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Get Frogs & Toads to Eat Your Bad Bugs!
Q. Mike: We have problems with cucumber beetles and squash bugs. We've used organic sprays and hand picking without much effect, and want to avoid chemical insecticides. What can we do about these obnoxious critters?
Back when I was editor of ORGANIC GARDENING magazine, our researchers discovered that a single toad will eat tens of thousands of pests in a single season, typically consuming two to three times it’s weight in the above named creatures—plus flies, earwigs, grasshoppers, pillbugs and cutworms—every day. (Actually every evening, as that’s when toads are out a ‘hunting.) And toads and frogs are virtually the only beneficial creatures that eat cucumber beetles, a garden pest that makes itself taste bitter when it feeds on your cuke vines!
Attracting frogs and toads won’t harm the local water quality. In fact, access to clean water is one of their biggest necessities. The other is protection from pesticides. Because of their porous skin, frogs and toads (and salamanders and other beneficial amphibians) are helpless against toxic herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. So resolve to shun those nerve toxins and hormonal disruptors this Leap Year Day, February 29th; when conservationists are launching “the year of the frog” to try and raise awareness and stem the tragic decline in amphibian species. Do your part to help keep the ‘leap’ in Leap Year and get rid of your pests at the same time!
(Note: Organic remedies like beneficial nematodes, corn gluten meal and the iron phosphate baits used to control slugs are perfectly safe for use around amphibians.)
Now, toads are ubiquitous—they’re also everywhere; in every state in the union, often reaching deep into the heart of cities, especially cities with well-established park systems. To get these cute little amphibians to control your pest problems, let nearby areas go wild with plants that throw a heavy shade. Or build little toad sanctuaries by placing some bricks on the ground to support boards and then covering the boards with plant pots or soil, creating a cool, damp, dark little cave-like structure they can hide in during the day. If you choose to use those cute little terra-cotta ‘toad abodes’, be sure to keep them in damp, shaded areas; they become toad microwaves out in the sun!
You’ll also want to place water sources at ground level near plants having pest problems; birdbath saucers sunk flush to the earth work great for this. The toads will naturally migrate to the moisture when they come out at night and then eat the closest bugs. Rinse the saucers out once or twice a week to keep the water fresh and foil mosquito breeding.
There’s no need to relocate toads from a nearby park unless your garden is a backyard in the middle of a concrete cavern of a big city; and even then, they’re probably still around. Whatever you do, don’t release mail order, pet store or otherwise imported toads or frogs; such non-native species quickly become their own pest problem.
Frogs require a fairly large, year-round water source in which to breed. And they prefer to be alone in that water in the Spring, when their eggs and tadpoles are helpless against hungry fish. But such a pond or water feature is well worth the effort, as it will also greatly increase your toad population and attract hordes of desirable birds, butterflies, dragonflies and beneficial insects.
And its easy to prevent mosquitoes breeding in that water with a monthly application of BTI. A completely non-toxic natural organism isolated from soils, BTI prevents mosquito (and black fly) larvae from developing without harming fish, birds, or anything else.
Helpful Products from Gardens Alive!
Super-Light Insect Barrier - This lightweight row cover provides an excellent all-season insect shield. Translucent polypropylene fabric transmits 95% of sunlight but causes almost no heat buildup, so you can leave covers on all summer, without harming heat-sensitive plants.
Oil-Away TM Insecticidal Spray - Kills insect pests with vegetable oil, not petroleum or chemicals. This plant based spray works as well against pest as many harsh chemical products, yet doesn't harm your plants!
Sta-HomeTM Lady Beetles - Lady beetles are an effective non-chemical answer to controlling aphids and other insect pests. We think its one the best all-purpose and natural pest controls available!
Q. Mike: We have problems with cucumber beetles and squash bugs. We've used organic sprays and hand picking without much effect, and want to avoid chemical insecticides. What can we do about these obnoxious critters?
