Pests and Bad Garden Bugs:
The Dirty Dozen

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Pests and Bad Garden Bugs: The Dirty Dozen.

These are wanted in the Wild, Wild West way - dead or alive. These guys eat or suck the juices out of our plants.

And since they go from plant to plant, they also spread diseases.

Teach your kids how to recognize these bugs and get rid of them.

If you're handpicking, you have two options: pick and crush (not for the faint of heart), or pick and toss into a jar half full of water and a dash of liquid soap.

The Dirty Dozen

1 Aphids (Spray off with water)

2 Corn earworms (handpick)

3 Tomato hornworms (handpick)

4 Squash vine borers (insert wire in hole in stem and skewer)

5 Cucumber beetles (handpick)

6 Cutworms (use cutworm collars - 2-inch sections of toilet-paper or paper towel rolls pushed into the ground around stems of transplants)

7 Cabbage loopers (handpick)

8 Mealybugs (spray off with water or swab off with alcohol)

9 Spider mites (spray off with water)

10 Snails and slugs (handpick, crush or set out beer traps)

11 Earwigs (trap and crush)

12 Whiteflies (spray off with water or set out yellow sticky traps). Make sure you know the 10 Most Wanted Bugs. Get the good guys bug list here.

Container Gardening with Kids

Making Backyard Compost Happen

Patio & Garden Chores for Kids

10 Patio Safety Rules for Kids

Leave Pests: Return to Backyard Living

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