Even the most experienced gardener has problems with pests. They are a fact of life with growing many vegetable and perennials plants as well as annuals and shrubs. From sooty mold and mildews to things that eat leaves, there is a pest or pathogen that can spoil your harvest or disfigure your plant.
The first resort for most people is still to find something, take a guess at what it is and run to the store to buy a gallon of ‘fix it’ chemical. Unfortunately this is not a good idea. Unless you know what you are dealing with, the remedy is not going to be effective. Integrated pest management (IPM) is a way to observe the plant life regularly and learn to address problems early as they arise, rather than wait until they are a full blown menace. IPM relies on several things:
Tolerance: How much damage can your plant and landscape sustain before you have a need to address the problem? Black spot on roses will defoliate the rose. If you are a rosarian with a show garden, defoliated roses will not be appreciated. If, however, you are a homeowner with one early blooming rose, can you manage to deal with a defoliated rose, particularly if it is behind a nice tall annual and it defoliates at the end of each summer? Your tolerance for problems will be determined plant by plant and pathogen by pathogen.
Observance: Monitoring the garden regularly will allow you to identify a problem when it first arrives. In general, a tree or shrub will need to be almost 30% affected before a problem is generally noticeable. By monitoring the garden you will see the problem well before this stage. Any problem that is addressed in an early stage will be less hassle for you, take much less chemical to correct, as well as stop it from affecting any other portion of your landscape.
Accurate Identification: If you do not know whether you are dealing with a mold, a virus or a fungus, or even a cultural problem, then you will not be able to choose the right remedy. So correct and accurate identification of what you are dealing with is important. If you do not know what the problem is, then call your County Extension office and speak to the Educator or Master Gardener, who will be able to help you. Many nurseries will also be able to help you identify problems.
Lowest toxicity: There are many bugs and problems that can affect your landscape as well as many remedies. The remedies may be as simple as moving the plant to a place that has more sun, or may require chemicals. Frequently though simple household chemicals will work as well as store brought ones. A good strong stream of water from a hose will dislodge whitefly as efficiently as a spray. A fungus and mold both require that the conditions be just right (usually warm and humid). A spray of very diluted vinegar or milk can adjust the environment just enough to inhibit the growth of that pathogen. Insecticidal soaps are also low toxic remedies. These are based on an oily material that will cover many tiny bodies and suffocated them.
Finally there are the many chemicals that you can resort to. If you are using a chemical make sure that you have correctly identified the pest as well as the host material as some chemicals will adversely affect some shrubs and plants, and you will end up with a worse problem than you started with!
Using Integrated Pest Management you will find that you can control how much damage you sustain, and resort to the least toxic remedy in the least amount. This is not only good sense for the environment but also for your wallet!
