Pest Control

Many gardeners are looking for minimal uses for pesticides in order to keep their gardens free from pest. There are various ways for disease and insect control. If you want to discourage the use of pesticides, then you should understand the needs of healthy plants and learn how to manage pests in your climate. You may also seek the scientifically proven methods for alternative pest control from your local extension office.

Preventing Pest Problems – By using the healthy plants in the garden from the beginning, you can prevent the pests from infecting it. The Plant breeders are continually experimenting with the plants that are resistant to common diseases like powdery mildew on garden phlox or verticillium wilt on tomatoes. You need to pick plants that grow well in the climate and then maintain them with proper water; fertilizer and soil conditions. You can also ensure good air circulation for preventing fungal diseases.

Physical Controls – You can practise various physical controls like weeding, picking off caterpillars or other insects for managing insects and diseases in your ornamental and vegetable gardens. You can provide a barrier to the source of the pest. Examples of such barriers is mulching for avoiding soil splash on the lower leaves of plants as soils contain bacteria or other pathogens. Another example of a physical control is to put light netting over strawberries and broccoli for excluding insect pests.

Biological Controls – You can also use many biological options to control pests via enemies of common diseases and insects. The predatory insects like lacewings and ladybugs with beneficial fungi or bacteria like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are useful control methods for preventing common aphids and caterpillars. Another example is addition of compost to the soil for keeping away the fungi and bacteria.

Organic Pesticides – You can also use the organic pesticides which are naturally occurring substances in the climate. Some examples are usage of pyrethrin-type pesticides, Neem, insecticidal soap and horticultural oil.

Dog repellents are the diverse approaches designed for repelling unwanted canine intruders from a specific area. These include the usage of various substances keeping the dog away. The most widely used dog Repellents are Powders, Granules or Sprays. They need to be sprinkled or sprayed on the ground. Their basic disadvantage is that you need to reapply them after rains or after a period of time when the strength of their odour diminishes. This category of dog repellents includes the homely products like Ammonia and Vinegar found in the kitchen. It is advised that you should not spray ammonia or vinegar directly onto any landscape plants or lawn grass as it will kill vegetation if sprayed in sufficient amount. They should be used around the perimeter of your property, thereby forming an invisible barrier for keeping the dogs away.

In addition to Ammonia and Vinegar, dogs dislike the smell of citrus and thus, you can use orange, lemon peels, or grapefruit as dog repellents. You can use these fruit peels as natural product which is easy to obtain, however, their use will be restricted to backyard garden areas from where they cannot be seen. The Commercial Dog Repellents are also very popular. One of them is Get Away® dog repellent based on the smell of citrus. This dog repellent is available in both granule and spray form. Other example is of Critter Ridder® which is an organic dog repellent that comes in both granules and sprays form and produces a smell of black pepper that drives the canines away.

Liquid Fence® is another dog repellent that masks the smells seek by dog in areas to do their business.

In addition to dog repellents, there are various gadgets that keep the dogs away like Scarecrow Sprinklers. You need to simply hook one in the garden hose and allows its motion-activated mechanism to do the work. Another benefit is that there’s no need for taking separate control measures against different types of pests. Yard Gard® is an electronic dog repellent that is effective against other pests.

The pest management involves various treatment strategies and tactics.

(1) Indirect Suppression

(2) Direct Suppression

Indirect Suppression comprises of strategy that includes designing and redesigning of the Landscape or Physical Structure for eradicating the the pest out of the system. One tactic involves the selection of plants that resist pests and other tactic includes the usage of landscaping for promoting the health of the host plant.

Second strategy involves the modification of the habitat by using the tactic of reducing the food, water, shelter of pests and enhancing environment for the natural enemies of the pest.

Third Strategy relates to the changes in human behaviour. It includes changes in cultivating, watering, fertilizing, pruning, and mulching practices. It leads to the modification of waste management and sanitation procedures. It comprises of inspection & quarantine of new plants, pets as well as materials. The proper education about pest management also plays a crucial role.

Direct Suppression involves the strategy of using Physical and Mechanical Controls for the removal of pests. It includes manually removing the pests such as hedge, vacuum, clippers, flea comb, hoe. It allows the usage of barriers such as nets and screens. It employs the application of heat, cold, or water.

Second Strategy talks about using the biological Controls. It includes the conservation of biological controls and treatment is done only when injury exceeds the acceptable levels. It can be spot-treated for reducing the impact on the pest’s natural enemies. It involves the proper time for treatments so that they will be least disruptive. The least damaging treatment is selected and species-specific selection is done. It comprises of the augmentation of natural enemies that is increasing the enemies artificially which are present in low numbers. It also involves inoculation with natural enemies by releasing enemies early in the season prior to their presence and import of natural enemies by introducing new enemies.

