Garlic and Onion Pest Control
Garlic breath. We all love garlic, and we all dread the aftermath. Turns out, plants can have ‘garlic breath’ too! And its actually beneficial!
One of my favorite garden remedies is garlic and onion pest control. Not only is garlic healthy for us, but it can be a wonderful companion plant for those big beautiful tomatoes, healthy cabbages and most any of the brassicas, and even strawberries and raspberries love it! Onion has the same benefits. Here’s a few handy tips on using these delicious plants to protect other more delicate varieties in our garden.
Companion planting: Fall is the time to plant garlic in most zones. Early or late fall, depending on your area, will ensure a good crop of garlic come spring. But instead of dedicating just one bed to all that beautiful garlic, I like to plant them around several beds to help with pest control. Garlic will help keep away aphids from cabbages and broccoli. It will also offend codling moths, Japanese beetles, root maggots, cabbage moths, snails, and carrot root fly! So many of these pests will literally destroy delicate plants, so plant plenty of garlic for controlling these pests!
A little planning is in order here. In the broccoli bed for example, I like to mark where my broccoli plants will go, and then plant my garlic cloves around each broccoli. Same for cabbages and other brassicas. Garlic can be planted as close as six inches apart, but you can space out the cloves a little more if needed. Leave room for a few onion sets amongst the garlic and other plants, to help with pests, too! Some folks like the garlic plants lined up like soldiers along the edge of their beds. I like a little more natural look, planting some cloves closer, some a little more distant, some with lots of onions intermingled, and always near enough for protection.
Warning: Peas and Beans do NOT like garlic. Try not to plant garlic or onions anywhere near either one.
Garlic and onion will also ward off white flies, aphids, and fungus gnats. Before you plant your vegetables, and then routinely afterwards, chop up a couple large hot white onions and a bulb of garlic, skins and all. Add to a large bucket of warm water and sit it out in the sun. Let it sit for a day or two. The liquid will have a strong garlic smell. Strain out the onion and garlic mush and pour the liquid into a garden sprayer. Liberally spray the soil before planting. Use this mixture to spray the leaves and undersides of the plants to help get rid of pests. Dont forget to add the pulp around troublesome areas in the garden. Just sprinkle the pulp around the plants for extra concentrated protection.
As a bonus, garlic powder and the garlic and onion pulp will help deter deer from the garden as well! The liquid spray can be sprayed around the edges of the garden and deer tend to not cross it. As with any pest or deer control, this may need to be reapplied after rainfalls, and regularly all season to continually protect the delicate vegetables these pests prey on.
So dont forget, plan on garlic and onions in the garden!
