You would think that with the pungent smell of onion, most bugs would learn to stay from this crop. But they love these vegetables. So you’ll need to stay on top of things and prevent any infestations that could happen. Here are five ways you can prevent insect damage on your onion crop.
Only Grow Resistant Varieties
One nifty all-natural trick you can use to combat your outdoor garden pests is planting the right crops. If you plant onion varieties that are resistant to most bugs, such as Egyptian onions and chives, you’ll never have to worry about infestations.
Plant Your Crops Outside of Peak Windows
For some plant varieties, you can get away with planting early or late in the season for the best possible results. Because the peak of summer always brings bugs, it’s usually not always the kindest to onions. Therefore, planting around the bug-infested season is a great option.
Move Your Crops to a Secure Location
If you have an area of land not highly vegetated with wild vines and weeds, you should invest in using this land to grow your onions. You can even grow your onions above ground in raised beds to lessen the blow of insects.
Building up your garden beds a few feet from the ground prevents insects like maggots, fire ants, thrips, aphids, spider mites, and a whole host of others from entering it. The act of moving your garden to a remote location and building it above ground is enough to keep most of what’s out in nature away. It will even deter most larger predators, like rabbits, squirrels, and birds.
Use Physical Barriers for Protection
Many farmers and gardeners use mesh screens and wire fence borders to protect their onions in the summer while they grow. This screening will reduce any chance of pests as they fly by and attempt to eat your produce. Once you pick them up, you can use bulk onion bags to store them so that they won’t experience any insect issues there.
Grow Even More Onions
Another genius way to keep your crops from bug infestations is by growing them out of control. If you’re having bug problems and nothing seems to work, grow your garden until it outnumbers the bugs, and you’ll always have fresh onions and new vegetation growing.
Now you know the five ways to prevent insect damage on your onion crop, use this guideline, and you will never be without onions again.