How to Use Integrated Pest Management IPM

This week on In the Garden with UC Master Gardeners, we air a much-needed show on the topic of pest control.  Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is the primary tenet of Master Gardeners’ philosophy regarding pests. The key word is “INTEGRATED”.  According to the UCANR.edu website, Integrated Pest Management is “a process you can use to solve pest problems while minimizing risks to people and the environment.”  Master Gardener Sally Richards met with retired UCANR advisor Dr. Cheryl Wilan to talk about pesticides – their labels and proper use. Plus, some direct methods like squishing, squashing, and drowning!  All methods are part of Integrated Pest Management!  Just as your plants are hungry now, so are the pests that bother your plants.  Feed the plants and you are, in turn, feeding those bugs that eat the fresh new growth.  Stay on top of them the moment you spot them. Look up what you find on our UC IPM (Integrated Pest Management) website for specific pest notes at Pest Notes Library / Home and Landscape / UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM). Another indispensable resource is our Hotline Gardening Questions? - Ask Us! | UC Master Gardeners of Orange County. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:21

This is the In the Garden Shodok produced by UC Master Gardeners of Orange County, and I'm Sally Richards, your DJ for the hour, and we are going to talk about pest integrated pest management and how we can deal with the bugs and things we have in our gardens and how to use fertilizers or not use fertilizers. We have Cheryl Willen here this morning, and she has uh she has a BS in horticulture from University of Maryland, an MS in horticulture from University of Arizona. You can tell she gets around. And she's got her doctorate in botany from UC Riverside. And welcome, thank you for coming. Sure, thank you for asking me. Okay, so she's really the expert, folks, on uh pesticides and integrated pest management. So, first of all, you want to explain what integrated pest management is?

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Okay, well, essentially integrated pest management is a decision-making process where you look at what your level of risk is or rev level of acceptance of pests or pest damage in your growing area, whether it's a garden or a landscaped area or a farm, and then you make a decision about how you want to manage those pests. And you notice I don't say control the pests, because you have to be able to accept that there will be some pests in your garden. So let's just use garden generically for the sake of this um radio show, and you're gonna have to accept there's gonna be some level of pests in your garden, but you have to be able to say, I'm gonna accept that I'm gonna have that level, I'm gonna accept that I'm gonna have a certain level of damage, but I'm going to be able to manage the pests so that they don't exceed that level. And so the integrated part is that you look at a whole bunch of different ways to keep the pest below that threshold, that level, and you combine them. So, for example, you would use a combination of cultural methods such as pruning the plants so that they let more light in, so that you so that the light and air, so for example, so plant diseases that uh depend on water to spread and grow. Um water is not such a problem. There you go, you got my Maryland accent in there. So and then um so in addition to that, you might want to um you know plant uh plants that are more resistant to those plant diseases, those pathogens. And then on top of that, you might want to consider spraying the plants with some kind of uh material, and it you know, that would be a pesticide. Anything that's used to uh manage a pest or repel a pest in the eyes of the California Department of Pest Regul Regulation is considered a pesticide, whether it's an organic material or a synthetic material. So you use all of those techniques, and then that way you don't depend on one method and you can keep the pests below that threshold.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

So um would a systemic um pesticide also be considered in that category?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Well, yeah, any pesticide is a pesticide. So it doesn't matter whether systemic or contact or remedial or preventative.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

And I was thinking of I have roses in my yard and we we do everything that you said, we we open them up and um and I wind up spraying because I can't control everything that I would like to control, but I can keep it under and I use a systemic too, so I'm actually able to do that all just in my roses, use all the different methods.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Right. So a systemic is just one um type of the one way that the pesticide can get into the plant. A systemic pesticide is something you would apply to one part of the plant and it moves through the to other parts of the plant. So that way you don't have to cover the whole plant. It just actually works kind of from the inside out. So um in many cases, systemic is uh a good choice of a pesticide because it actually reduces the amount of pesticide that one really needs to use because you don't have to cover the whole plant.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Yeah. And also like the bugs don't like to eat it because they're eating the leaves with the systemic in it. And you don't have um overspray from something that you sprayed on because it's just in the ground and then it goes.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Right. Well that's actually i well, you bring up a good point because you know that's actually a little bit of confusion about systemics. Systemics can be sprayed on a on a plant and moved through the leaves and into the rest of the plant. Or it can be in the ground, you take you put it in like a drench, and it can be taken up by the roots and moved upwards. And it all depends on how the um the chemical is uh designed, you know, there are chemicals, so um, and some of them move better through the phloem, which that means it's in the ground and it goes up, excuse me, it goes down, you know, so that's like from the leaves to phloem from the leaves and goes down, or the xylem, which is the water conducting tissue, so that's better taken up by the roots and moved through the plant.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