The pest control is a service provided by the operator to both residential as well as commercial consumers. It is important to learn about the function and requirements of a pest control operator, if you want to develop career related to pest control. The pest control operator is basically a full time employee that receives all job orders from one company directly. He may be a subcontractor that is freelancer who receives job orders from different companies. The pay rates will change as per the experience level of the employer and the operators. The job does not have any specific pay scale and also there is no union associated with it. The operators may be specialist in one area like termite control or rodent control as per their specific licensing.

The primary tasks of the operator is to analyze a pest problem, and develop and execute a plan for the elimination of the pests through the use of various products like gels, powders, traps, sprays, aerosols and other products. In case, the reason for a pest infestation is because of poor sanitation level then a limited use of chemicals is sufficient to clean the environment. By sealing off an entry point into a building, the rodents can be prevented from entering the building. A good operator should be able to give suggestions regarding the various preventive measures and also explain the pest treatment to the customers so that they understand the situation well.

The pest control operator is required to complete the reports for each job by highlighting the steps, products and techniques employed by them. There is a constant introduction of new product and procedures in the industry and the operator is required to attend seminars regularly to stay informed. Also, the operator may be required to work during the odd hours like late evenings.

There are various approaches for pest management that do not require chemical controls like pesticides for removing infestation from crops. You should focus on preventing the initial infestation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses an approach known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) that avoid the using of chemicals for controlling agricultural pests and uses natural methods for dealing with pests that are environmental friendly and do not harm humans, other animals. The usage of IPM in agricultural practices leads to decrease in the number of pests without sacrificing crop quality or causing any harm to the environment.

You should use various cultural controls in your planting methods. It involves checking of the plant for any infestation or removal of pests before introducing new plants into your garden. You should use plant crops that have lesser pest problems and also plant crops near other plants that can prevent any damage done by pests. You should plant crops during a season when potential pest populations exist in low numbers. You should consider changing the environment of your garden or field in order to avoid the pests. It involves pest barriers such as plant covers, reflective mulches and sticky tape.

You should also rotate your crops as planting the same type of crop in the same place increases the probability of pest infestation. Ideally, you should wait for few years before planting the same crop in the same place. You should determine the type of pest with which we are involved and what level of infestation control required by it. There are many useful pests that are not harmful to agricultural products and actually benefit the crop by destroying other destructive pests. You need to watch the crop growth closely and introduce the natural enemy of the harmful pest into the environment for eliminating the problem.

Cricket can lead to restlessness by chirping in the night. They can disturb your sleep and keep you awake in the night. You need to prevent the cricket from chirping at night by following the few basic tips. The first thing is that you need to get the complete information about the cricket as an animal. They are the nocturnal creatures which get active in the night. They get attracted to light and moisture. They multiply fast and increase in numbers after the rains. If case, they are outdoors you will find them in nice warm and damp soil. When they enter the indoors of your house, they look out for those places which are damp and warm.

When you find a cricket chirping, you need to locate it rather than ignoring its noise and resting in bed. It is better to treat the cause of the disturbance and get to sound sleep. It requires effort from your side find the cricket. You need to move toward the chirping sound until you find the room from where the sound is coming. It happens that once a cricket knows that someone is coming to it, its stops making sound. Therefore you need to be careful to trace the room from where the sound is coming.

Once you locate the room from where the chirping sound of cricket is coming, then you need to lure the cricket. For that you can place a wet washcloth in the sink, bathroom or kitchen or any place that is close to the location of the cricket. Then you need to wait for the cricket to come out. In the mean while, you can either go back to the bed and enjoy listening to music by using ear plugs or

enjoy the cricket’s sound. Then you should spring the trap. Crickets do not adjust well on smooth surfaces so sinks are best place to nail them. In the morning, you can find the cricket hiding beneath the washcloth. You can take a container for trapping the cricket.

There are various ways and tips for using the organic pest management. Some methods involve usage of organic substances and other ways employs other techniques.

(1) In order to prevent spreading of fungal diseases from one plant to other, you need to disinfect pruning shears between cuts by dipping the blades in the 10% solution of chlorine bleach prepared from 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. You may also use pure alcohol or peroxide. Some gardeners submerge the bare roots in the bleach solution or peroxide prior to planting them in spring or fall. You are required to only dip them and not leave them in it.

(2) By applying a strong jet of water from a garden hose, you can control many diseases and insect pests. It is advised to practise it in the day as wet foliage encourages fungal diseases.

(3) By destroying and cleaning up all infected leaves early in the infestation helps on reducing the blackspot, mildew & insect problems. You should not compose them but instead burn them if required.

