12 Common Garden Pests (and Ways to Control Them)
- cindiparker
- May 31, 2021
- 3 min read
There are two ways to identify if your plants are affected by bugs: you see the damage to the plant, or you see the bugs.
The damage can come in many forms, such as seeing holes in the leaves, discoloration of the leaves, and rotting of the fruit.
Proactively prevent bugs with pest traps, barriers, and organic sprays. Neem oil is our favorite all-around preventative. We spray our plants weekly and after every rain storm. Find a few more of our favorite organic sprays here.
Also, allow natural predators to do their jobs (ie, spiders, snakes, and in Florida - lizards). Before gardening, I had very little appreciation for spiders and snakes. Now that I garden, when I see spiders and snakes, I know they're happily snacking away on pests that would otherwise kill my hard work in the garden - and I am very, very thankful for that! 😊
In this post you'll find 12 common bugs in the garden and tips to controlling them.
Aphids
One of the most common pests we see in our garden (and rather annoying, that). When you see a lot of ants on a plant, that's a sign to check for aphids. I have yet to find a plant that is unaffected by aphids. If you spot them on one plant, immediately spray with your neem oil (drench them! And the entire plant, including undersides of leaves) and be sure to treat the plants in the remainder of the garden so they do not spread. Follow up the next day to be sure you didn't miss any.
Slugs and Snails
Slugs and snails like to eat your plant (you'll notice chunks missing out of leaves like someone took a bite out of it). Slugs and snails do not like moving over sharp objects, so make your garden a dangerous place for them. 😏 Spread crushed eggshells (or oyster shells) in a circle around the base of the plant to prevent them. Save eggshells from the kitchen and crush them yourselves, and find oystershells here. And if you do find slugs, salt is an effective slug killer (pour it right them to coat). You can also place shallow dishes with beer in them to attract slugs to the beer instead.
Red Spider Mites
Red spider mites live under leaves and like to suck sap from the plant, causing leaves to yellow. Preventive measures with organic sprays.
Japanese Beetles
Japanese Beetles chew on plants and aren't picky. In the past, we've used Japanese Beetle traps (bags with a nectar that attracts them) placed a distance away from the garden, DIY'd traps using milk jugs or soda bottles, as well as organic sprays.
Scale Insects
Almost difficult to spot at first because they just look like a bump on the plant and they aren't easily plucked off.
Cabbage Caterpillars
Cabbage caterpillars (worms) can completely destroy plants in the cabbage family, eating the entire leaves and leaving only the stems. They can be difficult to spot because their color blends in so well with the cabbage. Can you spot it in the image above? Be on the lookout for the cabbage butterfly too. If you spot them near your garden, be sure to check plants, especially the underside of leaves, for eggs.
Tomato Caterpillars
Tomato caterpillars (worms) damage the tomato fruit. As with the cabbage worm, if you spot the tomato moth, be sure to check your plants for eggs and deploy your preventative control measures (remove eggs, spray plants, monitor for worms).
Stink Bug
Stink bugs enjoy feeding on a variety of plants in the garden, such as beans, corn, tomatoes, and peppers. An easy way to rid them without encouraging their stinkiness is to knock them into soapy water.
Cucumber Beetle
Cucumber beetles like to feast on any members of the cucurbits family, such as cucumbers, squash, and melon (think of how these plants share similar leaf shapes). Their feasting can spread disease in the plant, such as bacterial wilt.
Flea Beetle
Flea beetles look just like fleas you might find on pets, but sometimes it's hard to tell if they're just another bug because they're so tiny. One way to tell if they're a flea beetle is if you come close to it and it jumps (just like pet fleas do).
Colorado Potato Beetle
Colorado potato beetles can infest plants similar to the way Japanese beetles do, except they love to pester potato crops. Since potatoes fall into the nightshade family as well as eggplant, you can find potato beetles pestering your eggplants too.
Squash Bug
Squash bugs look a lot like stink bugs, don't they? As you might guess, squash bugs like to pester squash plants - think of your yellow summer squash, zucchini, pumpkin, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and so on.
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