Do beneficial insects eliminate all pests completely?

While beneficial insects do reduce pest populations, they rarely eliminate them. In my garden, ladybugs help keep the aphid population down; however, they do not eradicate them, as the ladybugs require food sources to survive. The concept revolves around a natural balance that ultimately prevents pest outbreaks without the use of chemicals. A garden is considered successful when predators keep potential pest levels below damaging thresholds by continuously hunting and controlling them.

A diverse set of approaches that extends beyond a single insect is necessary for an ecosystem that can sustain itself. I apply predator releases in conjunction with physical barriers, such as floating row covers, to enhance pest control and management. In the previous example of tomatoes, companion planting marigolds deters nematodes. This is a way to ensure your garden has true pest resilience using a layered approach that emulates natural systems.

Some pests are okay to keep for the sake of the food chain. For example, ladybugs eat aphids, and caterpillars feed on plants that were once wasps. I permit small infestations on sacrificial plants. By tolerating some pests in your garden, you'll be maintaining these predator populations, which helps the larger ecosystem and your garden throughout the year.

Seek the establishment of monitoring schemes to measure the disequilibrium of pests and predators. I rely upon yellow sticky traps every week to generate insect counts. You will need action thresholds to trigger some type of intervention, such as neem oil spot treatments, to mitigate damage when pests exceed 10% of the leaves. Your diligence maintains the natural control while minimizing significant damage.

Read the full article: Beneficial Insects Garden Natural Pest Control