Fresh vegetables are a staple to people who live in the ruralSouth, but caring for a garden can often involve battling the bugsthat are so prolific in the southern climates.

Mississippi State University Extension Service Director RebeccaBates said Mississippi definitely has its share of gardenpests.

“Everything known to man that can attack a vegetable plant,Mississippi has it,” she said. “The reasons for that is that wehave a long growing season, and the heat, rainfall and humiditymake things perfect for insects.”

Bates said things like stink bugs, aphids, tomato horn worms,Colorado potato beetles, and pickle worms are just the beginning ofthe list. It’s not only the full-grown bugs, but also the larvaethat can be damaging to a crop.

But, Bates said, using a pesticide is a decision that a gardenerneeds to think about logically.

“Some people just jump at the idea of chemicals and thinkthey’ve got to spray them,” she said. “But first, look at yourgarden and ask if the pests are actually damaging your crop.”

Sometimes nature has a way of balancing itself, and naturalpredators will keep the pest population down. And sometimes, Batessaid, a gardener can import their own natural predators.

“Sometimes they’ll work themselves out because predator insectswill eat the harmful insects, sometimes nature just gets out ofbalance a little,” she said. “Some people bring in ladybugs, youcan mail-order them and they eat aphids, but I don’t know how wellthat really works. You can’t always make the ladybugs stay whereyou put them, you can’t say, ‘Don’t leave!'”

Another option for green thumbs who want to keep the bugpopulation down is pesticide, of course, and Bates said there aresome naturally-based products that can be used.

“There are some very effective organic pesticides on the marketthat we didn’t have before,” Bates said. “As organic as possible iswhat you want to do, because the point of growing your ownvegetables is knowing what’s going in them.”

Another solution is insecticidal soap, she said. The soap makesa coating that will smother the bugs.

“It’s a type of soap with a lot of fatty acids, and it workswell on soft-bodied insects like aphids,” Bates said.

Other good products include Neem oil, which comes from the seedsof the Neem tree, a fungus called bacillus thuringiensis, or BT,and a microbial insecticide called Spinosad.

But for those who are simply looking for prevention, Bates said,it’s a tough row to hoe.

“Some of the things you can do to prevent a large insectpopulation is to keep weedy fields mowed,” she said. “A lot ofthese insects breed in tall weeds, then move into the gardenbecause they’ve got these succulent plants there in perfectcondition that they can feed on. If you keep things clean andclipped, that can help quite a bit.”