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Integrated Pest Management
ProIPM Questions & Answers
What is IPM?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach to pest control that utilizes regular monitoring to determine if and when treatments are needed. IPM employs physical, mechanical, cultural, biological and educational tactics to keep pest numbers low enough to prevent intolerable damage or annoyance. Chemical controls are used as a last resort, and the least-toxic chemicals are preferred. IPM originated in the late 1950s out of research to find predators for introduced agricultural pests. In the intervening years, IPM has evolved and gained acceptance in non-agricultural pest control as well. Now it is widely recognized and utilized in landscaping and structural pest control, as well as agriculture.
Why Use IPM?
IPM protects the natural enemies that help to keep pests in check and avoids unnecessary chemical use that may endanger human health and the environment. This approach has been gaining acceptance worldwide and is now mandated by many governmental agencies. The Green Gardening Program believes that IPM represents the future for the landscaping industry because it is the best long term solution to pest management and plant health.
Demand for IPM services is increasing as concern over pesticides grows. Companies that can provide IPM services will be in an excellent position to prosper in the future. When a client hires an IPM practitioner, they receive expertise, careful monitoring, and labor-intensive cultural practices instead of just chemicals.
Why timed, calendar-based sprays don't work.
People tend to think of timed sprays as "booster shots" for the garden, as a practice that helps keep plants invulnerable to problems. These calendar sprays are generally ineffective. Why?
- • Pests are not the primary problem. Over 2/3 of plant difficulties result from soil conditions, watering practices, nutrient imbalance, heat, freezing, or other cultural problems. Sprays, designed to kill living organisms like fungal spores and insects, are wasted on these problems.
- • Disease organisms and insects grow with light, temperature, and moisture, not by watching the calendar. Timing of application is essential, because plants are more vulnerable at certain stages than others to pests, and pests are more easily controlled during certain life stages by natural predators or treatment.
Spraying every plant in the garden endangers beneficial insects and birds.
Broad-spectrum sprays, such as diazinon insecticide, kill many different types of insects, including the larval and adult lady bug, a great muncher of aphids. Healthy, balanced landscapes provide food and shelter for many different creatures. Timed sprays applied to plants "just in case" actually make problems worse when they kill beneficials. Even if some pests are present, treatment may not be needed. Most plants can tolerate some damage and just "grow out of it." Using sprays unnecessarily wastes time, money, and materials, but its primary problem is the disruption of a natural garden ecosystem. Learning when and how to manage garden problems requires more effort and attention than simply spraying by a schedule.
Fertilizers and IPM
Although some plant species can remain healthy using only the food naturally present in the soil, most plants in home landscapes require at least some additional nutrients. These nutrients are provided by soil amendments such as compost and fertilizer. Although not pest controls themselves, fertilizers do affect a plant's susceptibility to pests and diseases, and they can have effects on the environment as well. So the choice of when and how to fertilize is an important component of IPM. The three most important practices for lawn and garden fertilizers are:
- • Don't over-fertilize. Applying too much fertilizer is harmful in two ways. First, it over-stimulates plant growth. In the case of turf, rapid growth means more mowing and more thatch buildup. Over-fertilization can increase aphid problems in susceptible plants, too. The second problem with excess fertilizer is that it can leach or run off into surface water or ground water. For turfgrass, WSU Cooperative Extension recommends no more than 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn per year. This amount of nitrogen can be spread out over four separate applications. Up to one-third of this nitrogen can be supplied by grasscycling, reducing the need for commercial fertilizer.
- • Use Slow-Release Fertilizers. Slow release fertilizers are designed to provide a slow, steady supply of nutrients. They can be either naturally derived (organic) or synthetically derived. Slow release fertilizers are generally not very soluble in water, so they are less likely to pollute water by runoff or leaching. Top dressing with compost provides soil fertility and helps increase water retention. For turfgrass, WSU recommends a 3-1-2 (N-P-K) ratio. Controlled release fertilizers are preferred to water soluble fertilizers.
Learn more about applying slow release fertilizers to lawns in Step 2 of Natural Lawn Care.
- • Avoid Fertilizer/Herbicide Mixtures. Fertilizers with built in weed control are popular because they are convenient, but they are not recommended by WSU Cooperative Extension or the Green Gardening Program. These products are designed to be used whether or not a weed problem exists, and they are broadcast over the entire lawn area. Such an approach short-circuits the IPM process by ignoring the monitoring step, assuming a zero tolerance for weeds, and not targeting the pest problem. The herbicide ingredients in weed and feed mixtures are highly mobile and inclined to move with water. We suggest keeping fertilization separate from weeding, so that each component can be performed in the optimal manner. Weeds should be removed mechanically if possible, or spot treated with the most appropriate chemical if mechanical methods are impractical. Some tolerance for weeds helps to minimize chemical use.
Learn more about Weed and Feed mixtures in Step 5 of Natural Lawn Care
Related links
Natural Lawn Care
Natural Pest, Weed & Disease Control
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