Pest control is not-size-fits-all. Young seedlings, mature flowering plants, and fully grown trees all have unique needs and requirements when it comes to pest prevention.
In this article, we’ll go over a few natural pest control strategies and tricks that you should try out right now if you’re dealing with pest issues in your fruit trees. As always, they’re simple, time-proven, and effective.
Let’s get straight into it!
5 Natural Pest Control For Fruit Trees To Try Now
5 – Introduce Beneficial Insects
So, the first one isn’t exactly a hack or some kind of “trick” but a simple reliable way to keep your fruit trees pest-free in the long run.
Beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings prey on common garden pests like aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites and quickly eliminate them. This makes it impossible for pests to multiply or cause serious damage to your fruit trees in a short period of time.
All you need to do is get these beneficial insects from your local garden center and release them near affected fruit trees. After releasing them, it’s important that you leave them alone and let them do their job, which they’re actually quite proficient at.
4 – Diatomaceous Earth
Made from fossilized remains of a type of sea algae, diatomaceous earth, which is sold as DE powder, is incredibly effective for eliminating pests on a large scale. If your orchard has large fruit trees that are affected, DE powder can help bring pest activity to a screeching halt.
Simply cover the base and affected areas of the fruit tree with a thin layer of DE powder and wait for the ruthless little creatures to make contact with it. Upon contact, it will dehydrate them and kill them off.
3 – Large Row Covers
Row covers typically serve as physical barriers that prevent pests and insects from accessing the plant/tree, meaning they can’t damage it. Most row covers are made of a breathable mesh material that allows for air, rain, and sunlight to reach the tree.
Although you may need to find rather large row covers if you have multiple fruit trees that are big enough, it’s still a pretty effective way of blocking out pests and insects without having to kill them.
2 – Neem Based Pesticides
Natural pest-repellent products made with neem or neem oil work wonderfully to repel pests and insects away from fruit trees. Neem contains active compounds that disrupt the function and reproductive cycle of pests and insects. It also has a very strong scent which pests already find unpleasant.
1 – Companion Planting
Introducing plants like basil, marigolds, and peppermint that have strong scents and active pest-repellent compounds in the orchard alongside your fruit trees can be a good idea for long-term pest prevention.
Although companion planting won’t work right away and isn’t a “quick fix” for pest problems, you can still take this route to lower the chances of having to deal with something of that sort in the near future.
Final Words
Short-term pest elimination and long-term pest prevention are both useful routes to take depending on how things are looking for your fruit tree at the moment.
Natural pest control methods typically have a few advantages over chemical pesticides including lower chemical runoff, lower risk to human health, and even just more accessibility.
Nonetheless, you’re free to choose any pest control you like and rock with it as long as it’s effective and actually does what it’s supposed to do.
