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Garden Netting Against Bugs
Garden Netting Against Bugs. Although netting is more often used to discourage birds from fruit and vegetable crops, netting that has a very fine weave also can discourage larger bugs. Agricultural supply centers and even some garden centers carry netting or fleecing designed specifically for insect control. Be sure to check even the highest...
Although netting is more often used to discourage birds from fruit and vegetable crops, netting that has a very fine weave also can discourage larger bugs. Agricultural supply centers and even some garden centers carry netting or fleecing designed specifically for insect control. Be sure to check even the highest quality net for imperfections, tears and holes before use.
Horticultural Fleecing
Only the smallest bugs can get through a layer of horticultural fleecing, and even fewer through a double-layer of this cloth. However, rain, oxygen and sunlight can get through. The sunlight might be dimmed, but as long as the plants are in plentiful sun they should not suffer from low light levels. This material is particularly effective for cabbages, carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables that are subject to caterpillar or worm damage, since most of these insects are never small enough to crawl through the fleecing.
Insect Netting
You can lay insect nets designed for flying insects over individual plants or over areas of crops. You can use mosquito netting, since it is finely woven enough to keep out bugs the size of mosquitoes and larger. However, use only outdoor-grade mosquito netting rather than the finer mesh fabrics used indoors; these can degrade in the sun or tear in harsh weather.
Caution
Check any netting or fleecing periodically for holes or tears. The netting should extend all the way to the soil, and into the soil an inch if the insect pest can burrow shallowly. Use insect netting close to harvest time and not for very long. The still air and moist environment inside insect netting can encourage fungal disease on leaves and other parts of the plant.
Considerations
Avoid insect netting if the crop needs to be pollinated by flying insects, since the netting blocks bees, butterflies and other large pollinating insects. If birds are a problem, install bird netting several inches away from insect netting, since bird claws and beaks can tear insect netting and allow larger insects inside. Remember that many birds are also natural predators of insects that prey on crops: using bird netting prevents birds from eating those insects.
