Do Nasturtiums keep Bugs away? – Companion Planting for Pests
Hey folks! Welcome back!
I hope you are doing great in your gardening field. Do Nasturtiums keep Bugs away? The nasturtiums are plants that are super attractive and with their pop-colored flowers, they are great eye-catchers.
If you have grown nasturtiums and think that the bugs are going to be incited in bulk to your garden or not, this article will ensure you such a query. Let’s get started to know more about them in detail.
Quick takeaways:
- The nasturtiums are famous ornamental plants and are loved by gardeners for their edible properties so that the leaves and flowers can be easily used as food.
- Even the seed pods of the nasturtium plants are edible.
- Now with their attractive flowers, they can invite many pollinators near the plants or in the garden, which is why they are great companion plants as well.
Do Nasturtiums keep Bugs away?
In most observations, it is seen that the nasturtiums are the plant that keeps the bugs away from the plants that otherwise can munch on the nearby ants and harm them. Do nasturtiums keep all the bugs away?
The nasturtiums can easily deter the entry of many bugs like cabbage loopers, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, etc. but let me make you aware that not all the bugs are reeled by the nasturtiums. The nasturtium plants make the pests really confused and trippy about the targeted plant.
Do nasturtiums attract or repel aphids?
Though many pests are scared of nasturtiums like the many beetles, whiteflies, and squash bugs, the aphids are the one that loves nasturtiums. They love to hop on these plants in comparison to the other plants. Even the nasturtiums are called the great trap crop.
If you have planted nasturtiums near a target plant then there are fewer chances that the crop will be affected as they move to nasturtiums.
What do you mean by trap crop?
The trap crops as the name indicates are the crops that are used as traps for various purposes. These are grown particularly to attract the pests that would otherwise affect and eat the target plants.
The trap crop is planted a little far from the target plants so that the pests don’t come near the target plant. Then the gardeners can remove the pests from the garden by killing or manually removing them.
Are Nasturtiums Edible Plants?
Yes, Nasturtiums are edible plants that are rich in vitamins, especially vitamin C which is important for all. You won’t believe it but yes it has antibiotic properties too.
You can entirely eat this plant and add it to the salads, soups, or desserts as they will taste amazing. So what are you waiting for to grow this amazing variety in a home garden because they are edible plants?
It produces bright-colored flowers in the plant that can be eaten as it adds amazing flavor and essence to the palate. You can easily harvest the seeds of this plant in your home garden and easily use them in the culinary world.
More about Pests and Nasturtiums
The nasturtiums are liked by many pests other than aphids like the cabbage worms, etc that are actually the larvae out of the eggs laid by the white butterflies. The butterflies have different stages in their life cycle, though they themselves won’t harm nasturtiums the worms will love to eat the nasturtiums so they can again be used for these worms to keep them away from veggies, fruits, etc.
Benefits of growing Nasturtiums
The nasturtiums are attractive vine plants and bring attention to the spot they are present.
The nasturtiums have an anti-inflammatory effect, the plant parts can be eaten.
The leaves of nasturtiums have great flavor giving a hint of pepper in it. The young seed pods of the plants can be eaten.
How do the Nasturtiums keep the bugs away? (Companion planting for pests)
As I mentioned many times in this article about the nasturtiums plant being great companion plants, they can be used to save many plants from bugs and harmful insects. The nasturtiums being used for trap cropping will keep the aphids, squash bugs, etc.
The nasturtium keeps the bugs away by repelling the pests or by doing pest confusion which protects your target plant. Whenever you grow the nasturtium plant near the target plant make sure that it is not too close to each other.
The nasturtium plant should be about a border away from the targeted plant. As the aphids can’t fly from one plant to another plant, gardeners can get rid of aphids easily.
You can simply spray a water jet on the plant or spray neem oil over the plant to kill the aphids. The nasturtiums in short will collect the pests for you and you will simply need to remove or kill them using a good insecticide or pesticide.
How to Collect Nasturtium Seeds?
Do you know how to collect the Nasturtium seeds? As you all already cherished its amazing blooms and benefits but other than this it also rewards you with the production of the amazing seeds they tend to produce seeds that can be easily harvested in a garden area for about 15 days after the plant blooms and begins to wither.
So it becomes easy for you to collect them and store the seeds so that you can harvest them in the next spring season. So what about growing this variety in your landscape garden every year isn’t it amazing of course it is, but before that, you need to know how to collect the nasturtium seeds.
To collect the seeds of this variety, you have to keep your hand under the withered flower and gently snip the stem. you will observe that the seeds will drop from it. You have to collect the seeds before the frost. It is because the frost will affect the fertility of the seeds.
After this, you can place your seeds in any paper bag so that they become dry after that store them in any dark place for 2 to 3 years and enjoy its benefits after planting them.
Final words of the context
We hope you liked this article and find it helpful in understanding the fact that the nasturtium really helps keep the pests away from the plant but they are mostly covered by pests like aphids, cucumber beetles, etc that love the nasturtiums.
These plants are simply great for companion planting and other benefits that we have already put in this article.
Happy growing and happy caring!!
FAQ’s
What plants do Nasturtiums protect?
Will Nasturtiums choke out other plants?
The nasturtiums being the trailing love to extend widely and grow less vertically. They will need support to grow so they will grow further and will hold the super they and keep extending which can be a choking thing for other plants.
Are Nasturtiums good for the soil?
The nasturtium plants in the company of the other plant will help in regulating the growth of the plants and will also put less stress on the soil as they increase crop productivity. Just note that the plant will have put less effort to save itself (wilting or leaves, curling, drooping, etc.) as nasturtium will be doing the work.
Do Nasturtiums attract ants?
The ants usually love to eat the stuff that is sticky and released by the aphids on the leaves. The ants will follow that and will surely be attracted to the plants where the aphids are. So yes aphids love nasturtiums and the ants will definitely follow the aphids. You can include the natural predator in the plants to get rid of the ants on the plant.