- ---Kim in Norman, OK
- ---Cecile; Carteret County Parks and Recreation; Morehead City, NC
- ---Bob in Pueblo, CO
- ---Jim in Titusville, New Jersey
- ---Gwen in Hot Springs, NC
- ---Marsha in Massillon, Ohio
- ---Jim in Chatsworth, NJ
- ---Cindy in Central California (Bakersfield area)
- ---Bob in Earlville, Maryland (near the Chesapeake Bay)
Back when I was editor of ORGANIC GARDENING magazine, our researchers discovered that a single toad will eat tens of thousands of pests in a single season, typically consuming two to three times it’s weight in the above named creatures—plus flies, earwigs, grasshoppers, pillbugs and cutworms—every day. (Actually every evening, as that’s when toads are out a ‘hunting.) And toads and frogs are virtually the only beneficial creatures that eat cucumber beetles, a garden pest that makes itself taste bitter when it feeds on your cuke vines!
Attracting frogs and toads won’t harm the local water quality. In fact, access to clean water is one of their biggest necessities. The other is protection from pesticides. Because of their porous skin, frogs and toads (and salamanders and other beneficial amphibians) are helpless against toxic herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. So resolve to shun those nerve toxins and hormonal disruptors this Leap Year Day, February 29th; when conservationists are launching “the year of the frog” to try and raise awareness and stem the tragic decline in amphibian species. Do your part to help keep the ‘leap’ in Leap Year and get rid of your pests at the same time!
(Note: Organic remedies like beneficial nematodes, corn gluten meal and the iron phosphate baits used to control slugs are perfectly safe for use around amphibians.)
Now, toads are ubiquitous—they’re also everywhere; in every state in the union, often reaching deep into the heart of cities, especially cities with well-established park systems. To get these cute little amphibians to control your pest problems, let nearby areas go wild with plants that throw a heavy shade. Or build little toad sanctuaries by placing some bricks on the ground to support boards and then covering the boards with plant pots or soil, creating a cool, damp, dark little cave-like structure they can hide in during the day. If you choose to use those cute little terra-cotta ‘toad abodes’, be sure to keep them in damp, shaded areas; they become toad microwaves out in the sun!
You’ll also want to place water sources at ground level near plants having pest problems; birdbath saucers sunk flush to the earth work great for this. The toads will naturally migrate to the moisture when they come out at night and then eat the closest bugs. Rinse the saucers out once or twice a week to keep the water fresh and foil mosquito breeding.
There’s no need to relocate toads from a nearby park unless your garden is a backyard in the middle of a concrete cavern of a big city; and even then, they’re probably still around. Whatever you do, don’t release mail order, pet store or otherwise imported toads or frogs; such non-native species quickly become their own pest problem.
Frogs require a fairly large, year-round water source in which to breed. And they prefer to be alone in that water in the Spring, when their eggs and tadpoles are helpless against hungry fish. But such a pond or water feature is well worth the effort, as it will also greatly increase your toad population and attract hordes of desirable birds, butterflies, dragonflies and beneficial insects.
And its easy to prevent mosquitoes breeding in that water with a monthly application of BTI. A completely non-toxic natural organism isolated from soils, BTI prevents mosquito (and black fly) larvae from developing without harming fish, birds, or anything else.
Helpful Products from Gardens Alive!
Super-Light Insect Barrier - This lightweight row cover provides an excellent all-season insect shield. Translucent polypropylene fabric transmits 95% of sunlight but causes almost no heat buildup, so you can leave covers on all summer, without harming heat-sensitive plants.
Oil-Away TM Insecticidal Spray - Kills insect pests with vegetable oil, not petroleum or chemicals. This plant based spray works as well against pest as many harsh chemical products, yet doesn't harm your plants!
Sta-HomeTM Lady Beetles - Lady beetles are an effective non-chemical answer to controlling aphids and other insect pests. We think its one the best all-purpose and natural pest controls available!