This is a test blog post. PLEASE DELETE ONCE TEST IS COMPLETE..

The crushing disappointment of losing a prized plant to pests is something that's familiar to every gardener. It doesn't take many of these experiences to decide that there can never be too many options available for dealing with the various slugs, bugs, and other critters which take an interest in your veggie patch.

The quickest solution may be to spray your plants with pesticides, but while these chemicals can certainly keep undesirables under control, there are also serious side effects for the harmless and beneficial insects that share your garden's eco-system. And what's more, many people are rightly wary of using chemicals on food crops, however well tested and guaranteed for safety they may be.

Taking the organic route to pest control means attacking the problem on several fronts, and one of the most natural and effective methods is to plant trap crops. Here's how they work.

What Exactly Are Trap Crops?

Trap crops, also known as decoy crops or sacrificial crops, are a variation on the companion planting theme. The basic idea is to plant one or more species of plants alongside your main crops, choosing the extra plants carefully to provide an attractive home and food source for the pests you're targeting.

With luck, the pests will be lured away from your main crops, reducing the damage they cause. And as an added bonus, the attackers will be handily gathered together in one place so that you can collect and dispose of them efficiently.

You can either monitor the decoy plants for new arrivals, and pick them off by hand for disposal by bagging, burning, drowning, or simply squishing. Or, for more deeply infested plants, a handheld vacuum cleaner makes short work of sucking up insects by the hundred, but be sure to dispose of the cleaner's contents carefully afterwards.

However, depending on how fast-growing the sacrificial plant is, it's often better to wait for a sizeable infestation, then uproot the entire plant and bag or burn it to deal with the problem in one swoop.

Table:

 

COOL CLIMATE TEMPERATE SUB-TROPICAL TROPICAL ARID
COOL_JAN_
COOL_FEB_
COOL_MAR_
COOL_APR_
COOL_MAY_
COOL_JUN_
COOL_JUL_
COOL_AUG_
COOL_SEP_y
COOL_OCT_y
COOL_NOV_y
COOL_DEC_y
TEMP_JAN_
TEMP_FEB_
TEMP_MAR_
TEMP_APR_
TEMP_MAY_
TEMP_JUN_
TEMP_JUL_
TEMP_AUG_y
TEMP_SEP_y
TEMP_OCT_y
TEMP_NOV_y
TEMP_DEC_y
SUB_JAN_y
SUB_FEB_y
SUB_MAR_y
SUB_APR_
SUB_MAY_
SUB_JUN_
SUB_JUL_
SUB_AUG_y
SUB_SEP_y
SUB_OCT_y
SUB_NOV_y
SUB_DEC_y
TROP_JAN_
TROP_FEB_y
TROP_MAR_y
TROP_APR_y
TROP_MAY_y
TROP_JUN_y
TROP_JUL_y
TROP_AUG_
TROP_SEP_
TROP_OCT_
TROP_NOV_
TROP_DEC_
ARID_JAN_
ARID_FEB_
ARID_MAR_y
ARID_APR_y
ARID_MAY_y
ARID_JUN_y
ARID_JUL_y
ARID_AUG_y
ARID_SEP_y
ARID_OCT_
ARID_NOV_
ARID_DEC_