There was a time when any sign of chewed or spotty leaf was met with a blast of pesticide or a cloud of powdered fungicide. In these more environmentally aware times, the approach of choice is Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
IPM looks to provide the best growing environment for a plant and then apply the least damaging cure for problems. While this was initially developed for agricultural use, it can be adapted to the home garden. Below is a list of simple steps to consider in planning your garden. After that, there is a protocol for steps to take to solve a problem.
1) Biological controls (beneficial insects). There are good bugs and bad bugs. The useful ones are called beneficial insects, or beneficials. The beneficials include cheerful ladybugs, which eat aphids and are often available live in garden stores. Lacewings are lovely insects that eat aphids, insect eggs, mealy bugs, and scale. Spiders eat aphids, flies, leafhoppers, and mosquitoes—so leave that web in peace! While they don’t eat insects, honeybees pollinate plants and are essential if you grow vegetables. Because there are so many good insects, it is important not to spray pesticide willy-nilly, taking out the good with the bad.
2) Crop rotation. While this sounds like something best left to farmers, some garden favorites, like tomatoes, should not be grown in the same soil year after year. It is best to switch out your vegetables and grow them in different containers, or at least in different soil.
3) Choose your varieties carefully. Plants and seeds are usually marked “disease resistant” if they are a particularly hardy variety. You can’t always do this, but if you have a choice, pick the plant that is disease resistant.
4) When you have a diseased plant, remove and destroy any infected part of the plant (or all of it) so that the infection will not be transmitted to another plant.
5) Choose plants that will thrive in their site. Plants flourish in particular environments. Trying to grow plants in the wrong place (shade loving plants in the sun, for instance, or dry climate plants in the middle of a rain forest) will weaken them and make them more vulnerable to disease or predation.
6) Pay attention. Watch your garden and take note of what seems to work…and do more of that!
If, despite your best planning efforts, you have a problem in your garden, then IPM suggest you take these steps in this order to solve it:
a) Cultural action – remove a plant or part of a plant. Put a different one in that spot.
b) Mechanical action – remove pests by hand.
c) Biological action – release beneficial insects.
d) Chemical action – As a last resort, use the least environmentally damaging herbicide, insecticide, or fungicide.
This may sound complicated, but it comes down to common sense. Choose the right plant, put it in the right spot, and give it what it needs to thrive.
Most Common Garden Pests
Below is a list of 20 most common garden pests:
Outdoor Pest Control:
Pests Controlled | Active ingredient | Mode of Action | Formulation | Features/Uses |
---|---|---|---|---|
OUTDOOR INSECTS | permethrin | contact | liquid spray | Synthetic pyrethroid for tree and garden |
OUTDOOR ANTS | carbaryl | contact | granules | Lawn/garden ant control |
MOSQUITO LARVAE | Bacillus thuringensis israelensis | stomach poison | pellets | Biological insecticide for standing water outdoors |
CATERPILLARS, WORMS | Bacillus thuringensis | stomach poison | liquid spray | Biological insecticide Bacteria disrupts stomach lining |
DEW WORMS | carbolic acid | contact | soap bar | Apply to lawn |
INDOOR/OUTDOOR NON-FLYING INSECTS | permethrin | contact | aerosol | Synthetic pyrethroid for cracks and crevices |
CRAWLING INSECTS | silicon dioxide | long lasting residual | abrasive powder | Diatomaceous earth scratches insects body |
SCALE, MEALYBUGS, INSECT EGGS | mineral oil | contact, residual | liquid spray | Dormant oil breaks down insect’s waxy coating |
