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7 Principles of IPM - Integrated Pest Management
- Physical/Mechanical: oldest method, hand picking, traps, fences, screening, etc.
- Cultural: sanitation (remove leaf litter, keep garden and work area clean), fertilization, proper planting, etc.
- Genetic: choose resistant plant varieties.
- Biological: use beneficials (ladybugs, lacewings, parasitic wasps, etc.) or harmless organisms to control or suppress pests - encourage by not spraying.
- Behavioral: synthetic chemicals to attract, repel, confuse, or inhibit pests (pheromone lures).
- Regulation: legal control - certification, inspection, quarantine (prevent entry or eradicate in limited area).
- Chemical: specially designed chemicals to kill or harm pests - last resort.
Pest Management Terms
- Broad-Spectrum Insecticides
- Destroys many pests in many situations. Diazinon is one such broad-spectrum, eliminating over 100 different pests, including aphids, mealybugs, mites, and flea beetles.
- Specific Insecticides
- Designed to control only one or two particular types of insects. For example, Kelthane was designed to kill only mites and will not affect other pests.
- Systemic
- Is absorbed by the plant and moves throughout the whole plant, therefore can kill any pest feeding on any part of the plant - Orthene, Avid, Cygon, Di-Syston, Marathon ($20/lb. 4 mos.)
- Contact
- Does not penetrate plant tissues, just kills any pest it physically lands on, or any pest that feeds on plant tissues that have been sprayed (Malathion, Sevin, Diazanon).
- Selective
- More toxic to certain types of plants or animals (Kelthane for mites).
- Non-selective
- Kills everything it touches (Roundup/ herbicide $1.50 lb.)
- Phytotoxic
- Harmful to plants.
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