By Mary Bernard, Master Gardener
Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) is a pest management strategy that focuses on long-term
prevention or suppression of pest problems through a combination of
techniques. It involves a
decision-making process that anticipates and prevents pest activity and
infestation by combining a number of different strategies to achieve long-term
solutions to pest problems. These might
include encouraging biological control, use of resistant varieties, or adoption
of alternative cultivating, pruning, or fertilizing practices or modification
of habitat to make it incompatible with pest development.
The primary goal of IPM
is to solve pest problems with minimum impact on human health, the environment
and non-target organisms. IPM does not
mean eliminating the use of pesticides entirely, but rather as a last
resort. Unnecessary pesticide
applications should be eliminated. The
advantage is reduced risk to the environment and cost savings to the home
gardener. This also helps to encourage
populations of beneficial insects that prey on insect pests.
A key element of IPM is
planning ahead. You must anticipate and
prepare for pest problems before they occur.
By planning ahead you can employ strategies that actually prevent pests
from ever building up to a level where they may cause you trouble.
Some examples of
preventative IPM strategies that you can use are:
·
Select
pest-free planting materials.
·
Use
adapted, pest-resistant varieties.
·
Proper
site preparation and planting techniques.
·
Promote
healthy plant growth through proper fertilization and watering practices –
plants stressed by poor nutrition or inadequate water are more susceptible to
pests and diseases.
·
Proper
garden sanitation to eliminate sources of pests and diseases.
·
Crop
rotation to non-susceptible crops can stop disease development.
·
Tilling
the soil improves it and prevents many fungi and bacteria from spreading.
·
Mulching
helps to control weeds and conserves soil moisture.
·
Handpicking
garden pests - snails, slugs, beetles, and other harmful bugs, caterpillars,
and their egg masses to eliminate damage to plants.
·
Hosing
or syringing - insects or mite pests can be controlled by forcefully hosing or
syringing plants with water.
·
Trapping
– target flying pests with colored sticky traps; use tanglefoot at the base of
fruit trees to trap crawling pests.
·
Barriers
– use netting, floating row covers, cardboard collars and the like to keep
pests at bay.
·
Insecticidal
soaps – effective for controlling pests like aphids, whitefly, mites and other
soft-bodied insects.
The