>>1814844Potato beetles eat wild tobacco and datura and cabbage loopers and aphids eat wild mustard. None of my nieghbors grow anything and I still get them every year. Potatoes and cabbage/kale are as attractive to the bugs in comparison as they are to you. Let some carrots or dill go to flower so wasps can feed their babies the nectar. They also love beds of mint. Whenever I brush over the mint its like a cloud of gnats and flies but they are ALL tiny 2mm friendly wasps. It takes 3 generations to win.
First there is an overabundance of pests.
Second an overabundance of predators that wipe out the pests and then starve themselves.
Third is a balance where 90% of pests are wiped out in a couple weeks.
If you spray neem or BT you will fuck up the ecology and get a huge infestation.
Healthy plants naturally resists pests. Plants that get aphids are usually unhealthy, they get infested during mid day when they wilt if they don't have proper watering and nutrition they edges of the leaves will deflate and curl making them easier for bugs to eat. Same thing with new growth from excess nitrogen that hasn't turned fully deep green. Same thing if you live in a humid region and water from above, first you get mold and then you get aphids and then the aphid damage increases mold penetration or starts to introduce viruses that spread to healthy plants
