Pests & Diseases
Identifying garden problems early and managing them without harsh chemicals.
48 articles
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- Ants in the Garden: Friend, Foe and How to Manage ThemMost garden ants are useful, but they turn into a problem when they farm aphids and scale for honeydew. Here is how to manage them, and w...Edible Produce
- Aphids: How to Spot, Control and Prevent Them in an Australian GardenAphids cluster on soft new growth and multiply fast in spring. Here is how to spot them, control them organically, and keep them from com...Edible Produce
- Armyworms: How to Identify and Control Them in Australian GardensArmyworms are night-feeding caterpillars that march in groups and can strip sweet corn, lawns and leafy crops fast. Here is how to spot t...Edible Produce
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- Cabbage White and Diamondback Caterpillars: Protecting Your BrassicasThe holes in your cabbages and broccoli are the work of two caterpillars. Here is how to tell them apart and keep them off, mostly withou...Edible Produce
- Carrot Fly and Carrot Pests in Australia: What Really Damages Your CarrotsCarrot fly is not established in Australia, so damaged carrots here are usually something else. Here is what actually spoils Australian c...Edible Produce
- Citrus Gall Wasp: How to Prevent and Control ItWoody lumps on citrus stems may be citrus gall wasp. Learn how to spot active galls, when your state recommends pruning or peeling, and h...Edible Produce
- Citrus Leaf Miner: How to Manage the Tiny TunnellerCitrus leaf miner leaves silvery squiggly trails in new citrus leaves, but on an established tree it is largely cosmetic. Here is when to...Edible Produce
- Curl Grubs: Which Ones Harm Your Plants and What to DoFat white grubs with brown heads are scarab beetle larvae, and Australia has at least 2,300 scarab species, few of them pests. Learn the ...Edible Produce
- Cutworms: How to Stop Them Cutting Down Your SeedlingsCutworms hide in the soil by day and fell young seedlings at ground level overnight. A simple collar is the single best defence.Edible Produce
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- Damping Off: What Is It and How to Prevent It?This is a blog to assist you in learning more about damping off and how to avoid it.
- Deterring Cats and Birds from Garden Beds, HumanelyProtect seedbeds and crops with covers, coarse mulch and properly installed wildlife-safe netting, and check the netting rules that apply...Edible Produce
- Downy Mildew: How to Spot It and Keep It in CheckDowny mildew shows as yellow angular patches on top of the leaf and grey fuzz beneath. Here is how to tell it from powdery mildew and man...Edible Produce
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- Fruit Fly in the Home Garden: Netting, Hygiene and Safe DisposalFruit fly can ruin homegrown fruit and fruiting vegetables. Here is how to keep the flies off, break the cycle, and dispose of affected f...Edible Produce
- Fungus Gnats: How to Get Rid of Them in Seedlings and PotsFungus gnats are the small dark flies over damp potting mix, and it is their larvae that stall seedlings. Letting the mix dry is the sing...Edible Produce
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- Garden Hygiene: Simple Habits to Reduce Pests and DiseaseClean tools, sensible watering and the right disposal of infected plants and fruit can reduce pest and disease risks. Here is how to matc...Edible Produce
- Garden Weevils: How to Identify and Control Them in AustraliaGarden weevils feed at night, leaving scalloped notches on leaf edges, while their grubs chew roots out of sight. Because they cannot fly...Edible Produce
- Grasshoppers and Locusts: How to Protect Your GardenGrasshoppers and locusts chew and defoliate a wide range of plants, and a swarm can strip a garden in a bad year. Here is how to protect ...Edible Produce
- Green Vegetable Bug: How to Identify and Control ItThe green vegetable bug is a shield-shaped stink bug that dimples beans and tomatoes and reeks when handled. Hand-picking and protecting ...Edible Produce
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- Mealybugs: How to Get Rid of Them on Plants Indoors and OutMealybugs look like small blobs of white cotton tucked into leaf joints and stems. They are stubborn, so here is the patient approach tha...Edible Produce
- Millipedes in the Garden: Managing the Portuguese MillipedeMost millipedes are harmless decomposers, but the introduced Portuguese millipede swarms into homes in autumn. Here is how to manage it w...Edible Produce
- Mosaic Virus: Reading the Mottle and Stopping the SpreadMosaic virus mottles leaves and warps fruit, and there is no cure. Here is how to recognise it, stop it spreading, and start clean next s...Edible Produce
