Discover the power of trap cropping for pest control in your home garden. Learn how to use decoy plants to protect your precious vegetables.
These eight easily grown herbs bring fresh, bright and invigorating citrus scents and flavors to your kitchen and garden, even if you can’t grow citrus trees.
Trap cropping – also called intercropping – is an older pest control approach used by commercial growers that is not widely known or used in home gardens, but it should! Essentially, a trap crop acts as a decoy or sacrificial plant for invading pest insects and luring them away from your vegetables. Once the destructive insects attack the trap crop, you can deal with them there instead of on your valuable food crops. Techniques include removal or spraying with a soap-based solution or natural recipe, all the way up to using insecticides on the trap crop.
Using trap crops isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach, as each crop attracts a specific set of pests. However, it fits perfectly into a home garden, no matter how big or small. Almost everyone can take advantage of trap crops, from traditional in-ground rows to raised beds to container gardens.
Trap cropping is one part of an integrated, organic management approach to gardening. Instead of just managing pests, this approach includes attracting beneficial insects that prey on the destructive ones while helping to pollinate your garden better. Other parts of organic management include planting cover crops and companion planting.
There are two main ways to use trap crops: to test for specific pest insects and then to attract those pests to better control and minimize or prevent their damage to your desired food crop.
When testing for specific pests, the most accurate results are obtained by using a border planting approach surrounding the garden. This way, pest insects have to pass through the desirable trap crop to reach your food plants, making it easier to monitor the pests and make better choices about identifying and controlling them.
Destructive pest insects are most attracted to plants in the reproductive stage of growth – flowering, fruiting, or setting seeds. This is why most trap crops are planted before your desired food crop – anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks earlier, depending on how long the trap crop needs to start flowering.
After the insects attack your trap crop, you can be ruthless in controlling them – from spraying aggressive bug solutions and removing leaves up to removing the entire infested plant. Depending on the type of planting, this creates the first line of defense or an added layer of protection for your main vegetable, herb, or flower crop with no chemicals or sprays needed.
Just as there are different ways to grow a garden – traditional rows, raised beds, containers, hoop houses, and greenhouses – there are different ways to plant trap crops that increase their effectiveness and benefits.
Border planting – Just as it sounds, planting one or more pest-attracting crops outside of the garden or area where the desired crop is grown. This can be completely surrounding the garden or between the garden and where the pests come from – for example, between the garden and an open field.
Intercropping – Planting the trap crop in alternating rows or areas within the garden or desired crop. For example, planting a row of lovage on either side of your tomato row will attract tomato hornworms before they get to the tomatoes.
Mixed intercropping – Trap crops are planted among the desired crops with no distinction. This looks exactly like companion planting but for the opposite reason – you attract pest insects to the trap crop instead of bringing in beneficials. An example is planting red giant mustard among your cabbages to attract the cabbage caterpillar.
Now that you understand more about trap crops, how they work, and the different types of planting, it’s time to see exactly which crops can be used and what type of pests they help control.
Initially, you may be surprised to see so many familiar, common garden crops listed. However, remember your gardening experience – how many of these crops seemed to attract the exact pests listed here?
This is simply a different perspective or approach to deciding what to plant in your garden, when, and for what reason.
| Crop Protected | Pests Controlled | Trap Crop | Planting Method |
| Cabbage | Cabbageworm, Flea hopper, Mustard aphid | Chinese Cabbage, Mustard, and Radish | Intercropping |
| Cabbage | Diamondback moth, Cabbageworm | Collards | Border planting |
| Cabbage | Cabbage caterpillar, Harlequin bug | Red Giant Mustard | Mixed Intercropping |
| Cabbage and Squash | Aphids (blackfly, greenfly, whitefly), Flea beetle, Cucumber beetle, Squash vine borer | Nasturtium | Mixed Intercropping |
| Cabbage family | Flea beetle, Root maggot, Cabbage maggot, Harlequin bug | Radish | Intercropping |
| Carrot | Carrot root fly, Thrips | Onion and garlic | Border planting or intercropping |
| Corn | Leafhoppers, Leaf beetles, Mustard aphids, spider mites, whitefly | Beans and other legumes | Intercropping |
| Corn | Corn seedling maggot | Rye | Intercropping |
| Cucumber, Vegetables | Cucumber beetle | Amaranth | Border planting, Intercropping |
| Garlic | Thrips | Basil | Border planting |
| Potato | Colorado potato beetle | Tansy | Intercropping |
| Solanaceous family | Colorado potato beetle, spider mites, whitefly | Eggplant | Intercropping |
| Squash, Cucumber | Squash bug | Millet | Intercropping |
| Tomato | Tomato hornworm | Dill and lovage | Intercropping |
| Tomato | Colorado potato beetle | Potato | Border planting |
| Vegetables | Stink bug – attracts both pest and beneficial insects | Buckwheat | Border planting |
| Vegetables | Slugs | Chervil | Intercropping |
| Vegetables | Mexican bean beetle, Stink bug | Green beans | Intercropping |
| Vegetables | Thrips, Nematodes, Slugs | Marigold | Intercropping |
| Vegetables | Aphids early in the season, followed by ladybugs | Nettles | Intercropping |
| Vegetables | Stink bug, tomato aphids | Okra | Border planting |
| Vegetables | Heliothis moth species, Leaf-footed bugs, Stink bugs | Sunflower | Intercropping |
| Vegetables | Japanese beetle | Zinnia | Intercropping |
| Vegetables, Tomatoes | Stink bugs, corn earworms, leaf-footed bugs | Sorghum | Border planting |
| Vegetables, Tomatoes | Cucumber beetle, Squash vine borer, Squash bug, Whiteflies | Squash | Border planting |
Remember, your main crops – vegetables, herbs, or flowers – are usually entirely different species than your trap crops, but not always. In long-season climates, an early group of cherry tomatoes is transplanted to attract common tomato pests, protecting the main planting 2 – 3 weeks later.
