What are you feeding?
Recommendations follow an IPM-first philosophy: identify, try the gentlest control, escalate only if needed.
Universal ground rules
These apply no matter what you grow or where.
🪜 The IPM ladder
- Identify the pest before spraying anything
- Physical, hand-pick, row cover, netting, water blast
- Biological / soft, insecticidal soap, BTK, horticultural oil, iron phosphate
- Targeted, spinosad for specific stubborn pests
- Broad-spectrum, pyrethrin, only as a last resort
🧰 The starter kit
Insecticidal soap, aphids, mites, soft-bodied bugs
BTK, caterpillars only; bee-safe
Spinosad, beetles & tough pests; dusk only
Iron phosphate bait, slugs; pet-safe
Horticultural oil, mites, scale, overwintering
🐝 Stay safe
- Never spray open blossoms. Apply at dusk when pollinators aren't foraging
- Spinosad & pyrethrin are bee-toxic while wet, safe once dry
- Soap, BTK, spinosad, iron phosphate have short / zero pre-harvest intervals, rinse produce
- Fungal problems (mildew, blackspot, knot) need fungicides/sanitation, not insecticide