The easiest way to prevent insect damage in your garden is to discourage them from coming in the first place. Pull out any weak plants. They may already be infected. If not, they will attract predators. Pull the plant and dispose of it away from the garden area. Build healthy, organic soil. Natural composting methods, mulching and top-dressing your soil with compost or natural fertilizer is the best way to develop strong, vigorous plants. Seaweed contains trace elements such as iron, zinc, barium, calcium, sulfur and magnesium, which promote healthy development in plants. Seaweed fertilizer in mulch or spray form will enhance growth and give plants the strength to withstand disease. Seaweed mulch also repels slugs.
Minimize insect habitat. Clear garden area of debris and weeds which are breeding places for insects.Use clean mulch. Interplant and rotate crops. Insect pests are often plant specific. When plantings are mixed, pests are less likely to spread throughout a crop. Rotating crops each year is a common method to avoid re-infestation of pests which have over-wintered in the bed. Keep foliage dry. Water early so foliage will be dry for most of the day. Wet foliage encourages insect and fungal damage to your plants. If you've been working with infested plants, clean your tools before moving on to other garden areas. This will reduce the speed of invading insects.
Get rid of slugs and snails by spreading crushed eggshells where they are prone to travel. They won't travel over the rough surface and if they do, it's good-bye slug. You can also get rid of snails and slugs with yucky, cheap beer. Just fill a jar lid with beer and place it where snails and slugs like to hang out. It's best to get it as flush with the ground as possible, so you may have to dig a little indention in the dirt. Want one more slug remedy? Coffee is a great fix as well. Spread your used coffee grounds around slug or snail infested areas. Ants are no fun. To get rid of them, make a bait of 99% sugar and 1% boric acid. Remember to keep the mixture away from kids and pets.
To eliminate insects around the garden, take an empty 2 liter soda bottle with 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 cup sugar. Slice up a banana peel into small pieces, put into the bottle, add 1 cup cold water, shake. Tie a piece of string on a low tree branch or place it on the ground to kill pests. Get rid of mealy bugs, one of the most insidious and common pests, by soaking q-tips in white vinegar. Nip them in the bud by dabbing insects with full strength white vinegar. Keeping hungry insects away from vegetables by shredding aluminum foil into strips and mixing them in the garden mulch. The foil will reflect light back up onto your plants.
Planting companion plants in your garden will deter insect pests. Aromatic plants such as basil, tansy, marigolds and sage will send a signal to bugs to go elsewhere. Try planting some near your prized vegetables. Mint, dill, thyme and sage are great near cabbage family plants. Best of all the savory herbs are edible. To foil those cutworms that destroy your seedlings stick a toothpick in the soil about ¼ inch from each stem. Cutworms kill seedlings by encircling the stem and severing it.