Many commercial nursery and greenhouse operations have a continual routine of spraying with pesticides, virucides, fungicides, fertilizers and PGRs (Plant Growth Regulators) to bring perfect, lush and consistent products to retail garden stores and the consumer.
Road’s End Farm and Nursery located between Edgewood and Moriarty doesn’t follow that approach and is a bee and butterfly-friendly nursery. You may see a broken or yellowing leaf, a few bug holes in a leaf, maybe a little lopsided growth and yes even a bug occasionally on their plants. Their greenhouses are open to the outdoors in warm weather and many of their plants are grown outside in the real and natural world.
Road’s End is a family-run farm with a history of over 10 years running a USDA Certified operation and has developed tips along the way on how to deal with garden pests in a safe, non-toxic way. They post their tips weekly in their blog on Facebook.
Are pests ok?
Road’s End takes the approach that pests are part of nature. If you have some, you shouldn’t panic, pull your hair out, or lose any sleep over it. Usually, they appear after some change in the environment. Higher humidity, low humidity, how much you are watering, the sunlight, or super fast growth from frequent fertilization. Most issues are easy to correct with simple household remedies and environmental changes.
Whenever possible get the plant outside. Let nature help you and maintain the natural balance and order in the world. Every pest also has a predator and they are supremely suited to getting in cracks, crevices and spots you may not see.
Some plants are more susceptible than others to certain pests. With citrus and figs, you often see spider mites or scale. Houseplants and things like plumeria are home to mites and mealybugs. Other plants are not affected. So each is a little unique in its pest attraction.
The most frequent questions they get are about pests.
The most common questions the farm receives from home gardeners are about ants, and here are their recommendations for getting rid of garden pests.
Ants
Ants are actually infrequent visitors to plants and rarely do any direct harm. Seeing an occasional ant is not of any consequence, however, if you see several on a plant it’s time to pay close attention. Why? Because just like a dairy farmer, ants will “farm†aphids, scale and other plant-sucking pests. Gathering them and keeping them tightly in an area, the pests produce a honeydew that the ants then harvest and take back to their nest. So if you see ants, just follow the worker ants up to where they are getting the goods. Start looking under leaves which is where the “farm†will be. The large concentration of aphids, scale, or the pest du jour will cause damage to that portion of the plant by the concentrated numbers sucking out the plant’s juices, so we need to intervene.
Ant removal formula
Start by mixing 1 tsp. of Dawn dishwashing liquid in a quart-sized squirt bottle of water. Spray the pest species, this will get them off the plant and the soap clogs their pores and suffocates them. With scale add 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil to the mix. After the area is dry, sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth in a circle around the plant. This is like microscopic little razor blades and will cut up the ants and kill them. It can be sprinkled heavily around an ant hill and they will all be gone in 48 hrs.
For more helpful gardening tips, visit Road’s End Farm and Nursery on their Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/roadsendfarmandnurserymarketplace or their website thefruitgrowers.com. While they do take some orders through their website, most of their plant sales are through their group marketplace on Facebook.