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- Neem Oil: How to Use It, and Its Australian LimitsNeem oil works slowly, by disrupting insect feeding and growth. In Australia it is registered for ornamentals only, so here is how to use...Edible Produce
- Netting Crops and Fruit: Exclusion Nets, Fruit Bags and Wildlife-Safe MeshNets and fruit bags stop birds, possums, fruit fly and caterpillars before the damage starts. Here is which mesh to use, when to put it u...Fruit Trees
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- Pea Weevil: How to Protect Your Peas and Saved SeedPea weevil larvae develop hidden inside pea seeds, so the sign is a round hole in a dried pea. Freezing your saved seed is the practical ...Edible Produce
- How to Possum-Proof Your Vegetable BedsGardening with possums, not against them If you garden near bushland, a creek line, a golf course or an older street with big trees, you ...Pest and Disease
- Keeping possums, birds and pests out of the veggie patch, humanelyPossums and birds raiding your veggies? Here is how to keep them out humanely and lawfully, with wildlife-safe netting and simple exclusion.Edible Produce
- Powdery mildew, blossom end rot and other common vegetable troublesPowdery mildew, blossom end rot, yellowing leaves and bolting all look alike but have different causes. Here is how to read each one and ...Edible Produce
- Pyrethrum Spray: How to Use It Safely, and Why Bees MatterPyrethrum is a fast natural knockdown made from the pyrethrum daisy, but it is broad-spectrum and kills bees and beneficials. Here is how...Edible Produce
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- Rats and Mice in the Garden: Humane, Wildlife-Safe ControlRats and mice dig up seed, gnaw fruit and nest in sheds and compost. Here is how to keep them down safely, without the baits that kill ow...Edible Produce
- Root-Knot Nematode: The Hidden Cause of Wilting and Forked RootsRoot-knot nematodes gall the roots so plants wilt in the heat and carrots fork. Here is how to recognise the damage and run the populatio...Edible Produce
- Rutherglen Bug: How to Protect Your Garden from the SwarmsRutherglen bugs breed on inland weeds and swarm into gardens in hot, dry spells. Netting, weed control and steady watering protect the pl...Edible Produce
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- Scale Insects: How to Identify and Control Them on Citrus and MoreScale insects sit still on stems and leaves like small fixed bumps, and the soft kinds drip honeydew that grows sooty mould. Here is how ...Edible Produce
- Slaters (Woodlice): Friend or Pest, and How to Manage ThemSlaters are mostly beneficial decomposers that only turn pest when numbers explode and they graze soft seedlings. Here is how to keep the...Edible Produce
- Slugs and Snails: How to Control Them Organically in AustraliaSlugs and snails feed at night and after rain, leaving ragged holes and silver slime trails. Here is how to protect seedlings and strawbe...Edible Produce
- Spider Mites: The Tiny Speckling That Explodes in the HeatSpider mites speckle leaves and spin fine webbing in hot, dry weather. Here is how to spot them and why a general insecticide often makes...Edible Produce
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- Thrips: How to Spot and Control Them in an Australian GardenThrips rasp at leaves and flowers, leaving silvery streaks and distorted growth, and some spread tomato spotted wilt virus. Here is how t...Edible Produce
- Tomato Grub, Corn Earworm and Native Budworm: Helicoverpa in the Vegie PatchA neat hole in a green tomato or a caterpillar in the tip of a corn cob? Here is how to identify Helicoverpa, catch it early and choose t...Edible Produce
- Tomato Leaf Problems: A Visual Guide to Diagnosing Your TomatoesSpots, yellowing, mottling or curling on tomato leaves each point to a different cause. Here is how to read the pattern and prevent the m...Edible Produce
- Trap Crops: Using Sacrificial Plants to Lure Pests AwayTrap crops can draw a pest away from your main crop, but results depend on the pest, the plant and your timing. Learn what to check and w...Edible Produce
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- White Oil: How to Make and Use It SafelyWhite oil is a simple horticultural oil that smothers scale, aphids, mealybugs and mites. Here is how to make it, what it controls, and t...Edible Produce
- Whitefly: The Cloud of Tiny White Insects Under Your LeavesWhitefly rise in a cloud when you brush a plant and leave sticky honeydew behind. Here is how to control them without making the problem ...Edible Produce
- Wilt Diseases in Vegetables: Fusarium, Verticillium and Bacterial WiltHealthy looking tomatoes, eggplants and cucurbits that wilt in the afternoon, recover overnight and then collapse are often hosting a soi...Edible Produce