The best method of pest and disease management is always prevention. Make sure your soil is healthy, that conditions are suitable for the crop you are sowing and that it is the correct time of year. Crop rotation is also important, many pests and diseases are plant family specific. By rotating crops between sites these pests tend to decline in the period when their host plants are absent which helps reduce build-up of damaging populations of spores, eggs and pests. Common diseases that can be avoided by a good rotation include clubroot in brassicas and onion white rot.

Feeding crops with a liquid fertiliser such as Health-Sea Liquid Seaweed is also helpful. It enables plants to make more efficient use of nutrients, leading to improved yield, taste and colour and increased resistance to pests and diseases, drought and marginal frosts.

Products for Pest Management

Slug Pellets - An organically approved slug and snail killer, contains the active ingredient ferric phosphate which naturally occurs in the environment. Highly efficacious against all relevant slug species. Following consumption of the bait, feeding ceases immediately. It should be noted that no excessive slime secretions will be evident either on or around the crop. As slugs usually retreat underground to die, there will not be any evidence of dead slugs. Safe for pets and children and harmless to birds, earthworms, hedgehogs, bees and other common garden creatures.

Tercol - Should be applied as a preventative in areas where harmful soil insects and larvae have occured previously i.e. Leather-jackets, carrot rootfly, weevils, cutworms, wireworms, flea beetle, copper worm, onionfly and white grubs. Tercol is absorbed by the roots and the soil. Partly due to the root stimulating and nutritional components, roots and leaves will develop an increased resistance against pests. In addition the treated soil becomes unattractive for the pests and causes them to move to greater depths - outside of the rootzone.

Herfosec - Plant strengthener for herbaceous plants where harmful sucking and biting insects and their larvae have been a problem before. Herfosec strengthens the plants and makes them less prone to attack from: Aphids, Whitefly, Caterpillars, Diamond Back Moth, Vine weevil, Spider Mites, Gall Midge, Leaf Miner, Thrips, Scale insects, Pear's Psylla, Mealybugs, Strawberry blossom weevil, Lily Beetle. For woody plants use Folisec.

Delumbri - Very effective repellant of nuisance birds and animals such as rabbits and pigeons. Delumbri is a highly concentrated composition of specific herbal concentrates, based on water and rape seed oil.

AMN Biovit - 100% natural herb extract made from Garlic, contains significant amounts of iron, organic Selenium and other important micro-nutrients. It is absorbed by the plant and changes the chemistry of the foliage. This changes the 'smell' of the plant, and insects which are genetically coded to find their food by scent are no longer attracted to the plant.

Pyrethrum - An extract from the flowers of the white marguerite Chrysanthemum cineraiaefolium. It is an excellent natural insecticide which can be used against aphids and other sucking insects in fruit, vegetable and ornamental flower production. Suitable against biting insects in outdoor fruit and ornamental flower production. Pyrethrum's natural instability - light and the oxygen degrade pyrethrines quickly - works as well in its favour: there are no residues left after a few hours. It works on contact killing insects currently on the plant. for this reason it should be sprayed only when beneficial insects (such as bees) are not active. We recommend spraying in the evening when bees are unlikely to be in or around the plants.

Soft Soap - Soft soaps have been used to control insects for more than 200 years. Soft soap consists of salts of potassium fatty acids and is biodegradable. It is readily broken down by bacteria and therefore not considered a pollutant. The mechanism by which soap kills insects is in fact not well understood. It appears that soap washes away the insect's cuticle, and then blocks its spiracles preventing oxygen transfer. In other words, the soap washes off the insect's protective waxy covering, and stops it breathing. Useful for insects such as Aphids, Greenfly and Whitefly.

Diatomaceuous Earth - To insects, DE is a lethal dust with microscopic sharp edges that cut through their protective covering and dries them out. One of the benefits of diatomaceous earth for insect control is that the insects are not able to build up a resistance to it. Diatomaceous earth will not harm the worms or any of the beneficial microorganisms in the soil. Can be used against slugs, aphids, flies, maggots and caterpillars, ticks, vine weevils, flea beetles, ants etc. Apply with a dust applicator and always wear a dust mask.

Fruit Tree Grease - Fruit Tree Grease stops pests such as the Winter Moth and the Mottled Umber Moth which invade fruit trees from late October to early December. It also protects against the March Moth which invades early spring. A simple and effective means of monitoring pest activity by trapping and stopping pests from walking up the tree. Simply brush-on your apple, pear, plum or cherry trees. Apply in Autumn and keep on until early Spring. You can also use Tree Bands.

Netting - Nets and are an effective way of protecting your crops from pests. As there is a variety of mesh types and sizes, it's important to choose the right one. We have a variety of different mesh sizes and strengths available to protect your crops from different pests.

Biological Controls - We are able to obtain natural predators for Aphids, Red Spider Mite, Thrips, Vine Weevil and Whitefly. As these predators are living creatures, they need to be sent directly to you from the supplier. Please contact us on 027-50710 for more information and availability.

Products for Disease Management

Herfomyc - A Biological Crop Care product for herbaceous crops: it stimulates and strengthens the plants and makes them less susceptible to pests and diseases. Can be used on crops where there has been a problem with moulds or fungi in the past, such as: Blight (Phytophtera), Leaf Spot Disease, Powdery mildew, Downy mildew, Black Spot, Rust, Dollarspot, Snowmold, and Red Board. We recommend to apply the product as a preventative however when damage and deterioration is detected, the product can, in consultation with your advisor, still be successfully applied. For woody plants use Mucofol.

Horsetail Liquid - Has powerful antifungal properties that are effective on blight and other fungal infections. It naturally contains many trace elements plus Potash and Silicic Acid - which helps to form strong plant cell walls. Often used to strengthen plants which are in danger of attracting fungal infections like Blight or Blackspot.