So would that be on the labeling then? I mean, on your when you look at your systemic that you want to imply, would it say, okay, this one is for spraying or this one's for underground? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Yeah, like like a lot of times it'll have that information on the on the label. Okay, so that kind of brings us to you know, another point that uh we will really need to cover is what's on the package when you buy the um the material. So um so I just want to be clear that uh pesticides can be organic or they could be synthetic. And every pesticide that's sold in California, in fact in the country, has something called the label on it. And for people that don't really do this a lot or really look at the label, they just think it's the advertising that's on the bottle or the bag. And actually the label is an illegal form. And if you don't follow it, there's a chance that you could be breaking the law. So in fact, there's a term that says the label is the law. So if the label says um, you know, apply four ounces per a thousand square feet, for example, and you put out eight ounces per thousand square feet, then you are technically using an illegal application of the material. You're over applying it. So it's very, very important that people actually read the label because that has all the information that one needs to know about how to apply, how to um make sure they've got the right amount, how the right time of the year to apply it. We're we're very, very concerned about um insecticides being applied when there's bees present. Um that's also on the label. Sometimes it says don't apply if you see bees, sometimes it says don't apply when the flowers are open, um, don't apply at certain times of the day. So all that information is on the label. So it's very, very important that people read the label for the application, and then on top of that, there's information on the label about um safety for the for people and pets and uh environmentally, such as the water and the air. And then finally, there's information on the label about how to dispose of the pesticide once you're done with it. So all those things are very important for the the health of the environment and the health of the people that's that are either spraying or or could enter the area that's where the pesticide is being sprayed.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

And don't throw the label away because a lot of times people will just tear it off the package and it has so much information. If you have some type of um poison that happened by uh to someone around your area and you need to know what you had and what you can do, that is on the label. And I want to talk a little bit about um the signal words, because this this was really an important thing that I found out that if I don't read anything else and granted, I need to read this whole label. This is so important, and those are signal words. You want to explain that?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I will, but I want to go back just just a little bit about the label and being it on the container, is that um you should never ever even take the label off the container. It should stay with the container at all times. Um because otherwise, and and otherwise that container, you don't know what's in it. And there's been cases of people thinking that container uh might contain soda, might contain something else, and then they just grab it and take a swig and it's not what they expected. Um the other part about that is that you should never take pesticide from one container and put it into something else. So, because again, that something else doesn't have the label on it, so again, you don't need it, don't know what's in there. And many times also that something else is something that might have had food at one time. So, for example, you're just your disposable water bottles. I just say, oh, you know, I have a big two-gallon bottle of, let's just say, an organic pesticide, and let's just say that organic pesticide is one of the stronger kinds of acetic acid, which is um like like vinegar, and you take that, you put it into a water bottle saying, Well, I don't want to carry that two-gallon jug, you know, out to the garden with me. I'll just put some of this in this water bottle and then I'll put it into my sprayer and go from there. Well, somebody might see this clear, clear water bottle with actually very toxic acid in it, and take a swig from that, and that's extremely dangerous. So now let's get back to the part that Sally asked me about these signal words that are on the label, because that relates to that, in that there are these words on the label, and go get a pesticide container right now. Okay, I'll wait a second. Okay, I get I guess you got it now, and and look at it, and you will see three different words, you know, one of these three words on there. It'll either say danger, it'll either say warning, or it'll say caution. Okay? And so those will tell you how the acute toxicity of the pesticide, how dangerous it is if you get it on you that minute. It doesn't have anything about um long-term effects of the pesticide, so it won't tell you whether it's um, you know, changes your cells or causes cancer or anything like that. It'll just say what happens if you get it in your body.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

So if I have um a certain type of um pest that I want to get rid of, would there be a pesticide in the danger warning and caution? There would be different ones, or does it sp like if I have to hit a certain type of insect, it's always going to be a danger or poison pesticide that I'm gonna have to use. Are there other options for that same one? Do they come in different potencies?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

Sure. So the so the most dangerous ones are the ones that are danger, and the ones that have moderate toxicity are the ones that have warning, and the ones that are least toxic, but still toxic, don't get me wrong, um, are the ones that have the label that says caution. It's likely that you could find pesticides. I don't think you could find anything on the homeowner's market for insecticides that have the danger poison, and probably very rarely that would you find something that has warning on it. Most of them would be in the caution category. Um so, but I'm not saying you can't, I haven't really looked on the shelf for a while. But you want the the best choice is to start with ones that have caution if you do use pesticides as part of your integrated pest management program. So look for ones that have the caution label on that, and then use those as part of the program. Um, you know, just do other things before you decide to use a pesticide, but don't worry about using it if that's if that's where you need to go. Um, and then go back and think about what it is that you need to do to, again, culturally or mechanically to keep that pest from reoccurring. So I would also I would definitely recommend that if you're a home gardener that you choose pesticides that have the caution signal word on the label. So look for that. You will see it. It's usually in in bigger letters than uh most of the other text on a label. Um should be on the front, but sometimes it's on the back.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

