Fighting your plants enemies is one of the most important tasks in maintaining a healthy garden. You have a wide assortment of devices and implements to choose from in this fight, but there a generally only two varieties:

1. Those that provide mechanical protection to the plants

2. Those used to apply insecticides and fungicides

Mechanical Protection

Mechanical devices are usually consist of a wooden box. They’re about eighteen inches to two feet square and about eight feet high, covered with glass, a protecting cloth, mosquito netting or mosquito wire. The first two coverings have the additional advantage of retaining heat and protecting from cold, making it possible for you to plant earlier than is otherwise safe. For example, you can use them to get an extra early and safe start with cucumbers, melons and the other vine vegetables.

Simpler devices for protecting newly-set plants, such as tomatoes or cabbage, from the cut-worm include stiff tin, cardboard or tar paper collars, which are made several inches high and large enough to be put around the stem and penetrate an inch or so into the soil.

Chemical Protection

Chemical protection includes applying poison powders and liquids that fight plant enemies.

ou’ll need a powder gun for applying poison powders in your home garden. If you must be restricted to a single implement, however, it will be best to get one of the hand-power, compressed-air sprayers. These are used for applying wet sprays, and should be supplied with one of the several forms of mist-making nozzles, the non-cloggable automatic type being the best. For more extensive work, a barrel pump, mounted on wheels, will work better for you, but one of the above will do a great deal of work in little time.

Extension rods for use in spraying trees and vines may be obtained for either. A good hand-syringe may be used for operations on a very small scale. But as a general rule, it will be best to invest a few dollars more and get a small tank sprayer, as this throws a continuous stream or spray and holds a much larger amount of the spraying solution.

Whatever type you procure, get a brass machine, as it will out-wear three or four of those made of cheaper metal, which succumb very quickly to the corrosion caused by the strong poisons and chemicals you’ll be using.

Generally speaking, a combination of mechanical and chemical protection methods will keep your garden in the best health. As always, your local plants and conditions to find out which methods and combinations of methods will work best for you.

Happy Gardening!

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