Limit Insect Damage With Integrated Pest Management

Scientists estimate that insect pests destroy 20% of the world's crop production and this damage will likely increase. This is a very real problem for the vegetable gardener.

On the other hand, thousands of insect species are spiraling towards extinction within a century. Industrial agriculture is a primary cause of this collapse. Insects are an essential part of almost all of Earth's ecosystems and less than 1/2 of one percent of known insect species are pests.

So, what can the home gardener do to protect her crops, without damage to the Natural Environment? Strong insecticides are commonly used in commercial farming. They seem like an easy answer, but they are expensive, and dangerous to the person spraying. Their residues on foods are harmful, especially to children eating fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed.

Insecticides also kill or weaken a lot of non-target creatures, especially honeybees, amphibians, and birds. And because insect pests quickly build up resistance to the insecticides, they often only work for a short time. Over 500 species of insect pests already have genetic resistance some insecticides.

Insecticides are rarely the right choice for kitchen gardens. Integrated Pest Management (or IPM) is a better approach. This means using a mix of different strategies, starting with the safest and simplest ones. If these strategies fail, you take progressively stronger measures until your insect problem is under control.

IMP: The Strategies

These strategies, roughly in the order they should be used, include the following:

Remember that plants growing in healthy soil have fewer insect problems
Accept that some insect damage is unavoidable
Grow a complex mixture of plants, including some aromatic herbs, like tansy, rue, marigold, and pennyroyal. This confuses the insects' ability to locate their targets.
Welcome the birds, lizards, frogs, turtles, bats, and toads that eat harmful insects. Ponds, birdhouses and perches, and small toad houses made from clay pots can make your garden much more attractive to these biological insect controls.
Pick insects by hand. Some insect pests, like Japanese beetles, are easy to shake off plants into a pail of water. They can then be fed to chickens, or composted. Early morning is when most insects are the slowest and easiest to pick.
Use physical barriers, such as floating row covers, to protect your plants. This is especially useful when the plants are young and tender.
If you still need greater control over insect pests, try making this safe low-cost repellent. It will help to chase off deer and rabbits, as well as insects from eating your garden plants.

Here's how:

Put about 1 liter of water in a blender and add a tablespoon each of pennyroyal or mint leaves, garlic or onion, chili powder, and tobacco.
Blend these for half a minute and then strain through a cloth.
If you don't have a blender, just put the same ingredients in a gallon jar and leave it in the sun for a day or two. Then strain the liquid and spray.
Pour this mixture into a sprayer. Add one drop of soap to help the repellent stick to the leaves. Spray this on any plants that are in danger of insect attack. Morning is usually the best time to spray.
If you don't have a sprayer, don't worry, you can just put the repellent in a bucket. Then dip a brush into the bucket and spray the repellent on the plants with a flip of your wrist.

If you still aren't able to control the insect damage, there are a few safe insecticides approved for organic gardening that can be used as a last resort. Two of the safest of these are BT and neem oil. BT (or Bacillus thuringiensis) is made from a type of soil bacteria and targets caterpillars. It is often sold as Dipel or Thuricide. Neem oil is from the seeds of a common tropical tree. It is a more general insecticide and works on more than 200 species of insect pests. Neem also offers some protection from fungal diseases.

The insect repellent and BT and neem are not very toxic but it is a good idea to wait a few days after spraying and then to wash crops carefully before eating them.

Insect damage is definitely a serious problem, but the Integrated Pest Management approach allows the gardener to work with nature instead of fighting against it to find ecologically sound solutions. For most people, this is a more interesting and enjoyable way to grow vegetables.

Thanks for watching.

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