In my garden, I’m the hero. I raised those plant babies—I fed and watered them, encouraged them with daily affirmations, and then mark their progress each day in the garden with little “thank you’s” and cheers. The villains in this story are the pests, and as we hit peak produce-growing, they are out in force. Aphids, earwigs, slugs, tomato hornworms, beetles. They are everywhere and they want your vegetables.
If, like me, you cannot abide the general advice to pluck garden pests off your plants by hand (ew, David), traps are the answer.
Slugs love beer more than you do
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The basic premise of these traps is that you’ll use a shallow dish (cat food tins are the perfect size), and you put them in the soil, so the top of the tin is at soil level. Fill the tin with beer and leave it overnight. It’s honestly impressive how much the slugs want that beer—definitely more than they want your cabbage and beans. The tin will be full every morning; just empty it out and refill it.
The upside (aside from dead slugs) is that slugs don’t have expensive taste. That single can of Natty Light someone left behind at a barbecue six years ago? There will be no one more appreciative of it than the slugs.
Earwigs like a little soy
No one talks about earwigs much, but man, are they a pest. I don’t see them until I bring in a load of berries or green beans, and a few crawl out of the bowl. Like slugs, earwigs do real damage to tomatoes, strawberries, and your seedlings.
Also like slugs, you can trap them. They don’t require as much space, so you can use a tin or a bottle cap. Bury it in the soil the same way, to soil level. Fill it almost all the way with soy sauce, and then float a little vegetable oil on top. The soy sauce acts as the bait, and the oil is what does them in. Clean it out once a day and you can reclaim your tomato patch.
Sometimes water and soap is all you need
Color plays an important role in the garden—red is a beacon for hummingbirds. But yellow is a giant “open” sign for aphids and squash vine borers. If you have a yellow frisbee or bottle cap, anything shallow and yellow, fill it with soapy water and put it in the garden to trap your pests.
Trapping is better than other methods
While there are obviously harsher retail options for getting rid of pests, you’ll be surprised how effective the traps and household supplies are. While some people advise using epsom salts and diatomaceous earth, I try to stay away from both to avoid harming beneficial worms in my soil.
If you just stay on top of emptying the traps, you’ll find that you can economically keep the pest attacks lighter on your plant babies.