Practicing integrated pest management

By Eric Barrett

OSU Ext. educator

When working with farmers and gardeners and in general conversation with the public, I get lots of questions about insect control, disease issues and frustrations with weeds. They are all of the things we don’t want. Whether it’s a stinkbug, aphid, thistle or fungus – we generally refer to them all as pests.

Thus, we practice integrated pest management when controlling these pests. IPM is a systematic approach to reducing these pests while maintaining our production of everything from asparagus to zinnias.

IPM starts with using best practices in growing crops, gardens or flowers. It’s the spacing of plants apart at proper distances, providing as much sun as possible for fruits and most vegetables, and providing shade for hostas and bigleaf hydrangeas. It is doing a soil test and providing the proper pH and nutrients for our plants so they are healthy. Healthy plants are less likely to be affected by pests in the garden.

The first step is identifying the pest. What is it? Is it good, or is it bad? Sometimes this is easy to do if we see a few hundred aphids affecting our tomatoes. Other times, we think we are doing good by sparing the life of the praying mantis, only to see it feasting on a hummingbird the next week. Many times, we miss the lady beetle (ladybug) larvae that look like little black and orange alligators or we think they might be bad. The reality is they are eating hundreds of bad aphids each day! Know your insects or bring them to our clinic for identification.

Once the pest is identified and known to be having an impact, the next step is determining the threshold for control. This includes knowing the life cycle of the pest, how many there are, and the stage of development of the plant being threatened.

After we’ve identified the bad insect, weed or disease infecting our plants, the next step is a series of controls to get rid of the issue. First is cultural and mechanical controls, including prevention and exclusion of the bad pests. This can be done using screens and barriers to keep bad insects out, using newspapers to conserve moisture and keep weeds down, trapping the bad insects, or even removing leaves to increase air flow around the plant. Next are biological controls such as using beneficial insects to get rid of the problem insects.

Finally, chemical controls are the last option when other options have been exhausted. Chemicals include organic and conventional products that are used in a safe manner to control the bad insect, while protecting the good insects. Chemicals can be misused, for example using a brand name dish detergent instead of insecticidal soap. The dish detergent can burn leaves and cause plant damage. Thus, no matter your choice of product, be sure to use the product based on the label instructions.

To learn more about IPM and how it can help you in the home and garden, go to http://go.osu.edu/ipm.