So even spraying insecticidal soap is taboo. Others will only use animal or plant products, while still others practice sound gardening practices and spray as needed. Whatever type of gardening you are doing, and whatever you are growing, one of the most important steps, is frequent monitoring for problems. If you can catch a pest in its early stages, it is much easier to prevent a full-blown infestation. Identifying problems, and then identifying the culprit, is a major step to solving the problem.
Many gardeners decide to go organic, deciding against any spraying.
Then when their tomato plants are chopped off by cutworms, their corn is full of worms and their hosta leaves look like swiss cheese from nightly attacks by slugs, they reverse their decision, and pull out every chemical known to man to stop their problems. But there can be a happy medium. When problems occur there are good, safe chemicals on the market, but if you choose not to use them, there are some good organic options as well. Insect control can be a challenge. There are numerous organic insecticides, physical barriers or traps, or beneficial insects.