What brings pests into the garden
All insects and other invertebrates have a purpose in the cycle of life. The role of those we see as pests is to get rid of unhealthy and diseased plants.
One theory as to how this is achieved is as plant tissue breaks down, in the case of sick or diseased plants, it gives off more ammonia and ethanol than a healthy plant. As well as giving off these gases, weak plants contain nutrient and sugar levels at the perfect range for insects to digest. Healthy plants contain a higher concentration of sugars (measured by its brix level. Sucking pests are unable to digest high levels of sugars and some say that insects won't even recognise a plant as food if these levels are high. Therefore, if this is the case, sick and stressed plants actually attract pests whereas healthy plants will not. It is certainly the case that healthy plants are not as affected by pests and we found that when we measured the brix levels in our own plants the levels were high.
So, logically, if we only have healthy plants, we won’t see many pests. Unfortunately this is much easier said than done. To strive to this end is the mission of the organic grower. We believe in starting with the basics; by creating healthy soil we will create healthy plants, which in turn creates healthy food and ultimately healthy people. (us)