And then the other one of the other things we didn't talk about was on the label also is storage. So where do you store your uh even after you're done with it, where can you store it? Can you store it? If it's already dilute, if it's diluted, can you store that? Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Okay, so so for storage, you always want to keep your pesticide out of the reach of children and pets, you know, but specifically children. So we recommend that um you don't store them under your kitchen sink or in the bathroom or something something like that. You won't generally they're stored in the garage or outside. Um if you can, it would be good to have them in a locked cabinet and put the key again on a higher place where the kids can't get it. And um but but that's okay, but that's really all you need to do for these home use products. As far as storing, you know, let's say you've mixed stuff up and you want to store up that solution. Well, keep in mind that now that solution doesn't have a label on it. Okay? So I mean you're right, you know, insectside insecticide number one or whatever it is on there, but that doesn't really provide information that's legally used for the pesticide. The best thing to do is just mix up what you want to use, okay? And then um what you do with the leftovers, hopefully you just have like a little bit left over, is it's actually legal to spray that somewhere else where you might not even have the pest, but as long as it's it's illegal to use it on that area. So for example, um if you have uh um, so for example, Sally, you said you use something sometimes for your roses. So for um you said for some um plant disease, right? Yeah. Okay, so let's say you mix it up and you sprayed, you know, a pint of that solution on your garden, but you you figure you have look, you have, you know, maybe a couple ounces left. You can go, as long as it says it's okay on the label, you can use it on other ornamental plants, even though you might not have that.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

And the key word here is ornamental, right? Not anything that I would eat, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Right, yes. So the if the label says you can use the ornamentals, you just use the ornamentals, you don't use it on a on a food crop. So, but if it's something that says, you know, I'm spraying my tomatoes for powdery milder or something like that, then you can use it on you know other tape tomatoes that might not have it. So you have to, again, you have to really read the label. The label's very, very important. So if it's for food, it's for food.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

It's for ornamentals, it's ornamentals.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

That's correct. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Yeah. Um, but I know besides the, and I know a lot of people don't like to use a lot of chemicals, and um, but sometimes we have to, and that might be the most successful. But there are other ways in the integrated pest management to get rid of some of our bugs without having to use chemicals. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

So so okay, so you know well, let's let's just go back a little bit um because you mentioned bugs, okay, but we're just not only concerned with insects, you know, there's a lot of other things that are considered pests. So weeds are pests, snails are pests, um, plant diseases are pests, the pathogens that cause them. Okay, that's what causes a plant disease. And so that's where we use pesticides, okay? And so right, right. And so a lot of people get confused where they say, and and I I was telling you this earlier, is that, or um, I was relaying the story about how somebody was telling me that, oh no, in my garden I don't use any pesticides at all. All I ever use is um uh vinegar. Okay, and I'm like, well, you know, vinegar, you know, it if it's sold in a bottle as a pesticide, that's a pesticide. So and they're they were talking about their weed control. So so things that control weeds are called herbicides, things that control insects are called insecticides, things that control uh plant pathogens are called, uh the fungus ones are called fungicides and so forth. And so all of those are actually insecticides. So so they all fall under fall under that umbrella, but there's the the more specific titles refer to what they control. So I just wanted to be clear that um just because you're using a herbicide, that that doesn't mean you're not using a pesticide. All right. So, all right, so that having covered that, yeah. Let's go back to your question, which was what other ways can people use to, you know, do them to manage their pests, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:42

I use a lot of them now that I know what they are. Uh-huh. This is really a good way to go.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Uh-huh. Right. So there's there are a number of other ways. And and again, we we try to get people to integrate their their method of managing the pests. So I do a lot of work in snails, okay? And so people say, Oh gosh, I want to put out snail bait, you know, what can I do? And I say, well, you don't really always always have to do that. A lot of times you can just change your irrigation timing and amount because snails like to live in nice moist environments. So if you just reduce your irrigation um so it doesn't go um much farther than where the plants are, and then also reduce the time or change the timing so that it's not um being watered about uh you know, like 7 o'clock or 8 o'clock in the morning, then you're not going to get a lot of snails going out during the day. So the those kinds of things. So more cultural type things, and also um, you know, as we mentioned earlier, pruning the plants so it lets more air circulation and light through and so forth. Aphids are a good example. Right, yes, right. So, you know, aphids like nice succulent growth, and so we find them on the tips of nice succulent plants, and what one can do is either um reduce the nitrogen so that they don't get so much succulent growth, so they change their fertilizer, or end, let me put it end, because they want to integrate it, um, so we can reduce the nitrogen. You can prune the aphids out, so when you see them, you just uh get your clippers out and just prune it out, or you can just squish them with your hand, which is what I do, and I end up with green fingertips. But um or a paper towel. Or a paper towel if you want to go that way. Yes. Um, but yeah, so you can do that kind of thing. That's that works really well.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

