1. Garden Pest ID and Control
Valerie Kish
6 April 2019
Hanover Gardening Series

2. Who Are The Pests? Weeds Wiregrass = Bermuda grass
Hairy bittercress

3. Who Are The Pests? Insects
Squash vine borer: left = adults; right = eggs develop into larva/worm in stem.

4. Who Are The Pests? Diseases
Powdery mildew on raspberry (Rubus spp.)
Rust on hollyhock

5. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Strategy for keeping pest population at an acceptable level
Non-chemical approaches first
Pesticides are a last resort
Selective control of targeted pest
Requires identification of pest

6. Healthy Unstressed Plants Are Less Susceptible to Pest Effects
Healthy plants resist insect damage and plant diseases more than unhealthy plants
Healthy soil makes healthy plants
Grow plants under optimum conditions (light, moisture, soil pH, nutrient supply, etc)
Plants grown under less than optimum conditions are stressed and are susceptible to disease and insect damage (e.g. drought stress)

7. First Step: Know Your Garden
Scout and keep records
Know what healthy plants look like
Look for evidence of pests (e.g. chewed leaves, eggs, etc.)
Black vine weevil notches periphery
Assassin bug eggs

8. How Much Damage Can You Tolerate?
Powdery Mildew on Phlox, missouribotanicalgarden.org.
Japanese Beetles, extension.umd.edu

9. Second Step: Is Damage Due to Environment, Insect, Disease?
Tomato with herbicide injury
Brown rot of peaches hgic.clemson.edu

10. Third Step: Non-chemical Control
Physical/mechanical
Cultural
Row covers protect plants from egg-laying female insects
Crop rotation disrupts pest life cycle

11. Third step: Non-chemical Control
Biological Controls: Beneficial Nematodes
Pestid.msu.edu
Japanese beetle grub killed by nematodes extension.csu.edu

12. Non-chemical control Adding biodiversity helps control pests
Aim for layers and native plants
Eastern bluebird

13. Pesticides: A Last Resort
All pesticides are toxic; all are dangerous
Pesticide Applicator License Training

14. Read the Pesticide Label
You must follow the label, it is the LAW.
Types of pesticides
Insecticide (kills insects)
Herbicide (kills plants)
Fungicides (kills fungi)
Miticides (kills mites)
Nematocides (kills nematodes)
ID the pest and choose least toxic pesticide

15. Low-Impact Insecticides
Microbial (Bt, bacteria)
Botanical (Pyrethrum)
Bt-infected caterpillar (top)
Chrysanthemum cinerarium, researchgate.net

16. Synthetic Insecticides
More toxic than low-impact
May last longer in the environment
Sevin marketed as broad-spectrum insecticide
Targeting…no! Kills over 100 pests (grubs, spiders, mites, ticks, insects)
Selective…no! Penetrates mulch and kills soil insects
Rapid breakdown…no! 3 month control…”sit back and watch all those pesky critters die.”

17. Remember IPM Pyramid

18. Keep Food Web Intact When Controlling Garden Pests