APHID, SPIDER MITE, WHITEFLY, CATERPILLAR, SCALE, THRIPS, ETC. | vegetable oil; pyrethrin | contact | liquid spray | Miticide/insecticide; outdoor |
WASPS, HORNE | resmethrin; permethrin | contact, residual | foam, jet spray | Spray wasp or hornet nest |
FUNGUS GNAT, THRIPS | Hypoaspis mites | predator | granules | Avail. for indoor or outdoor |
SOFT-BODIED INSECTS | potassium salts of fatty acids | contact | liquid spray | Mild insecticide Dessicates body fluids |
OUTDOOR INSECTS | rotenone | stomach poison | powder | Natural organic insecticide; extremely toxic to fish |
OUTDOOR INSECTS | carbaryl | contact | liquid | Spray fruit, vegetables, lawns |
APHIDS, SPIDER MITE WHITEFLY, CATERPILLAR, PSYLLID, ETC. | insecticidal soap; pyrethrin | contact | liquid spray | Avail. in outdoor yard/garden or indoor house plant forms |
Indoor Pest Control:
Pest | Color/ Description | Plant Damage | Plant Hosts | Feeding Action | Cultural Control |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
APHID | usually green or black | wilting flowers/ yellowing | most plants | suck sap | remove heavily infested leaves |
FUNGUS GNAT | small black flies | root damage | most potted plants | larvae eat roots | allow soil to dry out between waterings |
MEALY BUG | cottony, wingless | plant stunting | mostly cacti and succulents | suck sap | hand-picking |
SCALE | dark brown; shell-like, wingless | leaf spotting | most plants | suck sap | pruning or picking |
SPIDER MITE | minute red or two-spotted mite | leaf spotting | most plants | suck sap | misting reduces population |
THRIPS | tiny, dark slender flies | silvery streaks | most plants | suck sap | keep dry |
WHITEFLY | small white moth-like insects | plant stunting | fuschia, daisies, tomatoes, etc. | suck sap | sticky yellow boards |
Fungus Pest Control:
Pests Controlled | Active Ingredient | Mode of Action | Formulation | Features/Uses |
---|---|---|---|---|
FUNGAL ROT, SOIL BORNE INSECTS | captan; carbaryl | protectant contact | powder | Fungicide/insecticide applied to bulbs and soil |
MILDEW, BLIGHT, BLACK SPOT, ANTHRACNOSE | copper | protectant contact | wettable powder | Prevents fungal disease on yard/garden plants |
POWDERY MILDEW, BLACK SPOT | folpet | protectant sytemic | wettable powder | Prevents fungal disease on roses and ornamentals |
POWDERY MILDEW, RUST, BLACK SPOT | triforine | protectant sytemic | liquid spray | Prevents fungal disease on roses and ornamentals |
POWDERY MILDEW, BLACK SPOT, ANTHRACNOSE, RUST | sulphur | protectant contact | wettable Powder liquid spray | Prevents many fungal fruit and foliage dise |
POWDERY MILDEW, BLACK SPOT, ANTHRACNOSE, ETC INSECT EGGS, SCALE | Sulphide sulphur | protectant contact | liquid spray | Prevents fungal diseases on fruit/foli age; used with Dormant Oil to kill overwintering insects; fungal spores |
FUNGAL DISEASES; INSECT PESTS | copper; carbary | protectant contact | powder | Insecticide/fungicide |
Weed Pest Control:
Pests Controlled | Active Ingredient | Mode of Action | Formulation | Features/Uses |
---|---|---|---|---|
KILLS ALL VEGETATION | amitrole; simazine | soil residual | liquid | Non-selective herbicide One year soil residual |
CKICKWEED, CLOVER, THISTLE | M.C.P.P (mecaprop) | contact systemic | liquid | Selective herbicide for broad-leaf weeds |
BROAD-LEAF WEEDS | 2,4-D; dicamba mecoprop | contact systemic | liquid | Selective herbicide for broad-leaf weeds in lawn |
MOSS | ferrous sulphate | Liquid and granular | Controls moss in lawns; do not use on cement | |
KILLS ALL GREEN VEGETATION INCL. GRASS AND THISTLES | glyphosat | systemic | liquid | Non-selective herbicide for perennial weed control |
DANDELIONS, PLANTAIN | 2,4-D | contact systemic | solid bar | Non-volatile, no spray drift kills broad-lf. weeds in lawns |
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