I don’t know what is eating our strawberries, but there’s a few that look like bites were taken out of it. All I can see currently in our garden is ants and aphids. Is there any natural way to keep pests off our strawberries? We’ll be rigging something up to avoid birds getting into there, but need an insect remedy that is safe as well as organic. We’re not into using pesticides.
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Sulphur - kills insects (including aphids) and a slew of other diseases, and can be use up to harvest….
And after 3,000 years of use, its still efffective and considered safe for use….
Not to mention, that a 2 lb bag of it usually runs less than ten bucks, and will last the average home gardener quite some time….
There are plants that naturally repel some insects. Nothing will be 100% effective, or as effective as chemical pesticides, but there are multiple natural tricks that can help.
You can make a natural pesticide spray from garlic.
Soak 3 to 4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for one day. Dissolve 1 tsp of fish emulsion in a pint of water and add it to your solution. Stir. Strain liquid and store in a glass container - not metal! Dilute 1 part solution to every 20 parts of water. Kills aphids, mosquitoes, and onion flies. Repels rabbits and borers. Planting garlic alongside plants can keep off red spider mites.
Marigolds are also useful in pest control, but you have to be careful as to how close you plant them to your vegetables. Pennyroyal, a mint, works, too, but it’s slightly toxic, so don’t plant it is you have kids or animals that like to nibble on plants.
Many herbs can be deterants, including chives, garlic, rosemary, catnip, sage, and thyme, plus they have their own myriad uses.
Krystal,
There are several possibilities for taking bites out of your strawberries. It could be either: birds, mice, or turtles. Turtles love strawberries. The best remedy is to cover your bed with netting and it usually does a good job of keeping predators off your beds.
Candy Shade
Urbana, MO