To get the most benefits from trap crops, you must be diligent in inspecting them for pest insects and take immediate, decisive action. This often means picking the bugs off, removing leaves, branches, or the entire plant in some cases. Appropriate action can also mean treating the pest insects by spraying, from a mild soapy solution or Garlic Juice Concentrate to our Home Garden Bug Solution.
Improper management of the trap crop can create “pest nurseries” – just the opposite of what you are trying to do!
You must be ruthless in taking action with the trap crop – remember, it is a sacrificial target to protect your valuable crops.
It can be difficult to manage multiple pests simultaneously, as planting multiple trap crops can be larger than your garden. It’s best to use trap cropping to manage your biggest pest insect infestation, then use companion planting to attract beneficial insects to work on the other pests.
As mentioned above, trap cropping isn’t a silver bullet, a one-size-fits-all solution, but it can be a valuable tool in an integrated organic management approach. A diverse mixture of plants makes it far less likely that the destructive pest insects will settle on your main crops, and when they arrive, they will be followed by beneficial insects that feed on them.
A comprehensive organic pest control plan includes –
The easiest yet most effective way to get started using trap crops in your garden uses these steps:
The level of your success depends on several factors, but you should see significant improvement in the population of pests, the amount of damage, and the health and amount of harvest in the first season you start using trap cropping.
Keep a notebook with your experiment’s details and results, successes and challenges, weather, and other related factors. After a couple of seasons, you should begin to form a clear picture of which direction is best for you and your garden in your particular climate.
This isn’t a quick-fix approach; it’s about understanding your garden better, more of a Systems Approach than a silver bullet. However, if you commit to an organic pest control approach, you will see a steady decrease in destructive pests and a comparable increase in beneficial insects. You will also see fewer damaged vegetables and increased harvests of healthy food from your home garden.
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Fresh, bright and invigorating, the scent and flavor of citrus is most enjoyable for many gardeners, especially where citrus trees are not a possibility. Several different herbs and flowers have a pleasing citrusy scent or flavor – either lemon, lime or orange – either as the main fragrance or as a delicate note that brightens the scent.
Popular for teas, sachets, aromatherapy, and recipes, they bring a bright, cheerful flavor to dishes like pasta, fish, and chicken.
If you are looking to add a lovely citrusy aroma to your garden, here are eight herbs to consider!
A proud member of the mint family, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is native to Europe and the Mediterranean and, if allowed, will spread into unwanted areas of your garden. It’s easy enough to contain in a planter or large container, or simply give it an area that it can fill in and be happy. Hardy to USDA Zone 5, it grows to about 2′ tall with abundant crinkled leaves and tiny white or pale blue flowers that attract a surprising amount of pollinators, given how petite the flowers are.
Rubbing the leaves brings out the lemon scent, and walking by the plant on a warm day repels biting insects. The scent is crisp, clean, and forward – you immediately get the heady fresh lemon-rind aroma that is very refreshing. Grow in part shade with moist soil or sunnier spots in cooler areas.
Harvest the leaves like basil with several cuttings during the season, and dry them to preserve that summer flavor into the winter, or chop the leaves and freeze in ice cubes for a lemony punch in iced teas or other drinks.
As you might expect, lime balm (Melissa officinalis ‘Lime’) is closely related to lemon balm, except with a flavor tilted towards the lime spectrum. Some gardeners experience it as a lemon-lime, while others comment on it being exceptionally limey, so soil and climate can make a difference in the scent and flavor.
