How to Use Insect Netting

No matter whether you’re growing garden flowers or market crops, you’ll undoubtedly want to ensure protection against insects such as the cabbage white butterfly and flea beetle. Thankfully you can be assured of year-round protection through the covering of your produce with purpose-made netting. Typically made from woven poly, such netting is an excellent alternative to the use of pesticides.

Follow the guidance in this blog to ensure that you choose the right kind of insect netting for your outdoor space.

Choosing Your Insect Netting

You should be prepared to spend some time researching in order to find the most suitable insect netting for your garden. It’s important to consider the types of produce that you’re growing and the insects that you can expect to attract. The meshed netting should also allow sufficient sunlight, moisture, and ventilation to give your plants the best chance of growth.

You’ll discover that there’s some variation in the mesh sizes, materials, and weights of insect netting. Standard mesh will be ideally suited for protection against the cabbage root fly, onion fly, moths, and butterflies. If you want to keep smaller insects at bay then you may opt for netting with a slightly wider mesh. Or there’s the option of ultrafine meshing, for protection against tiny thrips, flea beetles, and other invertebrates.

Fixing the Mesh

Care must be taken over the installation of your insect netting so that the mesh provides optimum cover. You should begin by stretching the netting out and finding each corner for secure placement. And a small incision should be made at one of the netting edges so that you have ready access to your fresh produce.

Rocks or sandbags may be used to keep your insect netting secure to the ground. Or there’s the option of using row cover support hoops. The mesh should prevent the invasion of small insects and keep your crops protected against the weatherly extremes.

Protecting Your Garden

You can expect the mesh netting to last for up to ten years, as long as you carry out regular maintenance. It should effectively prevent your crops from being eaten, contaminated, or damaged in other ways.

As an added benefit, it may allow you to keep beneficial insects such as ladybirds and green lacewing larvae inside your enclosed gardening space. These insect allies will consume spider mites, aphids, and other tiny predators so that your plants can thrive.

Trust Renco Nets

As your first-choice suppliers of agricultural and pest netting, Renco Nets offer a complete range of mesh sizes, suitable for your every need. Whether you want to protect an entire farmed field or a small allotment, you can count on us to provide the required amount of meshed insect netting. We even offer a bespoke net making service, with a variety of application-specific materials and colours to suit your needs.