Like tiny pieces of bright blue sky dropped into your garden, forget-me-nots are one of the few true-blue flowers available to gardeners.These plants are steeped in history and symbolism, and are eas
12.06.2023 - 00:56 / gardenerspath.com / Sylvia Dekker
How to Use Trap Crops as Decoys to Control Insect PestsHave you ever noticed that you just can’t keep the bugs off certain types of plants in your garden?
In the same way that Goldfish crackers look more appealing than broccoli to most kids (and many adults!), some garden favorites are more attractive to insects than others.
If we know what crop a pest insect prefers over, say, your garden broccoli, we can exploit their preferences and use these alluring plants as traps.
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Trap cropping is an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy where gardeners or farmers use decoys to lure nuisance insects away from their crops. Once congregated in one spot, they’re more easily dealt with.
Everything you need to know about trap crops and how you can use them in your garden is laid out for you below!
Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:
What Are Trap Crops?Insects love plants. But plants of certain species and cultivars, and those in certain developmental stages, are often more attractive to garden pests than others.
Use this knowledge to your advantage and strategically place more attractive crops in or near the garden to lure damaging pests away from your vegetables, fruits, and flowers. While they’re busy feeding on the trap, your other plants are safe.
And it doesn’t stop there: once the bad bugs have congregated on the decoys, they can be killed with insecticides or by physically removing them.
Just like that, you are trap cropping!
Also known as sacrificial plants or decoys, trap plants can be selected from a wide variety of options, as long as the pests like whatever you’ve chosen more than your precious crop.
This pest
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