Grow as you would lemon balm to raise the spirit and lift the heart!
Completely different than the above two balms, lemon bee balm (Monarda citriodora) is both the perfect name and description of this highly fragrant plant. Being downwind of a thick stand will make you think you’ve come across a hidden lemon grove, then multitudes of hummingbirds and butterflies draw your eye to hundreds of minuscule compound flowers, stacked one on top of the other, marching up the stem. As you draw closer, the bees appear, covering the flowers in an intricate dance from flower to flower.
Both the leaves and flowers are used; making refreshing, calming lemon-scented teas and potpourri. The stalks make excellent additions to flower arrangements, both fresh and dried.
This annual native is fairly cold hardy, rarely killed by winter cold, surviving by underground rhizomes. They can spread in moderate climates, so use planters or pots to keep them contained, or give them an area of their own.
A favorite in Asian cooking, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) looks similar to bunchgrass but with a pleasantly strong lemon scent and flavor. It has the same volatile oils as lemon rind, with the same fresh, clean, citrus flavor and scent. Easy to grow in pots and containers for cooler climates, lemongrass loves the heat thanks to its tropical origins.
Harvest by cutting a stalk at the outside of the clump near the base, leaving the rest to continue growing. Lemongrass is best used fresh, as it loses some of its lemony pungency when dried or frozen. This is why many gardeners will grow a pot of lemongrass for fresh use, moving it outside in the spring and summer, then bringing it inside for the fall and winter.
We love to ferment fresh lemongrass with chiles and garlic to make a delicious paste for Asian cooking.
Insect repellent booster –
Plant lemongrass and lemon balm together to double their individual insect-repellent powers!
Just standing in arms reach should be enough to fend off the worst of the biting bugs – consider planting a large pot to place near your summer barbeques.
They’re effective against mosquitos, gnats, and wasps, and you can break off a couple of leaves to rub on your skin or clothing to take the protection with you.
All of the flavor that makes basil such a beloved herb with a lemony punch gives lemon basil (Ocimum americanum) an exciting flavor to explore in the kitchen. Lemon and basil go well together, and this combines the best of both.
Heat-loving and repellant to biting insects, it makes a wonderfully different pesto and adds a boost of flavor to soups and stocks. As with other basil varieties, the flavor is at its peak when fresh-picked, but drying will retain some of the citrus aromas. Once it starts flowering, let some of the stalks go to seed to use as a spice and flavoring in salads, on sandwiches, and in summer iced tea.
This is another great candidate for growing in pots or containers that can be brought inside in cold weather to brighten up a winter dish.
A cousin to English Thyme with all of the complex flavors that makes it a garden favorite, yet orange scented thyme (Thymus fragrantissimus) packs a refreshing orange-mint fragrance in every leaf. The orange flavor follows the familiar thyme, adding complexity and interest to summer dishes. Use it in almost any recipe calling for traditional thyme where an orange undertone would be appreciated.
Harvest the sprigs before flower set for the highest essential oil content, allowing them to air dry for storage. Use both fresh and dried leaves to make a traditional thyme tea with a twist to soothe sore throats.
Rightfully called “The cure for everything but death”, nutmeg flower (Nigella sativa) shows off with blankets of gorgeous tiny blue-tinted flowers that produce the seeds that made them famous. The seeds are used as a spice for flavorings and medicinally for ailments. Also called Four Spice for its lemon-carrot scent followed by strawberry-pepper taste, it has flavored curries, breads, and cakes since ancient times.
Nutmeg flower prefers well-drained soil in full sun, and can often be found growing wild in rocky ground, fallow fields and scrubland. Because of its hardiness, it’s easy to grow and is often recommended for beginning gardeners, children, and low maintenance gardens.
Known to many Europeans as the lemonade leaf, French sorrel (Rumex scutatus) is prized by chefs and is indispensable in French cuisine. The sour-citrus taste has been prized throughout the world for thousands of years as a wake-up call for taste buds dulled by bland winter foods.
Very hardy and early growing, sorrel was often one of the first fresh greens people ate each spring in the days before refrigeration. It is still a popular ingredient in spring tonics, and ancient Greeks and Romans used the herb to promote digestion.
Each one of these herbs is easy to grow in a container or pot, so no matter where you live the bright, refreshing flavors of citrus can be yours with little work and lots of rewards!
Trap Crops – Organic Pest Management for Gardeners
Discover the power of trap cropping for pest control in your home garden. Learn how to use decoy plants to protect your precious vegetables.
How to Grow Citrus Flavors in Your Garden
These eight easily grown herbs bring fresh, bright and invigorating citrus scents and flavors to your kitchen and garden, even if you can’t grow citrus trees.