Trap Plants Attract Garden Pests and their Preditors

Here is a nice chart about garden pests, the plants they like and the other insects and critters that are predators of the pests. Lupines and nasturtiums are known to attract aphids.
http://www.thebuglady.ca/planting.htm

http://bristen.com/natureshop/gardenjournal/CompanionPlantingInsects.htm

Ok so here is where I'm confused...
Is a Trap Plant going to exterminate the critters or just attract them?

Aphids have Killed the Huge Cherry tree in my front yard and are headed for
our other Cherry tree in the side yard. Last year I used the hose and high
pressure water to slow them down but I know they will be back this year.

From what I understand trap plants attract the bugs so you plant them well away from the rest of the garden. I do the same thing with catnip and cats. I'm too chicken to try it with bug traps though. I'm afraid I'll attract even more of the bugs I don't want and when they get done devouring the trap plants they'll jump on my garden and have a party.

Hoggar, if you are having trouble with the fruit trees I would highly recommend your local Ag Coop Extension service and seek out an Arborist. They will be the best person to guide you and hopefully save your tree. Good luck and let us know what they say.

Catnip, trap plant for kitties.

Lol. Is that your kitty frolicking in the nip

Nope I saw this on the net. But it is a good idea.

camprn wrote:Catnip, trap plant for kitties.

I would so plant catnip for my cat... if she liked catnip. We've bought some two different times and she's interested for about 5 seconds and then is like, "eehhh.. no" and walks away. I think something like 50% of cats actually are not affected by catnip. She LOVES cat grass though.

Our kitties go bonkers for the stuff, but I've heard that as well CarolinaGirl.

The first time I planted catnip the cats didn't like it either. Next year they loved it. Maybe it takes a while to build up the oil the cats like? Unfortunately, the cats loved it so much that it didn't take long for the cats to flatten it. So then I flipped an old wire hanging basket upside down over the catnip. The cats can roll over the wire basket enough to get their nip fix but they don't flatten the catnip enough to kill it. I've had my catnip for several years now and it's still going strong. It's in a pot so I brought it with me to the new house. I need to find my camera and go out and take a picture of it.

HereIGrowAgain wrote:The first time I planted catnip the cats didn't like it either. Next year they loved it. Maybe it takes a while to build up the oil the cats like? Unfortunately, the cats loved it so much that it didn't take long for the cats to flatten it. So then I flipped an old wire hanging basket upside down over the catnip. The cats can roll over the wire basket enough to get their nip fix but they don't flatten the catnip enough to kill it. I've had my catnip for several years now and it's still going strong. It's in a pot so I brought it with me to the new house. I need to find my camera and go out and take a picture of it.

When I was container gardening way back when (15+ years ago) in Virginia I planted catnip in one of the pots in front of all my other herbs...MY cats ate the thing down to the soil line! I sure wish I'd known about the caging trick back then. It would have kept the plant alive and kept the cats' attention away from the other yummy things in my herb garden!!!

camprn wrote:Catnip, trap plant for kitties.

What a great photo!

I already attract cats, yet I'm allergic. I'm afraid if I plant catnip (although I want to because it repels so many things), I'll attract the neighbor strays to the comm garden (we already have one), and then they'll be on my plants and I'll be itchy & teary when I garden and cook!

AvaDGardner wrote:


What a great photo!

I already attract cats, yet I'm allergic. I'm afraid if I plant catnip (although I want to because it repels so many things), I'll attract the neighbor strays to the comm garden (we already have one), and then they'll be on my plants and I'll be itchy & teary when I garden and cook!

The good thing about planting it in a pot is you can move it to where you need it. In your case, Ava, I'd put the pot in a corner of the garden as far away from your plants as possible. If a cat already visits your plot put the pot of catnip nearby and every few days move it farther and farther away. Maybe the cats will follow the catnip and forget about your plants.

Cats literally love this stuff to death. They will roll over it till they kill it. It's not foolproof though. When I started planting catnip it was to keep the cats away from my miniature rose collection. It seemed to help with that but I was never able to successfully keep cats out of my gardenias though. I don't know why they were so crazy about gardenias. I've never heard of cats being attracted to them before. I still had cats climbing around in my gardenias at least once a week.

I have never understood "Trap Plants". Seems like you are just making them a nice home. Won't be long before they are breeding and multiplying. Seems they ultimately will spread into my eats. Can someone explain how this could work?

Squat, did you read the stuff in the first link? It describes a host plant and the corresponding pest and then it goes on to describe the beneficial insects that come in to feast on the pests. So basically the pest is attracted more to one plant over the other. That in turn invites beneficial insects like lace wings, braconid wasps and the like, to feast on the pests on the trap plants and elsewhere in the garden.

Squat_Johnson wrote:I have never understood "Trap Plants". Seems like you are just making them a nice home. Won't be long before they are breeding and multiplying. Seems they ultimately will spread into my eats. Can someone explain how this could work?

What I've also read is to remove the blossom and pests so they don't breed. It's a trap...kill & removal is up to you!



@HWGA - try mothballs around your gardenias. They aren't a fragrant plant or edible, but pretty. A friend of mine swears by it! (A little goes a long way!). I bought a scat product eons ago, and it's main ingredient was paradychlorobenzene (synthetic moth balls).

I am compelled to point out again that moth balls are toxic.
http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/ptype/mothball/health.html <~~Click

Time to resuscitate an old thread. One of my favorite trap plants is Dill. It not only attracts the Black Swallowtail caterpillar away from the carrots and parsley, but it attracts the Tomato Hornworm away from the tomato plants. The main reason I like it to attract the Tomato Hornworm is because they are much easier to find on the Dill than they are on the tomato plants.

The only time I leave the Tomato Hornworm alone is when I see that it has been parasitized by the Braconid Wasp. (Note: I plant Sweet Alyssum around the beds to attract the beneficial wasps, such as the Braconid wasp.)

Can Dill be planted now, or is it too late/ early? (Zone 6)

Yes, Dill could still be planted here in Zone 6.  Once it germinates, it grows fast. I may be too late for it to mature to the seed stage, but it will grow well and probably provide an abundance of immature seed heads for use in pickling.