The Surprising Solution to Pests you Probably Havent Heard About

A headache is not the problem. It’s a symptom of a problem. Taking pain relief medication only temporally masks the problem. You still have the problem. A good doctor will search for the cause of the problem and treat that.

It’s the same with growing a crop

If you have pesky pests, you typically use herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Sure, the pests die, but so do the good insects, microbes, and nutrients in the soil. Then you need to add more fertiliser to replace the damage caused by the pesticides. Then you need more pesticides to stop the new wave of pests. It is a costly process in both time and money. And with escalating fertiliser prices, it’s a worry.

According to Entomologist Dr Thomas Dykstra, insects do not attack healthy plants. Insects only feed on plants that are unfit, nutritionally poor, dead, or dying.

So, pesky pests are the symptom of an unhealthy plant.

How can you determine if a plant is healthy?

The fastest way to determine plant health is to test the plant leaf sap with a Brix refractometer. This measures plant sugars or Brix levels.

A quick refresh on Brix levels

1-2 Brix – plants are not long for this world.

3-7 Brix – plants have a fighting chance.

At 6 Brix – plants start to stand on their own two legs. If they had legs. The secondary metabolites increase in the plants. Molecules that give the fruit colour, flavour and smell ramp up.

8-12 Brix – plants start to defend themselves. Water retention is better, and water use reduces by up to 50%.

12-20+ Brix – plants are like elite athletes, objectively healthy with toned muscles and bright smiles. No pest, insects, or disease dare go near. These plants create a healthy ecosystem. They reward you with a rich harvest and a fruitful life.

Naturally, we all want to get high Brix.

So, what’s the most cost-effective way?

Using foliar sprays will quickly increase Brix and reduce the amount of fertiliser needed on your crop. As a bonus, foliar sprays are more efficient than soil-applied fertilisers because the nutrients go straight into the leaf and are used immediately. As a result, there is no competition between the trace elements as there can be with soil-applied fertilisers.

Chelated trace elements in the foliar sprays ensure no antagonism or competition with each other and go to work immediately within the leaf chemistry.

So, if you have pesky pests, treat the cause by boosting your Brix. Use Kendon HIGH K foliar fertiliser. You’ll make your plants healthy and your bank manager smile.

As a bonus, you’ll get your fruit Brix up faster, get to harvest weeks earlier and in some areas beat the frosts.

Fertilising is uncomplicated with Kendon High K foliar fertiliser.