This practice has been around since I began my horticulture career in 1978; however, I was surprised to learn from Radcliffe’s IPM World Textbook that its roots can be traced back to the late 1880s.
According to the above textbook, ecology was identified as the foundation of scientific plant protection. Upon the arrival of pesticides, the focus shifted to pesticide technology. In 1972, after recognizing the detrimental consequences of complete reliance on pesticides, President Nixon formally committed to the “development and promotion of IPM.
Today, IPM strategies are used on many commercial crops, while at the same time, strategies are still being developed. IPM can also be used in the home landscape and gardens.
There are six basic principles and practices of IPM, including the following:
- Pest identification
- Monitoring and assessing pest numbers and damage
- Guidelines for when management action is needed
- Preventing pest problems
- Using a combination of biological, cultural, physical, mechanical and chemical management tools
- Assessing the effect of the pest management used
Unfortunately, for many gardeners, IPM isn’t always simple. IPM takes knowledge and planning, but once you learn about IPM on a specific plant, you know what to do in the future.
When I started my career in the late 70’s at a local garden center, people would bring in their plant samples and problems. Our strategy at the time was use the bible of plant problems, otherwise known as the Ortho Problem Solver. I still have one on hand just for historical purposes, as I love old horticulture books.
We would identify the plant, look it up in the thick book, try to match the problem to the solution, and recommend an Ortho product to “fix” the problem. Fast forward to today, and we still identify the plant, but instead of selecting a pesticide product to fix the problem, we go several steps further.
Plants have common problems that affect them. Therefore, if you correctly identify the plant, you can learn the common problem(s) likely to be found on that plant. Once you determine the actual problem, you can then use IPM to select the most effective and environmentally friendly management tool or tools.
Sometimes when using IPM strategies, you do nothing. For instance, one tactic is to take no action and to accept or tolerate damage. How much damage you accept/tolerate depends on your threshold for the damage and the plant’s threshold to the damage.
For example, I have a linden tree that Japanese beetles adore. The result is a tree with brown leaves from July to the time when the leaves fall. I never spray for Japanese beetles on the linden, as they don’t kill the tree; it just looks bad, and I accept this.
On the other hand, I have a low tolerance for Japanese beetles feeding on my hibiscus or canna. The result is a container planting that looks horrendous in an area where I want my plants to look good. I either hand-pick the beetles if the populations are small, or I spray if populations are causing significant damage.
Over the next few weeks, I will dive deeper into the IPM details and tactics that homeowners can use in their landscapes and gardens.
Pamela Corle-Bennett is the state master gardener volunteer coordinator and horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension. Contact her by email at bennett.27@osu.edu.
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