Pests: Protect vegetables in the greenhouse with beneficials

Pests can spoil the fun of growing vegetables in their own garden.But the grip on the chemical bottle does not always have to follow: natural little helpers can provide remedies.

Die nervigsten Schädlinge im Garten bekämpfen

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There are often warm temperatures in the greenhouse so that tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplants thrive well.But warm climate conditions may not only be vegetables, usually pests multiply quickly.The plant protection service of the NRW Chamber of Agriculture gives tips on how to get rid of aphids, spider mites or the white fly - and explains why chemistry is not necessary for this.

The right beneficiary to every pest

You should use the beneficial agencies at an early stage at the start or even preventive.In specialist shops you will find suitable beneficials for every pest.Important when ordering or buying: careful to the name of the beneficiary species.

For example, predatory mites with the Latin name Phytoseiulus Persimilis or Amblyseius Californicus help against spinning mites, according to the NRW Chamber of Agriculture.Thripses can also be combated with predatory mites - more precisely with Amblyseius Cucumeris and Amblyseius Swirskii.Alternatively, on the other hand, predatory bugs-Orius species.

Several benefits help against aphids: slip wasps (aphidius species), byflets (Chrysoperla Carnea) and the predatory gallmment (aphidoletes aphidimyza).If the white fly infested, you can use these slip wasps: Encarsia Formosa.

Observe the development stage of the beneficiary

Depending on the beneficiary, there are differences where and how they best use them.Robbery gallmings are supplied as dolls in plastic bowls, for example-they then have to sprinkle them on the bottom of the plants, explains Lea-Kathrin Piepel from the NRW Chamber of Agriculture.

You get predatory mites in a bran that you spread on the plants.Or: You get the predatory mites in bags, they can hang on the plants.The advantage of the bags: This is the air humidity higher - which has a positive effect on the development of the beneficiaries.

Benefits in the bag: there is a high humidity in the bags so that the beneficiaries can develop well.(Source: Jochen Tack/Imago Images)

The stage of development of a beneficiary in which it is exposed is often crucial: Anyone who puts beneficials in the egg stage in the greenhouse usually has to wait until they have developed into larvae or sometimes to adult animal.Only then can the beneficiaries be able to eat or parasitize the pests, explains Piepel.So it can sometimes take several weeks until all pests are gone.

What happens to the beneficials in the end?

The number required is very different depending on the benefit species.Some benefits are tiny, for example predatory mites.You can't see it with the naked eye, explains Piepel.Users are usually offered in retail for an unit, for example for a greenhouse with an area of 20 square meters.

If the beneficiaries no longer find food, they usually die.If, on the other hand, if you find good conditions in the greenhouse, benefits can also multiply.However, the air humidity in the greenhouse is often too low, explains Piepel.If the benefits do not get offspring - which is often the case - you should suspend the beneficiaries again so that they can combat all pests.