Growing Vegetables This Year? You Need This
Vegetable plants are prone to bug attacks this time of year
Old wives' tale may be solution to pesky bugs
Marigolds can help keep plants healthy and strong
Growing your own vegetables is amazing – you get to watch your own food grow from seed into beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and more.
But you go outside one day to check on your plants, and there’s holes all over the leaves and stems!
Pesky cucumber beetles, squash bugs, aphids and more are chomping down on your hard work.
I’ve been there myself – it isn’t pretty.
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And worse, not only does it look unsightly, while some bugs help pollinate your plants, if too many bugs feast on growing vegetables, they can impact the integrity and health of the plant - which can cause current growing vegetables to shrivel up and stop new vegetables from growing.
During the pandemic, I learned as much as I could about growing healthy, plentiful crops. Last year, I grew 6 different types of hot peppers, and in the end, I had a bounty of hundreds of spicy Capsicums.
I used one simple trick that changed the growing game…
Marigolds.
Some say it’s just an old wives' tale, but it’s true (at least in my experience)!
Whatever kinds of marigolds you choose (African marigolds, French marigolds, and Signet marigolds to name a few), these yellow, orange, and red flowers all have a scent that deter bad bugs and attracts good ones, like lady bugs!
Of course, they are also beautiful, and add a cheerful element to your garden.
In addition to helping my vegetables, marigolds are super easy to grow and last well into the fall, so you really can’t go wrong adding some of these beauties to your green spaces!
Krista Swais-Hannesen Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, A Beautiful Life Magazine & Books
Instagram: @kristahannesen
