this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2026
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Gardening

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Outdoor veggie and fruit gardeners, how do you protect your crops against disease and from becoming a buffet for pests and wildlife? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml to c/gardening@lemmy.world
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I'm growing tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers for my first time not on a balcony, and I'm a tad concerned about caterpillars, squirrels, and other wildlife finding their way to my crops; that said, I would like to keep my space as earth friendly as possible, so chemical pesticides are out. I've read blog articles about trimming the lowest branches to prevent disease and planting trap crops such as nasturtiums and marigolds to lure pests away from the tomatoes. Do these techniques actually work? How do other gardeners handle this situation?

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[โ€“] Sualtam@lemmus.org 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Basically it boils down to three main methods:

  1. Planting plnts in between that deter pests like leeches (also onion, garlic) and herbs etc.
  2. Using herbal infusions from plants like burn7ng nettle or those containing mustard oil.
  3. Attracting pest predators. This goes all the way from buying eggs of vertibrates (careful to not introduce invasive species) to just making your garden bird and bat friendly.
[โ€“] Mpeach45@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

And importantly, you have to have insects before you get insect predators. So if you've recently stopped spraying, predators will be slow to return. But they will!