And I've had I've had luck um actually taking a hose and just a high stream on because I I just hate to nip off those little rose buds that are just starting out, but those avids are gonna get them and I don't want them to. So uh yeah, I either squish or so right.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

So, you know, we're trying to have people limit their water. So um so one of the things is you know, we I like to squish, you know, some people like to use the hose, but um but if you do use a hose, you know, it does have to be a pretty high high pressure, okay, to make sure you knock them off. That works really well for white flies as well. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, right, right, can knock them off. But you have to also remember you have to get the underside of the leaf. That's where these guys are hanging out.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

And a lot of times uh bug identification and insect identification is really looking. Like I'll look at my tomatoes, and all of a sudden I just see these little black droppings down there, and I go, uh-oh, I think I got caterpillars. Right. And they're always hiding under the leaf, and they're usually right near the stems, so they're hiding in there. And if you and so you have to turn that leaf over so you can find it, and those are usually squish. Take them and squish them. But they kind of have a dead giveaway. Uh-huh. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

And that's really another good point. That's a big part of integrated pest management, is is monitoring for these pests. So go out at least once a week and do that, just as you described, you know. Look at the plants, see if you see any holes, see if you see any damage. Um, look for caterpillar frass if you see holes. In fact, sometimes I see the frass before I see the other damage. And then um, and that's really good, especially for tomatoes. And there's the tomato hornworm that can just decimate a plant. So, you know, a lot of times you see the frass, and then you look up a couple leaves, and then you actually see the insect because it's been dropping the frass below.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Yes, yeah, and um caterpillars on for the first time on my cucumbers. I never I've never seen them on cucumbers, but you can tell they got little cut edges all the way around the edge, and that's dead giveaway for that one.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

For a different kind of beetle, though. Yeah, I mean you know a different kind of caterpillar. Yeah, right, yeah, right. But yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And most of the time, caterpillars you can just pull off, and you don't have to use any insecticide, and just yeah, just pull them off, and as you say, you know, take that satisfaction of squishing them.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Yeah. Whatever you like to do, right? That's right, that's right. Oh, that's really terrific. So um there are things on the pesticide label that have to be there, and I don't think a lot of people really appreciate that that is actually law, and that all the things on there are on there for a reason. And so make sure that you keep those labels with them. Make sure you you check where you want to put your where you want to store it after, and um know if something happens, what you can do. Um, do you have to to uh go to the hospital right away if something if you get poisoned somehow or um or something happens, so that you're prepared ahead of time and um don't store them under your sink. That is really, really important because a lot of times they'll look like it's just sugar water or candy or pop and the kids don't really know um what it is. And I want to thank Cheryl for coming because she was just extremely full of information. And I know we didn't even touch the tip of the iceberg on all the stuff that you know. Um so I'd like to thank you for coming, and especially on this hot afternoon. And um before we end the show, I'd just like to ask, is there anything that you'd like to, can you think of, anything that we might not have covered?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Oh, sure. Yeah, I mean the main thing is I I'd like to refer people to the University of California's statewide integrated pest management website, and that's www.ipm.ucan.edu. And there you can find a bunch of information about specific pests, about integrated pest management, how to uh manage pests very safely and effectively. Oh, that's terrific. Thank you. Um and uh would you like to repeat that? Oh, you want okay go ahead. I'm sorry. All right, no problem. Yeah, just just let those of you then. Yes, put that pesticide down that I asked you to get earlier, and let me just give you that uh information again. So that's the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Pest Management's Program website, and that is www.ipm.ucanr.edu. And then I also just want to remind people if you have pests or pesticide questions, talk to your local master gardener's office to get that that information. That'll be your first point of contact.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Yep, and we do have a hotline, so you actually can go online and ask questions and we get back to you and and uh so if you have something you need an answer to pretty quickly, that's a quick way to do it. I'd like to thank you for listening to them in the garden show and make sure you tune in every week on Thursday from 8 30 to 9 30 for another green topic.