How to control pests in your garden:

1. Plant lots of different species all mixed in together. Monocultures are much more attractive to pests breeding up in numbers than polycultures.

2. Feed and water plants well. Healthy nutrition makes healthy plants who are then able to resist pests themselves more.

3. Handpick bugs off promptly. For example grasshoppers first thing in the morning when they lethargic; citrus bugs daily (beware of the acid they can squirt in eyes); caterpillars (but keep the butterfuly caterpillars – they are worth a few veges); snails

4. Hose off aphids

5. Decapitate with secateurs (grasshoppers…)

6. Swat

7. Water in the morning or at least in time for leaves to dry out before sunset. Wet leaves in the night aren’t healthy – promote mildew and fungus.

8. Avoid planting species that are highly susceptible to pests.

9. With bananas cut up banana trunks into small pieces straight away on harvesting the banana bunch.

10. Wash secateurs with tea tree oil or 1% chlorine bleach solution between plants.

11. Remove fallen fruit dead or diseased foliage dead wood promptly. Disease and weeds that you want to get rid of bag up and put in the rubbish bin or burn it.

12. Harvest pawpaws green (just before the first orange) before the flying foxes and possums get them.

13. Make strong fine mesh cages for bananas (design details another time)

14. Prune grapes by mid-July. Bury burn or propagate prunings rather than having them lying around carrying disease.

15. Spray deciduous trees while leafless (pomegranite gingko biloba roses)

16. Mulch fruit trees well to stop soil splashing on trees while watering (this spreads mould). However don’t put mulch against trunks. Prune off side shoots to 100cm to keep clear of the ground. Top mulch up in August.

18. Spot spray rather than wholesale spraying. The BIG danger with spraying is killing the pollinators the precious bees.

19. [u]White oil spray[/u] 1 part detergent; 4 parts cooking oil. Use this as a concentrate. Use 1 tablespoon of the concentrate added to 1 litre of water. Don’t spray on plants if temperature is over 30 degrees C. Use against scale sap-sucking insects aphids mealy bugs mites citrus leaf miner roses shrubs palms bamboo.

20. [u]Soapy water spray[/u] Rub a piece of soap on hands in water until it is the colour of diluted milk. (Don’t make too strong). Spray on caterpillars (BUT NOT if you value having butterflies!!!)

21. [u]Garlic spray[/u] Blend 250g garlic with 100ml liquid paraffin. Leave overnight then strain through a cloth. Add 1.5litres of soapy water.

22. [u]Milk fungicide spray[/u] 1 part cows milk to 10 parts water. Stir well. Use immediately for powdery mildew (preventative not cure) on grapes cucumbers…

23. [u]Instant coffee spray[/u] 1 part instant coffee to 3 parts water. For snails as on parsely… But they are easy to pick off and QLD snails are not in huge numbers and are an interesting local species.

24. [u]Bi-carb soda spray[/u] 1 teaspoon bicarb soda half teaspoon cooking oil 1 drop detergent 1 litre water. Stir well together and use immediately. For fungus and black spot on roses and powdery mildew.

25. [u]Molasses spray[/u] Still finding quantities – but very dilute molasses in water.

26. Fine bags to enclose fruit such as tomatoes can protect against fruit fly.

27. Ants farm (and protect) aphids mealy-bugs and scale insects. If they are too much of a problem attacking the ant problem might help. However ants are not friendly to white ants and they also nature’s cleaners.

28. Know who the natural predators are and look after them: ladybirds (the ones that are the right colour) spiders carpet snakes (against rats and mice).

This is not the end of the story.

Then there is the bush turkey!!! Hmmm.