How do you control bugs?

[TattyJJ]

I have noticed quite a few ants in the garden, no obvious signs of a nest though, just left them be as i figured they don't generally bother most things.
Then just today i found little groups of aphids on the lettuce, shortly after finding it had quite a bit of leaf miner!
I cut off all the leaves that i could see were full of their track marks.

Anyone got any tips for getting rid of them, and bugs in general?

[SusieG]

Hi TattyJJ, leaf miner ... Is that on horse chestnut trees ...? Or does it cross to other vegetation ...?
Have you tried spraying with water (aphids) or essential oils? Birds can be pretty useful too!

[TattyJJ]

Humm ok, all I know is there are tiny little bug things living between the layers of leaves and leaving track marks as the move around.
I just figured it was leaf miner as it's the only thing I know of that does that?

[SusieG]

Don't know if you can make out the detail in this pic:
Apparently it won't kill a healthy plant but weakens it ...
Host plants: beans, blackberries, cabbage, lettuce, peppers & ornamental flowers - and of course - trees

[veggiechicken]

I have noticed quite a few ants in the garden, no obvious signs of a nest though, just left them be as i figured they don't generally bother most things.
Then just today i found little groups of aphids on the lettuce, shortly after finding it had quite a bit of leaf miner!
I cut off all the leaves that i could see were full of their track marks.

Anyone got any tips for getting rid of them, and bugs in general?

There's no way of getting rid of "bugs in general" nor would you want too.
Its like saying how do I get rid of weeds.

First, you have to identify the bug/weed, then find out whether it is harmful or beneficial. Then look for ways to deal with it, if you need to.

So lets find out what you have and take it from there. It may need photos!

[TattyJJ]

Wowww there VC, I don't want to eradicate the entire insect population of my garden. That's about as possible as it's a good idea....

I'm just talking about controlling the various bugs we don't want to be seeing in a veg garden/greenhouse

In my case, I'm talking about aphids and these little critters.

[craftymarie]

Never had leaf miner. Aphids I get lots. They mostly attack my rose buses and other non-edible plants. I used to spray them off with water with a fine jet from a hand held sprayer until I found that actually using a dry soft bristle paint brush is better for sweeping the aphids off - once they fall off a plant to the ground, they take their chances below on the dirt and grass where birds and other predators might eat them.

If you let too many aphids build up, they can quickly overwhelm a plant. But I just do that to keep numbers down - I don't try sweeping all of them off as it would be a never-ending job.

Ants - our plot is literally riddled with black and red ones - I just let them be. We have nests all over the garden but live with it and let them do their thing. The nests are normally in drier parts of the garden and so they are not a bother for at all for veg growing where the soil is normally damp.

Keeping plants nice and healthy by feeding them can help them to overcome pest issues.