The document summarizes organic pest management techniques used at the Beloit Urban Garden during the summer of 2015. The most common pests were squash beetles, earwigs, slugs, and cucumber beetles. To deter these insects and rabbits, the garden used diatomaceous earth, raised beds, traps, fencing, bone meal, and avoiding composting tomato leaves. These organic methods help control pests while reducing environmental contamination compared to chemical pesticides.

1. Bugs Blight
The most commonly found insects in the garden this
summer were squash beetles, earwigs, slugs and
cucumber beetles. They all can strip a vulnerable
plant of leaves or pass on bacterial infections.
Squash Beetle
(July 7, 2015)
Diatomaceous Earth
• Sedimentary rock ground into white
powder2
• Dehydrates exoskeletons of insects2
• Sprinkled around plants
The garden was too wet this summer for
diatomaceous earth to make a difference,
because you must re-apply after every rainfall.
Bugs, Bunnies & Blight:
Organic Pest and Disease Management
Lena S. Wright’16 and Alex L. Boyd’15
Beloit College Sustainability Fellows Program, Summer 2015
Acknowledgments
We thank BUG mentor Elizabeth Brewer, as well as Community Sharing Garden mentor John Ramstad for
their invaluable advising, Yaffa Grossman for the knowledge about sustainability and plants she imparted to us,
Kiara Caruso and Andy Fenneman for their energy and wit while weeding, Community Members for their
gardening advice, and everyone who helped make the Sustainability Fellows Program possible.
Bunny exploring
brick beds
(June 23, 2015)
Raised Beds
• Helps deter insects and rabbits
• 4-5 inches of compost, well-rotted manure, leaf
mold or another organic matter worked into the
topsoil of beds
• Healthier plants withstand insects and rabbits3
BUG is transitioning to wire beds, which are easier
to move and build. Rabbits did not appear to get
into the wire beds.
Traps3
• Earwigs: low-sided tin cans filled with fish
oil, molasses, and water
• Earwigs: Rolled up newspaper left overnight
and shaken into soapy water
• Slugs: small cups of beer
• Squash beetles & cucumber beetles: Hand-
picked off leaves
We successfully caught earwigs in tin cans and
slugs in beer, but were unable to trap earwigs
in newspaper.
Fencing4
• Fencing over 2 feet high prevents large animals
from jumping into garden
• Dug into ground to deter burrowing
• Holes less than 3-inches wide to deter rabbits
A reinforced fence that was staked into the ground
kept rabbits from getting into the two big plots.
Bone Meal4
• Processed bones ground into a fine powder
• Rabbits are not interested in smell of bone meal
We no longer had a rabbit problem after sprinkling
bone meal around all of the beds and plots.
The rabbits in the garden are most likely eastern
cottontails.4 Very few crops -including corn, tomatoes,
peppers, squash – are resistant to being nibbled on by
rabbits while they are sprouting.4
Beloit Urban Garden
Beloit Urban Garden (BUG) was founded in 2013 by Beloit College students. The garden provides the campus food service with vegetables and fosters learning opportunities.
References
1. Lamberth, C.; Jeanmart, S.; Luksch, T.; Plant, A. "Current Challenges and Trends in the Discovery of Agrochemicals". Science 341: 742–6. 2013.
2. Quarles, William. Diatomaceous Earth for Pest Control. The IPM Practitioner. 1992.
3. Ellis, Barbara W. "Insects." The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-solving Guide to
Keeping Your Garden & Yard Healthy without Chemicals. Rodale, 1996.
4. Craven, S. Drake, D. Rabbit Ecology and Damage Management. UW Extension. 2012.
5. Delahaut, K. Stevenson, W. Tomato Disorders: Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot. UW Extension. 2004.
Watering5
• Reduce wetting with drip tape
• Plant in sunlight or windy areas to help dry leaves
BUG employs drip hose around the tomato plants and
uses hay mulch to keep the base of the plants moist.
There are 3 main types of tomato blight in Wisconsin:
early blight, late blight, and septoria. All diseases thrive
in periods of moderate temperature and high rainfall.
Initial infection occurs on lower leaves and is passed
upward as spores from infected leaves are splashed onto
foliage.5
Picture from UW Extension2
Beds composed of chicken
wire, dried leaves, soil, and
hay holding kale plants
(July 7, 2015)
Avoid Composting Leaves5
• Early blight pathogens can overwinter in seeds or soil
for a year, septoria can survive for up to 3 years
• Prevent spread by not composting tomato leaves or
other nightshades (such as potatoes)
The tomato plants that were planted on soil that had
never been used before show no signs of blight. We do
not compost tomato leaves.
Why Organic Methods?
Movement of pesticides and insecticides can result in reduced pest control, contamination of surface water and groundwater, as well as injury to non-
target species, including humans.1 We use organic and natural methods to reduce our impact on the surrounding area.
Bunnies
Healthy tomato plants
with hay mulch and drip
hose (June 1, 2015)
Kohlrabi stem nibbled by rabbit
(July 12, 2015)