilo of fresh cabbage to soak in 10 litres of water for 12 to 36 hours, strain and dilute (100 to 200 millilitres to 1 litre of water).

9. use fleece and nets in biological plant protection

With fleece and close-meshed fruit or vegetable protection nets you can protect sensitive crops or young plants from late frost, heavy rain and draughts. 

You can also prevent leek moths, carrot, cabbage or onion flies, as well as cabbage moths and other insect pests from entering. 

However, this only works if the cover is applied immediately after sowing or planting. 

You must also ensure that there are no loopholes at the edges. Tip for covering small-crowned fruit trees and berry bushes: If possible, 

always use white nets; under black fabric there is a risk of heat accumulation. 

And: only place the nets when the flowers are already pollinated and the first small fruits can be seen.

10. trapping pests in a biological way

Traps equipped with attractants (pheromones) and adhesive foil catch male moths from apple and plum moth moths and thus prevent fertilization of the females. 

Yellow boards attract the cherry fruit fly, cherry vinegar flies are caught in cups filled with a catching liquid. 

With these catching methods, the maggot infestation of the fruits can be significantly reduced. 

However, real pheromone traps should not be hung directly in the endangered plants, but at a distance. 

Attractant traps - for example for the boxwood borer - work best as an indicator to show the beginning of the butterfly flight. 

In this way, the optimum time for controlling the caterpillars can be determined depending on the type of pest.