Out Of The Soil
All things gardening
THE BENEFITS OF GOOD ORGANIC SOIL
Aphids: Aphids are among the most common of garden pests. They are less than 1/8 inch long and may be black, green, red, yellow, lavender, brown or grey. They attack leaves and stems, and by sucking sap they make the leaves curl or pucker. Aphids spread virus diseases and excrete a substance called honeydew, which attracts a fungus known as sooty mold. Knock aphids off the plants with a stream of water from a garden hose. 
Cabbage-caterpillar/worm: That pretty white butterfly you've seen flittering through your garden is the culprit for this pest. She has laid hundreds of eggs on the underside of your cabbage (also broccoli,cauliflower, and brussel sprouts - any member of the cabbage family). The worms are green and very small when they hatch and begin eating the leaves of the plant. There are several you can purchase to kill them. You can also laboriously pick the worms off the stems of the plant. Although time consuming this is the preferred method of dealing with cabbage worm. Make sure that after you have picked off all the worms you can find, that you clip away any damaged leaves. Doing this will enable you to discover any new worms that may have hatched in the intervening days and will save you a lot of effort in the long run.
Club-root: Club root is a fungus, infecting the roots of your plant, causing them to swell asymmetrically. The swollen roots cannot absorb water and nutrients properly. Affecting mostly broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower this fungus needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. You need to gently dig up the plant. Be careful not to knock off any of the dirt or root system which will release thousands of spores into the rest of your garden. Make sure that you discard and NOT compost what you dig up!
Cucumber-beetle: The cucumber beetle( either the striped or spotted) are less than 1/4 inch long and feed on young plants. Worklike larvae from the beetles eggs eat the roots and in summer become the adults that chew holes in leaves, flowers and cucumber and melon rinds. They also spread bacterial wilt. The most susecptible plants are beans,cantaloupe, corn, cucumber, pea, potatoes, squash and watermelon. One method of preventing damage to melons and gourds is to wrap them in a thin cheesecloth that lets the light in, but prevents the bettle from attacking the plant. You can also try placing onion skins or cuttings of the tansey plant as a mulch around your plants.
Cucumber-wilt: cucumber wilt is caused by the cucumber beetle and indicates a very serious infestation that will need immediate attention.
Cut-worm: Cutworms are small black worms that lie in the soil during the day and then come out at night to devour your plants. Asparagus, Cabbage, Pepper and Tomatoes are their favorite victims. They can totally destroy an entire plant seedling in just one night. After a cutworm has destroyed a plant it will usually burrow into the soil right next to the toppled plant and sleep the day away. Eating just one a night these guys can grow up to the about one half the size of your little finger. When you notice a toppled plant take a pencil and carefully dig into the soil next to that plant - about 1/2 inch deep and you'll find the culprit. Squish him quick because they can be fast! The other alternative is to place your seedlings in paper collars to prevent the cutworm from getting to the stems. Their is cutworm bait available as well in the form of pellets that you would need to place around the stems of your plants.
Flea-beetle: Flea beetles are active leaf-feeders that can, in large numbers, rapidly defoliate and kill plantsFlea beetles are one of the most difficult-to-manage pests of eggplant and cole crops. They are also a problem on seedlings of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, turnips, radishes, and corn. Planting radishes near suspectible plants may help prevent flea beetle infestations. Another option is to spray infested plants with insecticidal soap to reduce damage by the beetles.
Root-maggot: Root maggots are the larvae of flies that hibernate in the soil over the winter and emerge on early spring or summer to lay their eggs on the stems and/or leaves of young plants. Once they hatch, the larvae go underground and live off the roots of the plant. The most susceptible plants for root maggots are broccoli, cabbage, carrot, celery, corn, onion, parsnip, pea, radish and turnip. You can cut a slit in a piece of tar paper and slide the seedling through it before planting. This will cause any larvae that drop from the leaves to be caught in the tar paper cup and prevent them from reaching the roots of the plant. Another option is to soak the ground around the plants with diazinon when planting.
Spider Mites: These almost microscopic pests may be red, but are usually yellow or green and are nearly invisible where they live on the undersides of leaves to suck sap. The first sign of an infestation may be white flecks on the leaves, followed by the white mealy cobwebs that the pests spin from leaf to leaf. Knock off mites with a stream of water using enough force to break the webs. There are also several chemical solutions that will help with a serious infestation.
White-Fly: Whiteflies are small flies, approximately 1/8 of an inch long. They are completely white and can be seen flying off your plants , when you shake them. These insects pierce the outer layer of your plants and extract the liquids contained inside. The whitefly can carry diseases and exude a sticky, sugary concentrate of plant juices that can promote mold growth. It also reproduces rapidly and can become a problem in no time. There are two ways to treat an infestation: with pesticides and using other insect predators.
White-grub_ or _muck-worm: White grubs are a lawn pest the surviv by eating the roots of your grass. They are the larvae of beetles, most commonly the Japanese beetles and Oriental beetles. There are several chemical products on the market to help get rid of these lawn ruiners..
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