(4) You should spray the broad-spectrum insecticides for reducing many natural predators that feed on the troublesome pests also. While using these products you can remove almost all the insects you have sprayed. With these, the natural Enemies of these pests also get killed and newer generations come up with a greater resistance to the insecticide.

(5) Pheromone traps make use of specific (sex hormones) attractants for luring the insects inside where they get trapped. They are used for monitoring and alerting the grower on the appearance of insects on the scene. The application of Sticky cards offers great assistance for insects like whitefly and midges.

(6) You should remove the varieties which are susceptible (prone) to diseases as this will eradicate the source of infections as well as overall disease problems.

This Organic Ant Control is way for pest management that focuses on controlling the ant population in your house or garden. You can do the Organic Ant Control by using Companion Planting. It helps the gardeners deal effectively against the pests for centuries. The fragrance of certain herbs has been considered suitable for repelling certain insects such as ants. One of the positives about companion planting is that, even if you failed, you may end up with some additional plants in your garden that increases the ornamental value. There are various herbs used in Organic Ant Control such as Lavender, Sage, Catnip and Tansy.

During the experimentation with herbs for organic ant control, you have some freedom in terms of using the plants. It is of important consideration while using tansy as it is among the worst invasive plants. Therefore, you need to take precautions so that you do not necessarily plant the herbs for ant control near to your specimen plants. Instead, you need to harvest the leaves from the herbs and then simply litter the leaves around a specimen plant. In case a plant is overly aggressive, then you should plant it in a raised bed where you exert more control. While employing this ant control method, you should target only specimen plants that are susceptible to aphids, scale and whitefly.

There are organic products sold in the market for the removal of the ants. One of the ant control products is the Tree Tangle foot Pest Barrier which is an organic paste composed chiefly of sticky substances like waxes and resins. It acts as a type of "fly paper" for ants. Another such ant control product is Orange Guard that functions repellent as well as insecticide for the removal of ants. The active ingredient (d-Limonene) is orange peel extract which is organic. In addition to it, the other organic insecticide for ant control is Eco Exempt IC-2 that is composed of mineral, rosemary oils and wintergreen oils.

The termite control is of primary importance in pest management of house. You should exercise caution when mulching near the foundation of your home. The drainage and termite control are basically two matters that requires attention when applying mulch to a foundation planting. It is relatively simple to ensure adequate drainage by grading the ground underneath so that it slopes minimum 1/8 inch per foot away from the house for channelling the water away from the foundation. The termite-control procedures are bit complex and there are some questions that need to be answered before proceeding with it. You should decide if the mulch be permitted to come into contact with the foundation, if deeper layer of mulch is acceptable or if mulch be permitted to come to a wooden surface, etc. All these termite-control questions require your attention.

You should allow the mulch to arrive into contact with the foundation and keep the depth of the layer of mulch at 2 inches approx. The mulch should be allowed to come to a wooden surface at least eight inches of exposed foundation that lies between the top of the planting bed as well as the wood sill plate of the home structure. Actually, there is a widespread misconception about selecting the best type of mulch when termite control is a concern.

As termites eat wood, the usage of only wood mulches can create a problem. The major issue is not the termites eating the wood mulch but their hiding in the wood mulch and using it as a stop-over before invading your house poses a problem. All mulches provide lots of moisture and termite loves moisture. An effective mulch should have good moisture-retention. You should be diligent and inspect the mulch in plantings regularly for determining if there is presence of any termites.

Red spider mites cause lots of harm to your garden by killing shrubs and trees. They also reproduce quickly and by killing these mites, you can save your plants from the damage. You can easily spot these red mites crawling around on your houseplants in your garden. They come in various colours like red, green or white. You need to move the infested plants away from healthy plants immediately when you see signs of an infestation. It is required to prevent the spread of mites and in case, it is difficult for you to separate infected plants, you can cover the surrounding plants with protective plastic or other bags for preventing the infestation from spreading.

You can take a spray bottle, filled it with water and spray it on infested plants in such a way that it gets upwards from the bottom of the plant and against the bottom side of the leaves because these are the areas where mites are commonly found. You need to repeat this every alternate day for a week. In case, the infestation continues, you can use more powerful mite-killing products like miticide or miticidal soap to the infested plant. You need to soak each leaf in the soap thoroughly with the spray bottle or you can also dunk the container plants completely into the soap solution for full coverage. You need to wait for five days before repeating this treatment. You should apply three treatments with a gap of five days between each treatment for ensuring that you have killed the mite infestation.

You can purchase the miticides and other treatment materials from the garden centres and nurseries. In case you find it difficult to control mite infestation, you can contact an expert at a garden centre service for help. These professional uses stronger chemicals for killing mites effectively. There are some pesticides and miticides that can cause damage to certain types of plants and trees. Therefore you need to be careful before applying miticides.