If you have unwanted visitors bugging your plants, there are a number of organic ways to help in your mission! For aphids and spider mites, blast your plants with water, on a daily basis. Because this disrupts the environments that they love, it’s extremely effective.
When I need a little more help, disinviting the unwanted guests, I use my favorite Neem and soap insect spray. This spray should only be used in early morning or late evening. And some plants are not fond of this spray. Swiss chard gets brown spots on the leaves. Luckily, bugs rarely bother chard. So, you may want to test your plants, before spraying everything. Also, with this spray, I get good deer control, and it kills baby grasshoppers.
If you have bugs that are still destroying your veggies, use a spinosad based spray, like Captain Jack’s. Once again, use this spray should only be used in early morning or late evening.
I haven’t used Bt in a while, but it’s good for larvae of moths and mosquitoes.
Now, about grasshoppers, if you have problems like we do. The best way to lower the population, generationally, is with Nolobait. Last year, we weren’t able to buy it, because the factory burned down. And this year we couldn’t purchase it locally. So, if you want to purchase it, go to ARBICO organics. I ordered 5 lbs of nolo and split it with a friend. Because it’s so perishable, there are some important points. Pay attention to the production date on the bag. It’s only effective for about 3 months. Store it in the refrigerator, because heat degrades it faster. Apply it sparingly, it takes very little to have effective control. Apply it around 7am or 7pm, when grasshoppers feed. Expect to pay $17 to $20 a pound. 5 lbs in much cheaper.