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How to Keep Bugs Out of Your Greenhouse
- 1). Clean and sanitize your greenhouse thoroughly before bringing in plants. Purchase healthy, pest-free plants from reliable sources to avoid accidentally introducing pests into your greenhouse.
- 2). Use clean planting media instead of bringing in soil from the field that may contain pests or disease. Store your greenhouse soil carefully by keeping it tightly covered, particularly if you keep it outdoors, beyond the confines of the greenhouse where pests may crawl in.
- 3). Fit the vents in your greenhouse with screens to prevent bugs from entering through these openings. Contact a professional for assistance. Make adjustments as needed as the addition of screens on vents will change ventilation and pressure within the greenhouse, notes the Virginia Cooperative Extension.
- 4). Remove weeds or old, weakened plants with a spade from areas near your greenhouse as these plants attract and house pests. Prevent and remove any weeds in the field, as well, if you are growing plants that will be transferred into the greenhouse.
- 5). Examine regularly any outdoor plants you wish to transfer into your greenhouse. Look for signs of pests. Contact your local county extension agent for information regarding common pest problems in your particular region to get an idea of what to look for.
- 6). Prevent an infestation from occurring, should a few bugs make their way into your greenhouse, by releasing natural enemies appropriate to common pests in your area. Natural enemies hunt and kill pests without harming your plants. Release parasitic wasps, for example, into your greenhouse as a preventive control of whiteflies, a common pest.
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