Safer, Cleaner Approaches to Pest Control

When there are holes dotting your prize rose bush leaves or an army of worms setting up camp on your tomatoes, don’t immediately pull out the pesticides. There may be a safer, easier way to handle pests in your yard or garden.

Dr. Wheeler Foshee, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System specialist in pesticide education, says there are many alternatives to using pesticides around your home.

The first step is to know the enemy. In other words, Foshee says, know your bugs.

"I strongly encourage homeowners and gardeners to educate themselves about insects so they will recognize both the beneficial ones and the pests," he says. "You need to be able to accurately identify the insect to know if it’s causing a problem. We often get calls about ladybeetle larvae, but they’re actually beneficial insects that eat aphids. Unfortunately, many gardeners mistake them for pests and spray them."

Information on insects is available at your local county Extension office, he says. Insect guidebooks may also be found at your local library.

Once you know what you’re up against, consider ways to deal with those pests, he says.

"Many times there are effective ways to control damaging insects without using pesticides," Foshee says. "For example, it’s easy to pick off and squash tomato hornworms, and that’s more environmentally friendly than spraying a pesticide. Once you know what kind of insect you’re dealing with, you may find you don’t have to do anything. The occasional grasshopper in your garden really isn’t a problem and can be ignored."

But pests such as fruitworms on your tomatoes may require the use of an insecticide.

"If you have an insect pest that must be controlled and you can’t successfully manage the problem in ways such as picking the pests off by hand, then you may need to use some kind of chemical control," Foshee says. "But be sure you do your homework before using any pesticide."

Foshee says all pesticide containers have labels on them containing strict usage guidelines that must be followed when using the product.

"Labels on pesticides are a federal law," he says. "You must mix and apply that pesticide as the label states. You can only apply it to plants or sites that are named on the label. If you mix or apply it in any way inconsistent with the label, you are breaking federal law. Those guidelines are there to protect people, animals and the environment as a whole. For the public health’s sake, they must be followed carefully."

But before turning to chemicals, Foshee recommends gardeners check into alternative methods of pest control. Information on these methods is available at your local county Extension office.

"More and more, agricultural producers are turning to an approach known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM)," he says. "IPM is the concept of controlling pests with a variety of methods, such as relying on beneficial insects to control pest numbers, planting resistant varieties or using mechanical controls. I believe many homeowners can incorporate these techniques and will find them to be effective in battling insects in the yard or garden."

SOURCE: Dr. Wheeler Foshee, (wfoshee@aces.edu), Extension Specialist in Pesticide Education, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 844-5509