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Starting an IPM Program
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the practice of combining your knowledge of the pest and host plant with multiple tactics for long-term, safe pest control. The goal of IPM is pesticide reduction, by using cultural, mechanical, and biological controls before the last option, pesticides. When pesticides are used, we choose the least toxic first, with the idea of preventing environmental degradation and preserving natural enemies. Following the components of an IPM program will allow you to harvest a healthy crop.
Pest Identification
Before deciding to take any control action, you must correctly identify the pest (insect, mite or disease), and be sure that it is or will be serious enough to control. Refer to the section on pest biology beginning on page 26 for descriptions and pictures that will help you identify many of the common pests found in home orchards. You may also want to consult your local Utah State University Extension County Office for more information on orchard pests and to obtain assistance with pest identification, spray timing, and methods for control.
Surveying for Pests and Injury
One of the most important features of a successful pest management program is to look (scout) for pests and damage symptoms on a regular basis in your home orchard trees. Check your fruit trees at least every two weeks during the growing season for signs of pests and pest damage. There are a variety of methods to scout for pests, from visual observation, to using traps.
VISUAL OBSERVATION
At least every two weeks: • Pick a few leaves on each side of the tree to check for insect and disease damage. Especially look on the undersides of leaves where insects and mites usually live. Using a hand lens (10x to 20x) will help to better view the insects. • Look at tree health in general: wilting foliage, yellowing foliage, slowed growth. • Check the trunk for injury, oozing sap, or migrating insects. • Observe fruit for scars or insect entry holes. • Shake a branch over a large piece of paper, cardboard, or cloth tray, and observe the fallen insects.
INSECT TRAPS
Pheromone Traps: If you have apple, pear, and/or peach trees and want to more precisely determine codling moth and peach twig borer activity and population size, consider hanging an insect pheromone trap (see suppliers of IPM products on page 34). Pheromones are chemicals that insects use to communicate with one another. The pheromones used in these traps are synthesized female sex pheromone, and attract males. The males get stuck on the trap's sticky surface, letting us know when they are active. The traps are helpful in determining the proper time to apply control sprays. If you are unable to hang traps yourself, you can obtain this information from your USU Extension County Agent.
Generic Sticky Traps: You can also hang yellow or blue sticky cards in your trees to look for fruit fly, aphids, and thrips.
Control Action Guidelines: Another important component of an IPM program is knowing the appropriate pest population level at which to apply a pesticide. Some pests on your home fruit trees can be ignored if their levels are too low to justify the costs involved in their control. More time can be invested in cultural and sanitation practices (see sections below). On the other hand, if your fruit trees are in the vicinity of a commercial orchard, some quarantine pests, such as apple maggot and plum curculio, are pests you should control. An outbreak of one of these pests in a commercial orchard can be devastating to the owner's livelihood.
Identifying When to Control: Insects and plant pathogens develop through various life stages (larva to moth, or mycelium to mushroom, for example). Often, you may see damage, but the "window of opportunity" for control has already passed. This window may be the stage of the insect or pathogen that is causing damage, or the stage that is most vulnerable to control.
• For insects, this is most often the immature life stages (for example, control should target newly hatched scale insects). • Since most diseases are controlled with preventative measures, this is usually the time period before infection may occur (for example, new leaves must be protected against powdery mildew).
Written by: Diane G. Alston, Extension Entomologist Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan UT
