As you may know, we grow our plants using natural and biological methods. We do not use pyrethrins, neonics, glysophates, , , the list goes on.
There is a symbiotic balance in nature that is disrupted when chemicals are used unnecessarily. Instead, we work with nature by releasing beneficial, predatory insects to keep unwanted pests from becoming a problem.
Although many of us are a little leery about our insect friends, 9 out of 10 insects that you come across are either beneficial or completely harmless. All of the bugs that you see are critically important to balancing your backyard habitat and the ecosystem at large--including pests. Very few insects are truly destructive, especially if there are predators around.
Beneficial insects include pollinators, predators, and parasitoids. These beneficials assist us by germinating plants, eating others insects, or laying eggs on insects that consume the host upon hatching. The majority of beneficial predators & parasitoids that we come across help us to exterminate those insects that we consider pests. Predatory insects do sometimes eat other beneficial insects, however, this is often the result of an unbalanced ecosystem--they need pests, which means that we need pests (to a degree) too. While no one wants an outbreak of pests, without them, predators have nothing to feed on.
In essence, pest insects are those who like to eat the same plants that we like to eat; they are competing with us, and by nature we like to win a competition, sometimes by any means necessary.
Unfortunately, when we as humans use pesticides to try to win this specific battle, we actually set ourselves up to lose the war. Pesticides do not discriminate between the 1 out of 10 insects that we view as pests , and the 9 out of 10 that actually help us. In order to create an environment in which pests do not become a problem, you have to encourage a diversity of insects. Pesticides work against that goal, which is why you continue to have pests year after year if you use them. There are many pests that feed on specific plants as a part of the natural cycle of that plant as well--for example, Oleander Aphids on Milkweed and black aphids on specific varieties of Allium. Those pests feed native beneficials, and if you get rid of them, the cycle is broken which results in attracting less beneficials. (Peep the picture of this cycle in my garden).
In a typical season, we add nematodes to the soil, and release Lacewings, Ladybugs, Assassin bugs, and Praying Mantises as needed. All of these insects eat pests such as aphids, thrips, scale, mealybugs, and mites. You might sometimes see a powdery residue on a plant at the greenhouse—that’s a sign of lacewing eggs & is a good thing. But there are many other insects that eat pests as well--flies, spiders, and hover-flies included.
So let Charlotte hang out--Orb Spiders are phenomenal--and if you don't want her in your house, spray some mint essential oil or leave some hedge apples near your entry ways. I just cohabitate though, and I have never had a problem with pests.
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