This document discusses integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. IPM is a holistic approach that uses monitoring, identification, and action thresholds to determine when and how to address pest issues using cultural, physical, biological, or chemical methods. The goal is to prevent and control pests with minimal risk to humans, the environment, and other organisms. The document outlines IPM principles and provides examples of various control tactics within each category.

1. Integrated Pest
Management
Jan McNeilan
Gail Gredler
OSU Master Gardener™ Program

2. Integrated Pest Management
• A strategy to prevent and suppress pests with
minimum impact on human health, the
environment and non-target organisms.
• Decision-making process that uses regular
monitoring to decide if and when treatments
are needed to control a pest, then uses a
variety of tactics to keep pest numbers low.

3. Principles of Integrated Pest
Management
• Monitor the plants
• Identify the pest organism
• Establish an acceptable injury level
• Manage using all available
strategies

4. Monitor plants
• Look for damage on
a regular basis
– Different times of
the day
– Tools: hand lens,
traps, beat sheets
– Collect samples of
damage
• Keep a record of
your observations

5. Identify the pest organism
• Is it a pest problem or
a problem caused by
a non-living factor
(drought, frost,
chemical damage,
etc.)?
• Is the pest an insect,
disease, weed, etc.?

6. Know the pest
Once the pest is
identified, learn
about its life cycle
and its natural
enemies. Root weevil larva
Root weevil pupa Root weevil adult

7. Learn the pest’s life cycle

8. Establish an acceptable
injury level
Commercial
example:
Action threshold for
strawberry root
weevil in mint =
.92 weevil
larvae/square foot

9. Acceptable Injury Level
For gardeners, this will differ between individuals.

10. Manage using all
available strategies
• Cultural
• Physical
• Biological
• Chemical
– Use the easiest, least expensive,
least disruptive and least toxic ones
first

11. Cultural Methods of Insect Control
Sound gardening practices

12. Resistant varieties

13. Crop rotation

14. Companion planting:
establishment of two or more plant
species in close proximity so that some
benefit is derived
• Trap cropping
• Biochemical pest suppression
• Spatial interactions
• Beneficial habitats
• Security through diversity

15. Intercropping with insectary plants

16. Encourage ecological diversity in the garden

17. Weeding and mulching

18. Sanitation

19. Physical Methods of Insect Control
Barriers:
Row
Covers
Cabbage maggot Flea beetle

20. Barriers: Sticky barrier

21. Barriers: Sticky barrier
Root weevils
Ants tending aphids

22. Barriers: Copper barrier
Brown Garden Snail

23. Barriers: Plant cages and collars

24. Handpicking

25. Watering
Aphids
Spider mites

26. Pruning
Tent caterpillars

27. Trapping
Yellow sticky trap
Trapping for fungus gnats

28. Trapping
Apple maggot trap
Codling moth
pheromone trap

29. Trapping Slugs and Snails

30. Trapping Insects Indoors

31. Vacuuming
Boxelder
Bug
Flea

32. Garden
symphylan
Tilling

33. Biological Methods of Insect
Control
Beneficial Organisms
– Pollinators
– Predators
– Parasitoids
– Microbials
• Bt
• Beneficial nematodes

34. Pollinators
European Honey Bee

35. Bumblebee

36. Bumblebee

37. Orchard
Mason Bee

42. Syrphid fly
larva

43. Predators

45. Yellow Jacket

46. Bald-faced Hornet

48. Praying
mantis

49. Green lacewing adult

50. Green
lacewing
eggs
Green
lacewing
larva dining
on a
caterpillar

55. Snakefly

57. Two-spotted
stinkbug

60. Minute pirate bug

61. Minute Pirate Bug Nymph

62. Big-eyed Bug

63. Assassin bug

65. Damsel Bug and Nymph

67. Ambush Bug

74. Lady beetle larva

75. Yum! Caterpillar for lunch!

76. Spider Mite Destroyer

78. Ground beetle

80. Rove Beetle

82. Soldier beetle

84. Predaceous
spider mite

85. Yellow
Violet-green
Warblers
swallow

86. Domestic Ducks

87. All bat species in
Oregon are
insectivores

88. Common Garter Snake
Toad
© David Rosen
Pacific Chorus
Frog © David Rosen

89. Spiders

90. Garden Centipede

92. Millipede

93. Parasitoids

94. Braconid Wasp

95. Parasitoid wasp laying eggs in aphid

96. Aphid
mummies

97. Tachinid fly

98. Tachinid fly and elm leaf beetle larvae

99. Encarsia
formosa
parasitizing
white fly

100. Trichogramma
laying eggs in
caterpillar eggs
Trichogramma
adults emerging
from caterpillar
eggs

101. Many insects in the soil are beneficial

102. Springtail
Oribatid mites

103. Purchasing and Releasing
Beneficials

104. Enhancing habitat for beneficials
• Provide diversity of plants
• Provide insectary plants with small flowers
• Provide adequate water

105. Fennel
Buckwheat
Fiddleneck
(Phacelia)

106. Beneficial microorganisms
Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt

107. B.t. kurstaki and
caterpillars

108. B.t. israelensis
and mosquitos
Dunk

109. B.t. israelensis
and fungus
gnats

110. B.t. san diego and
elm leaf beetle

111. Beneficial nematodes

112. Infected root
weevil pupa
Infected root
weevil adult

113. Horsehair Worm

114. •Very low mammalian toxicity
• Soil must remain moist
• Soil must be greater than 55 degrees F.

