Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
PESKY PESTS WHEN TO HARVEST?
Aphids, caterpillars, slugs and snails... they’ll all decimate your crops if you let them. But they can be stopped – and you don’t have to use chemicals
DEALING WITH PESTS WITHOUT CHEMICALS
It seems to me that you should treat your crops and garden with the same degree of respect and even reverence as you do your own body and the well-being of your loved ones. So, bearing this in mind, it makes sense to grow all edible crops organically, as part of a holistic garden where you do not use any herbicides, fungicides, pesticides or artificial fertilisers. In fact, I have a basic principle that I do not put anything into the soil or the plants I intend to eat that I would not put onto my plate.
All pests – especially slugs, snails and aphids – will attack weakened plants first. So the best defence against them is healthy plants. Focus your efforts on raising plants that are strong, have not been stressed by lack of water or nutrition, and have not got too hot or too cold in the process.
The healthiest plant is the one best adapted to its particular situation and circumstances – not the biggest or earliest. So make sure your plants are as hardy as possible so they will not be vulnerable to changes in the weather or circumstances that a smaller or later plant easily resists.
Thin seedlings early and widely. It seems harsh to abandon hundreds of healthy young seedlings, but it is essential to leave proper spacing between plants such as carrots, lettuces or radishes that are sown from small seeds so that the remaining seedlings can develop strong, healthy roots. Eat the baby seedlings in salads and learn the lesson that sowing thinly saves a lot of time and money!
CONTROL CATERPILLARS
The main caterpillars that cause damage in a vegetable plot are those of the cabbage white butterfly. There are two kinds of cabbage white – the large and small. The former has caterpillars that are black and yellow (pictured inset right), and the latter’s ones are a pale green and superbly camouflaged against the leaves of cabbages.
The best defence is a fine netting with a mesh with holes less than 1cm which is put in place immediately after planting out and this will stop the butterflies laying their eggs. But some always get in and I inspect them daily to pick off all the caterpillars I can see.
FED UP WITH APHIDS?
Every garden will have some of these small sap-sucking insects but the best control is to encourage predators such as blue tits, hoverflies and lacewings. Most aphids feed by sucking the sap from plants so look for new, vigorous growth. By growing your plants ‘harder’ – more slowly and therefore stronger – they will be naturally more resistant. You can also deter them with companion planting – coriander deters them and dill attracts hoverflies and predatory wasps. Sunflowers will also attract aphids away from crops.
BANISH WHITEFLY
Some years – and 2019 was one of them – all brassicas seem to be covered in tiny grey flies that fly into the air when disturbed. Adult whitefly are active throughout the year, and immature nymphs are flat and oval
Some crops advertise their readiness for harvest very obviously. You can eat any leaf crop such as lettuce, spinach, rocket or chard as soon as it is big enough to handle. However, that is extremely extravagant and it is best to allow them to reach something akin to maturity to get maximum return for your effort. There is always a sweet spot for any vegetable – the moment at which it is ripe and ready and has put on maximum growth without losing any texture or taste. This can only be judged subjectively and only experience will get that right.
Nevertheless, it is usually better to pick things like lettuce, cabbage, beetroot or leeks when they are a little smaller than the size they can eventually reach. They are likely to be sweeter and fresher as a result. Test peas and beans by picking a pod and opening it – if the peas are big enough to handle then they are big enough to eat. Dig up a few carrots and see how they are developing – the top growth can be deceptive so there are likely to be both a few false starts and some pleasant surprises.
Potatoes are usually ready to harvest soon after flowering, but for maincrop varieties, you can wait until the foliage has died down. Onions and garlic are ready once the foliage starts to lose its green colour. Squashes need as much sun as possible to ripen, whereas as soon as it gets warm, rocket inevitably bolts.