doubtfulness : What is a trap craw for home plate gardeners ? I ’ve heard the term mentioned in discussions about organic gardening method , but I ’m not on the button certain what it think . Can you please explicate ? – Laura D.

Gardening Channel Replies : A trap crop , also make love as asacrificial crop , is a planting strategy used by home gardeners to help oneself protect their main crop from pests . The idea behind trap cropping is to tempt pests out from your primary plants by supply an option , more attractive food author . countenance ’s dig into the construct and its benefit :

1 . Luring Pests Away

okra growing and blooming

If you don’t like to eat okra, it’s still effective as a trap crop for many vegetables!

sand trap crop are plants that are highly attractive to specific pests , drawing them away from the primary crop you want to protect . By concentrating the pests on the trap crop , you may reduce the damage to your primary plant and potentially eliminate the pauperization for chemical pesticides .

2 . Selecting Your Trap Crop plant life

The choice of trap crops depends on the pestis you want to contain and the main flora you ’re arise . Some common sand trap crops include nasturtiums , sunflowers or okra ( for aphid ) , sunflower , Hibiscus esculentus and landing field peas ( for stink microbe ) , radishes , Chinese ‘ southerly Giant ’ mustard and daikon radishes ( for flea beetles ) , and dill for tomato hornworms . It ’s of import to search which yap crops are most effective for the plague in your specific area and the plants you want to protect .

tomato hornworm eating tomato plant with text overlay what is a trap crop

3 . Planting and Caring for Them

To effectively use snare craw , embed them near your elementary crops but separated by a short space . This helps to make a roadblock that attracts pests away from your main plants . Be sure to supervise your trap crop closely for signs of infestation , and take appropriate action mechanism ( such as removing infested plants or introduce beneficial insects ) to care the pest population .

To sum it up , a trap craw is a gardening technique that involves planting specific plant life to attract and divert pest away from your elementary crop . By using yap craw , home gardeners can concentrate pest damage and potentially decrease the reliance on chemical pesticides , or providing you a stain to employ pesticide on plants that you do n’t design to eat instead of on your vegetable plant .

Here ’s a tabular array of trap crop that menage gardener can habituate to attract and disport pests from their main crops .

Learn More About Trap craw

https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C1118&title=trap-cropping-for-small-market-vegetable-growers

https://ipm.missouri.edu/MEG/2017/3/Trap_cropping/

https://ipm.cahnr.uconn.edu/perimeter-trap-cropping-works/