Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management or I.P.M. takes a slightly different approach to pest control. Where you may have reached for the chemical pesticides as your first defense, with I.P.M., that is your last choice. As the name implies with I.P.M., you integrate different pest control methods to keep the pests in check.

You aren’t trying to totally eliminate the pests, just keep the numbers low enough to prevent damage to your plants.

I.P.M. Can be simple or complex depending on what you are growing and how much area you are growing in. For the home gardener it is usually a pretty easy process, where for a large farmer it can get pretty complicated. The money saved in not using expensive pesticides will usually far out way the time spent setting up the system. Besides who wants to eat fruits and vegetables covered in pesticides.

A typical IPM system is normally designed around six basic components.

1.Acceptable pest levels Like I said at the beginning of the article you are trying to control the pests, not eradicate them. The idea here is that it can be virtually impossible to completely remove all the pests without using chemicals and even then it isn’t always possible as there are more pests just around the corner.

2.Preventive practices This involves selecting plant varieties that are best suited for your local growing conditions. Maintaining healthy plants is your first line of defense.

3.Monitor If maintaining healthy plants is your first line of defense, then monitoring the plants is the cornerstone. Visual inspections, insect traps, and record keeping are essential in determining a threshold level for the pests that can harm your plants. Knowing how many can be present for your plants to survive and thrive will be found by monitoring.

4.Mechanical controls When or if a pest reaches unacceptable levels, this is your first option for getting them under control. Some of the mechanical methods you can use are, hand picking, erecting insect barriers, using traps, vacuuming, or tilling to disrupt breeding and egg hatching and laying.

5.Biological controls Natural processes and materials can provide biological controls to prevent pets problems, with a minimal environmental impact. The main idea here is to promote beneficial insects that will eat the pest insects and planting companion plants that the pest insects will either want to eat instead or that will repel them.

6.Chemical controls This is the last resort if nothing else is working.