No chemicals or pesticides for years and as of the last two years, no tilling... and my garden gets better every year. The only things I use sparingly (so sparingly that I haven't used any so far this year) is an organic fungicide and some BT for controlling caterpillars (also have not used this so far). The only scary thing about using no pesticides and no herbicides is that things will always get worse before they get better. Basically, detrimental insects are the first to show up, they are opportunistic feeders and when presented with tender and delicious garden crops they will begin feasting. Their numbers will likely grow large assuming they have enough to eat and ideal conditions in other respects. Only once their numbers are fairly significant will the beneficial predatory insects begin to show up because their food (other insects) is now readily available. For my garden, the first on the scene are aphids, then come the flea beetles... Their numbers grow large, my plants leaves begin to look like they're part of a shooting range with holes all over the place. Then the ladybugs show up, then the hoverflies, then green lacewings and I get treated to the site of a praying mantis every now and then. The aphids nearly disappear, the flea beetles reduce in number so as to become non-issue and sometimes they disappear completely. Organic gardening without pesticides and herbicides is easy, once you figure out what works in your area - that's where the research and trial and error begin. The biggest thing I learned is that gardening without pesticides and herbicides means you need to plan things out and do things differently, generally at different times of year. I was always taught (non-organic) to till and add fertilizer in the spring, give your plants some "blue water" once they’re a certain size, and some more at regular intervals for the rest of the season; When the bugs show-up, spray them. For weeds, I was always told to use block material or landscape fabric, it’ll keep weeds from coming through. What I do now is no-till with mulching about 3-4 times a year using locally grown hay (preferably alfalfa hay - though it's more expensive and I generally go with a mix) maintaining a 4-6" deep layer for most of the year. The hay mulch smothers just about every weed, retains soil moisture, protects the soil life, and feeds the soil as it breaks down; It's great stuff. In the fall I top-dress my amendments: Compost made from kitchen scraps, some manure (free) from a local horse farm, chopped leaves and grass, and then hay over the top - It rots over the fall, winter, and early spring. Then (early spring) I add more hay and then I plant directly into it. By the time plants go into the soil, they have everything they need for pretty much the whole season. Mid-to-late season I'll pile on some more mulch to maintain about 4-6 inches in mulch thickness and keep the flow of food into the soil. No spraying for bugs involved in any of that. It actually works out to also be a lot cheaper since I have no real need to buy any fertilizers and to mulch 400 sq ft. of garden costs 16 dollars.

I have about 45 raised beds in the kitchen garden. Many are covered with multi layers of paper and topped with lots of spoiled hay as mulch. Crickets are every where, and then some. Never have i seen evidence of them eating into peppers or any other vegies here. I would also guess that they hide out in peppers, thru holes made by others. They feed on all kinds of organic matter, but as to plants - seems limited to seedlings. I would like to identify a pest that makes holes in my peppers - about 1/2 to 3/4" long larvae - black with orangeish markings up and down the body.. Those DO make holes. They crawl quite fast on my cutting board when i cut the peppers to process them. Any ideas? Glad

I would take the plant out and take care of it outside the terrarium if it needed to be treated for fungus or insects. I don't know of any commercial fertilizer that is not harmful to frogs or geckos but I'm guessing a weak solution of fish emulsion probably would not hurt a frog or gecko. You could also try cactus fertilizer since I have some that says it's very weak in fertilizer. The type of animal depends on the size of the tank. A frog can do good in 10 gallons per frog while a gecko needs at least 20 gallons per gecko. Also, dart frogs like wide tanks while green tree frogs and geckos like taller tanks that are in an upright position. I do have a green tree treefrog in a 10 gallon wide tank but that's only because that was the only tank I had a spare of at the time. Also, I think geckos and other lizards have to have UV lights over their tank.

Hi Lisa To sell product(s) ,you must know your product(s). herbicide, fungicide, insectcide are pestcide. some pestcide target to fish, rodent, bird and have name for each targete. When you ask to buyers questions, Make questions easy to answer. for example if you number each question, it is easer for me to answer. When you are asking someone's valueble time to help you project, you should consider it.^^ . Writing question don't take lot's of time but to answer to your question, take lot's of time. ( Also, many peoples work out door, they are not good at writing^^) when you do market reserch, this is the first step you to learn.^^. Does price matter? It is matter. unit price, cost per acre price etc. If manufactures sell small quantity of new product to try out and provide good product informations, I will buy new product. If I have to buy 1gal of new pesticide which cost $300~ $400, I will wait until get more informations from USDA,extention service, Univercity experiment result or report form trade magazin. yama