Anyone who has gardened is painfully acquainted with the destructive powers of pests. The list your enemies goes on and on: crickets, caterpillars, mites, thrips, aphids, fungus, all sorts of miners, cutters and piercers hell bent on devouring your garden. Much like any other battlefield, success in the fight against pests relies heavily on knowing your enemy and keeping conditions favorable to you. What this means in the world of gardening is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The goal of IPM is simple. Achieve a balanced system that is designed to have favorable conditions to plants. This entails using cultural (non-chemical) defense tactics such as the use of natural predators, synergistic plant choices, and environmentally-minded garden design. The first step is to always monitor your plant's health and check for pests. Use plants that attract pollinators and beneficial insects in your garden. Natural predators like ladybugs, bacillus thuringiensis, bacillus subtilis, praying mantis, wasps, frogs are indicators of a healthy environment and can be killed by using caustic insecticides, leaving you open for worse insect damage. The second step would be to keep your plants in their best environmental conditions. The healthier and happier the plant, the more resistant it is to pests. Use good spacing, proper airflow and light and be sure to choose a good variety plants wisely to avoid wide swaths of plant death due to one plant specific infection. Finally, know when to use your active defenses. Create thresholds of action so as to not expend excess labor and resources on a small issue. Observe your situation and carry your preventative and reactive defenses with exactness. For more IPM information check out A&Ms IPM program, it's very helpful. https://ipm.tamu.edu/
1 Comment
|
Javier Kane
Archives
September 2020
Categories |