Calling All Gardeners (Or Herb Growers)

The only tomato pest we get here is the horn worm.
I pick them off by hand.
I grow many herbs (rosemary, sage, lavender, thyme, oregano, basil, tarragon) and they have never had any bug problems.
Dill and parsley are favorite foods for black swallow tail caterpillars but since I have a butterfly garden, I plant them more for the butterflies than for my own use.
Additional:
I tried growing marigolds with my veggie plants - so many marigolds they almost crowded out the veggies.
The bugs pretty much enjoyed the pretty flowers while they enhanced their dining experience.
It didn't help me out at all.

I am agreeing with the Dawn washing, it DOES work! IF you have snails you can put out short, wide containers of beer, they will flock to it & die! (maybe from alcohol poisening! ;p) If you plant flowers along with your veggies it will serve as a deterrent to some bugs & at the same time it will attract the flyers who pollenate!

Have a wonderful time with your garden! :)

Hydrogen peroxide! You take 1 part Hydrogen peroxide (store grade) and 10 parts water (for example, 1/2 cup Hydrogen Peroxide and 5 cups water). Put in a spray bottle and it will not only help with pests, but it will help the plants to grow as well :) FYI: If you don't want to use what they sell at the store( not organic), you can buy food grade hydrogen peroxide and then water it down to store grade (3%) and then water it down more from there. To water down food grade (35%) to store grade (3%) you do approximately 2TBSP to 22 ounces of water. Double check, but that is what I do.

Look into Companion Planting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

Gardening websites have a more thorough list. We made the mistake of planting all kinds of peppers together last year and it really affected our yield, so we are trying this way this year to see if it helps. My gardener friends all swear by it. And marigolds, lots of marigolds.

Soapy water and/or beer!

It depends on what is eating the plants....

Is it the leaves being eaten?

If so, most likely it is a caterpillar..... so you can use a BT type of pesticide..... BT stands for Bacillus thuringiensis ..... this works against caterpillars like tomato hornworm, cabbage worm, things like that. It is a bacteria that only harms the caterpillar.... it kills it.

You have to reapply after any rain, or sprinkling with a sprinkler.

The main drawback is that it kills GOOD caterpillars, also.

Insecticidal soap for things like aphids.

Picking snails, caterpillars, etc. off plants and squishing them. (Oh the carnage!)

Really fertilizing the plants so that you have so many you don't care if you lose a few to bugs.

My mom is big into organic too, so she would second the BT and the hand picking (and murdering-although I would feed them to the chickens and let them do the dirty work!) Chickens fighting over a katydid are hysterical!!!

Oh, mom also fetilizes with blood meal and compost, just incase you were interested in more organic info.

Home Depot sells a botanical spray or powder. I have been using it on my tomatoes and strawberry's. You have to spray at night and make sure to get under the leaves.

So far it has been working well for me. I had those nasty worms on my tomato plants and since I have been spraying I they have gone away. It also has a pleasant smell and you can spray right on the fruit or veggies and eat them the same day.

I don’t blame him for not wanting to use the chemicals. When you read the other packages they say to NOT to let it run into rain water drainages. Also the chemicals they use cause cancer and all kinds of other problems. This is why I like to buy organic fruits and veggies or grow them myself.