SPOTLIGHT ON... pest control

The big bugbear for kitchen gardeners is insects.

In the old days there was a simple remedy of a direct hit from a spray–gun full of something lethal. But today’s remedies need to be chemical– free, wildlife friendly and ideally 100% organic.

Though it’s satisfying to outsmart pests with insect–proof netting, barriers and traps, there’s always the risk of something nasty slipping past your defences. That’s where biological control comes in with the idea being to use good insects to kill the bad ones.

Naturally some beneficial insects such as ladybirds, hoverflies and lacewings visit your garden for free and it’s worth encouraging these by planting nectar–rich flowers.

But you can go one better by deliberately introducing bought beneficial bugs to target difficult species such as root pests and caterpillars.

The best defence is a predatory nematode, a microscopic eelworm that moves through the soil seeking and killing the brutes.

You buy nematodes as a powder that’s diluted and applied to soil using a watering can.

Use it any time from March until October as it needs a soil temperature above 5C. Strike early before the pests get too big, or they’ll already have done a fair bit of damage.

The great thing about biological control is it doesn’t harm wild beneficial bugs. And it’s safe to eat crops that have been treated straight afterwards.

It’s not cheap and you do need to reapply each year, sometimes more than once.

But it’s invaluable when you know your crops are in safe hands with agents on duty 24/7.