115. Chemical Methods of Insect Control:
Botanicals
• Derived from botanical sources
• Biodegrade rapidly
• Widely varying levels of toxicity

116. Botanical insecticide: Neem
• From seeds of the neem tree
• Broad spectrum against many pests
• Must be ingested to be toxic
• Low mammalian toxicity
• May require repeat applications

117. Horticultural Oil
• Derived from petroleum, vegetable
or fish oil
• Smothers insects and mites
• Works best on soft-bodied insects
• Low mammalian toxicity
• Avoid hottest part of day
• Avoid drought-stressed plants
• Use commercial products rather than
homemade

118. Insecticidal Soap
• Contact insecticide smothers and
desiccates insect
• Use against soft-bodied insects like aphids,
thrips, whitefly, and mites
• Low mammalian toxicity
• Requires excellent coverage, repeat
applications
• Biodegrades rapidly
• Effective only until it dries

119. You cannot recommend
homemade solutions!

120. Sulfur
• Use dust mask with
dust product
• Broad spectrum
miticide and fungicide
• Low mammalian
toxicity
• Do not use within two
weeks of an oil spray
• Some plants sensitive
to sulfur

121. Pheromones
• Used for mating
disruption
• Useful for codling
moth
management in
orchards
• Limited usefulness
in backyards

122. Synthetic Insecticides
• Fewer available all the time
• Widely varying toxicity
• Always read and follow label
directions
• Dispose of properly

123. Other options:
Kaolin clay
• Naturally occurring
mineral
• Film acts as a
barrier between
pest and fruit
• Irritates and
repels insect
feeding and egg-
laying

124. Other options:
Repellants

125. Disease Management

126. Right plant, right place
Choose plants well adapted to site

127. Rotate annuals

128. Select resistant varieties
‘Liberty’: Scab
resistant
‘Gravenstein’: Not
scab resistant

129. Use disease-free plants and
disease-
seeds

130. Irrigate properly

131. Plant properly

132. Fertilize as needed

133. Don’t crowd plants

134. Control insects and weeds
• Insects can vector diseases such as
plant viruses
• Weeds can harbor diseases that
can be detrimental to desirable
plants

135. Sanitation
Remove diseased
plants and plant
parts

136. Dispose of crop refuse/compost

137. Sanitation
Prune out
diseased wood

138. Use mulches

139. Make and use compost

140. Use fungicides when necessary
• Copper
• Lime sulfur
• Sulfur
• Horticultural oil
• Potassium bicarbonate
• Neem oil

141. Weed Management
In Oregon, weeds grow like….well, weeds.

142. Mulching

143. Mulches
• Barkdust
• Wood chips
• Gravel or rock
• Cocoa or filbert shells
• Sawdust
• Newspaper or horticultural paper
• Woven fabrics
• Plastic

144. Hand weeding

145. Machine weeding

146. Spacing

147. Solarization

148. Cover cropping

149. Barriers

150. Herbicides
• Conventional herbicides
• Herbicidal soap
• Vinegar
• Corn gluten meal

151. Biological control
Tansy flea beetle
Cinnabar moth larvae feeding
on tansy ragwort

152. Avoid invasive plants
Butterfly bush
English ivy
Wild Clematis

153. Principles of Integrated Pest
Management - Review
• Monitor the plants
• Identify the pest organism
• Establish an acceptable injury level
• Manage using all available
strategies

154. Choose a Treatment Strategy
• Use easiest, least disruptive, least
expensive, least toxic first
• Read the label, read the label, read the
label
• If you decide to use any kind of an
pesticide, spot treat only and wear
protective clothing when applying

155. Our IPM Mission
• Oregon State University Extension Service
encourages sustainable gardening practices.
Problems are identified and monitored before
acting. Gardeners are encouraged to
consider cultural controls; then
physical, biological, and chemical
controls (which include insecticidal soaps,
horticultural oils, botanical insecticides,
organic and synthetic pesticides). Least toxic
approach is always considered first.

156. Integrated Pest
Management
Jan McNeilan
Gail Gredler
OSU Master Gardener Program

157. Soldierfly

160. Pseudoscorpion

161. Dragonfly

163. Ichneumon Wasp

164. Carpenter Ant

165. Banded Alder Borer

166. European Earwig

167. Cooley Spruce Gall

169. Oak Leaf Gall

171. Wild Rose Gall