Controlling pests in the greenhouse can be one of those troublesome tasks that you prefer to put off. However, neglecting the pests that sneak into your greenhouse can quickly create a greenhouse epidemic that will send you running for the house to avoid the unwanted pests and critter residing in your beloved greenhouse garden. Here are some tips to help make greenhouse pest control easy this year.
 
Controlling Greenhouse Pests the Easy Way

1. If you want to re-use your potting soil from year to year but don’t wan to worry about bacteria and insect infestations, you can bake your potting soil in the oven to kill off unwanted bacteria and insects eggs and larvae. To sterilize, spread soil four inches deep in a baking dish and cover tightly with a double layer of foil. Bake in a 180 degree oven for 30 minutes. Leave in foil-covered pans to keep sterile until ready to use. Do not bake soil at a temperature higher than 200 degrees, as this can produce toxins that will harm your plants when you use the over-heated soil.
 
2. For aphid and mite infestations, try using an insecticide soap. You can make an easy homemade insecticidal soap to pour onto your greenhouse plants to help repel pests.
 
3. Introduce beneficial insects and nematodes into your greenhouse to control a wide variety of greenhouse pests. Lady Bugs, Phytoseiulus persimili, Encarsia formos, and Aphidoletes aphidimyza are commonly used in the greenhouse to control pests.
 
4. Keeping rodents out of the greenhouse can be especially trying, particularly during the winter months. Electronic pest repellents can be helpful, as can old-fashioned spring traps, but closing up entrances into the greenhouse, securing water sources, and removing any material that can be used as bedding can be very effective in discouraging rodents in the greenhouse as well.
 
5. Snakes in the greenhouse can be a particularly nasty surprise.  To help discouraged these slithering fellows from camping out in the warm greenhouse, try removing any materials, like rocks, low-level benches, and large planters from the greenhouse floor. Without sufficient cover to crawl under, snakes may visit your greenhouse, but they’re not likely to hang around.
 
Controlling pest in the greenhouse is easier when you take the proactive, preventative approach to greenhouse pest control. Adjust the environment in your greenhouse, sterilize your potting soil, use insecticidal soaps, and introduce and introduce beneficial insects into your greenhouse to help control pests the easy way.

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