Sponsored by Trifecta Crop Control
May 2021
There’s a diverse underworld of pests that are just waiting for an opportunity to feast upon your plants. It includes fungus gnats, aphids, mites, whiteflies and thrips (to mention a few). Without a preventative approach to gardening, these pests threaten to invade your garden, throwing all your hard work and money down the drain.
What’s worse is you cannot simply walk out to inspect your crops and catch an infestation before it happens. Powdery mildew, mold, and microscopic pests can devastate your plants right under your nose.
You need to be vigilant when it comes to pest control if you want to have a successful and bountiful harvest. Not applying a preventative and occasionally inspecting your plants is what leads to infestations that can be difficult to eradicate and may even destroy your plants completely.
So, how do you control pests effectively?
You could try to use minimum chemical controls in order to lower infestations and ensure these pests don’t ruin your plants. But, the problem is, chemicals also kill and deter beneficial bugs that are critical for your garden’s health.
For example, most chemical controls also kill pollinators such as bees or eradicate other organisms that serve to naturally control pests.
This includes praying mantis, ladybugs, and other beneficials that serve as biological controls and prevent these hungry invaders from wrecking your plants.
While it may be tempting, you don’t want to resort to using chemicals if you’re growing an organic garden. Stay true to your organic roots! Chemicals harm the environment and contaminate your food supply.
Chemicals are formulated in laboratories to persist longer in the environment and are seen as foreign to the human body. Not good if you want to protect the environment and your health.
Essential Oils – Natural & Effective
Essential oils are, by far, one of the best natural and organic ingredients for controlling pests, mold and mildew to ensure you maximize the yields of your harvest.
Even though they’re natural, essential oils have toxic properties that deter many common pests that can wreak havoc on your plants.
The most synergistic combination of essential oils for gardens includes:
Thyme
Thyme oil has properties that make it extremely effective as an insecticide and as a fungicide. It is especially toxic to spider mites, shortening their lifespan.
Thyme oil is also an endocrine disruptor, which means it interferes with pest hormones and can deter egg-laying by females.
If you have a mold problem in your garden you need thyme! This powerhouse essential oil is most effective at helping to prevent it, by controlling growth and spore germination.
Clove
If you have fungus problems, clove oil is your go-to preventative. Clove oil contains eugenol, a substance that causes cell lysis in fungal species.
What this means is clove oil breaks down the outer membrane of cells, eventually leading to the death of the organism.
The eugenol in clove oil is highly toxic to some insects, killing them within an hour of contact, while also repelling other insects that aren’t as sensitive to the substance.
Garlic
The pungent smell of garlic repels a wide variety of pests and also acts as a fungus killer.
The presence of lectins, a type of protein in garlic oil, and lectin-related compounds also interfere with many insects’ reproductive cycle.
These compounds are toxic to pests and can inhibit feeding and egg-laying while also disrupting their digestive tracts.
Peppermint
Although it’s best known for its strong, sweet scent and as a flavoring in holiday treats, peppermint oil has many different properties.
It helps to repel garden pests like flies, ants, aphids, spiders, fleas, cutworms, slugs, and beetles, while also warding off animals like mice, squirrels, and moles.
Peppermint oil works against insects in several ways, with its primary component, menthol, doing most of the work.
First, it masks the scent of the plants that they like to eat while also acting as an irritant.
Even more important is menthol disrupts pheromones in bugs which can inhibit mating and reproduction and is an effective larvicide for some species.
It suppresses fungus too, but researchers have not yet determined the exact mechanism responsible for this effect.
Rosemary
At the other end of the spectrum, rosemary oil will attract pollinators to your garden to help with fertilization and plant reproduction.
Rosemary is best known for its antimicrobial and fungicidal properties making it a key ingredient in the prevention and treatment of mildew and mold issues on plants.
“But Oil And Water Don’t Mix, Right?”
There are a few products on the market that contain some or all of these ingredients but not all oil-based pesticides are created equally.
The problem is that oil and water don’t mix. Many products require rigorous shaking before being sprayed on your plants as an attempt to blend the two, but this doesn’t really work. The oil and water separate on the plant, which leads to uneven coverage. Not having full coverage means parts of your plants remain vulnerable to pests.
Further, most oil-based pesticide products require the addition of a wetting agent to reduce the surface tension. Yet, this still doesn’t achieve even coverage of the plant.
Having oily plants can cause dust and dirt to stick to your plants. The grime can affect photosynthesis and respiration and will reduce the yield of your crop.
The Ultimate Solution: Nanotechnology
Trifecta Crop Control uses all of the essential oils mentioned above combined with a proprietary high-shear homogenization process that creates a total emulsion of the oils in water.
This proprietary process, along with these crucial ingredients, creates nanoparticles that decimate pests and penetrate their exoskeletons. When applied as a preventative, once per week, Trifecta Crop Control acts as a forcefield around your garden – guaranteeing your plants stay pest, mold and mildew free all season long.
Not only will you achieve full plant coverage, there is no noticeable residue after 72 hours.
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