1. Horticulture Science Understanding Integrated Pest Management

2. Student Learning Objectives Explain integrated pest management. Identify and describe the types of pests. Identify the basic elements of an integrated pest management program.

3. Terms bacteria best management practices (BMPs) biological control causal agent chemical control cultural/physical control disease triangle

4. Terms fungi infectious diseases insects integrated pest management (IPM) mites nematodes noninfectious diseases parasitic plants

5. Terms pathogens pest pesticides plant disease pest pesticides plant disease sanitation viruses

6. What is integrated pest management? Integrated pest management (IPM) is a pest management strategy that uses a combination of best management practices (BMP) to reduce pest damage with the least disruption to the environment. Best management practices (BMPs) are those practices that combine scientific research with practical knowledge to optimize production and increase crop quality while maintaining environmental integrity.

7. What is integrated pest management? The key to a successful IPM program is scouting, which involves regularly monitoring pest populations and crop conditions. A scout collects data about which pests are causing damage, what stage of life each pest is in, and whether the pest population is increasing or decreasing. Knowing how to identify key pests and their biological characteristics is important.

8. What is integrated pest management? The benefits of IPM to the horticulture industry: a. There are reduced pesticide costs in addition to fewer pesticides used with IPM. b. Application costs are reduced due to time, and the cost of labor for pesticide application is reduced. c. Less pesticide resistance develops within populations of insects, weeds, and diseases.

9. What is integrated pest management? 2. IPM also benefits the environment, which is made more sustainable and friendly to people. Benefits of IPM to the environment: a. Reduced contamination and degradation of the environment occurs through the use of IPM. –Pesticide residues do not build up in soil, water, and other natural resources. b. Cancer-causing residues are present in smaller amounts or are not on food at all. –Less pesticide residue on food products means a decreased chance of people ingesting pesticides.

10. What is involved in the management of greenhouse pests? Healthy greenhouse crops are essential to a successful greenhouse business. –Plant health refers to the condition of plants. –Healthy plants are free of pests and disease. –They have clean foliage and flowers, along with a good rate of growth. –It is important that plants be healthy while they are growing and developing. –It is also important that their health be maintained after they are sold.

11. What is involved in the management of greenhouse pests? Healthy plants have a greater capacity to defend themselves against plant pests than plants under some type of stress. Plant stress is usually associated with environmental conditions. –Improper watering weakens a plant’s ability to fight off infectious diseases, including root rots. –High humidity in greenhouses is ideal for many fungal diseases.

12. What is involved in the management of greenhouse pests? Growers have control over many environmental factors that can help keep plants healthy. 1. provide a growing medium with the desired drainage, aeration, and pH. 2. Plants can be planted at the proper planting depth. 3. Optimum nutrient levels can be maintained with fertilizers. 4. One of the most important factors is to follow recommended watering practices & ppm. 5. Temperature, light intensity, and air quality can be adjusted to meet the needs of specific crop.

13. What is involved in the management of greenhouse pests? No matter how well crops are grown, pests and diseases will become problems from time to time. –The very nature of greenhouse crop production leads to some disease problems. –In most cases, crops are of the same species, variety, or cultivar. –Being of identical genetic makeup, they are vulnerable to infectious disease that can easily spread from one plant to another. Greenhouses also tend to be humid, which is ideal for many fungal diseases.

14. What are the different practices of integrated pest management used in the greenhouse? The IPM program for greenhouse crops must be year-round. IPM control measures for a specific crop (e.g., poinsettias) should begin before the plants enter the greenhouse. –Four broad areas of control include sanitation, cultural/physical control, biological control, and chemical control.

15. How are the types of pests identified and described? An understanding of the major pest groups and their biology is required to ensure success in reducing crop losses due to pests. A pest is a living organism that can cause injury or loss to a plant. Pests include insects, diseases, weeds, mites, nematodes parasites, and animals.

16. How are the types of pests identified and described? Insects are a group of animals with an exoskeleton and three body parts. Most insects have six legs and four wings. More than 800,000 kinds of insects have been identified. Insects are capable of producing large numbers of offspring in a short time and can cause economical loss by feeding on horticultural crops.

17. How are the types of pests identified and described? 1. Insects have either chewing or sucking mouthparts. –Damage symptoms caused by chewing insects are leaf defoliation, leaf mining, stem boring, and root feeding. –Insects with sucking mouthparts produce distorted plant growth, leaf stippling, and leaf burn.

18. How are the types of pests identified and described?

19. 2. As an insect grows from an egg to an adult, it passes through several growth stages, which is called metamorphosis. –Two types of metamorphosis exist: incomplete & complete.

20. How are the types of pests identified and described? a. Incomplete metamorphosis consists of three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult. As a nymph, the insect grows and passes through several instars between molts. Each time the insect molts or sheds its exoskeleton, it passes into the next instar.

21. How are the types of pests identified and described? b. Complete metamorphosis consists of four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The larva stage is the period when the insect grows. The pupa is a resting period where a dramatic morphological change from larva to adult occurs.

22. What are the major pests found in the greenhouse? Aphids are pear-shaped, soft-bodied, usually wingless insects. They are often green or yellowish in color. Aphids have the ability to reproduce very rapidly. Astonishingly, they give birth to live young that are pregnant! Aphids use their mouthparts to pierce the plant & suck out juices. Aphids attack a wide variety of greenhouse plants.

23. What are the major pests found in the greenhouse? Fungus gnats are long-legged, winged, gray-black insects less than 1/8 inch long. –The larvae of fungus gnats feed on root hairs & tunnel into plant stems. –They prefer a growing medium that is constantly moist.

24. What are the major pests found in the greenhouse? Mealybugs are slow-moving, oval-shaped, whitish insects. –They have a waxy finish & produce small cottony masses. –Mealybugs pierce plant leaves & suck the plant juices. –As with aphids, they give birth to living nymphs.

25. What are the major pests found in the greenhouse? Mites have eight legs & are related to spiders. –Mites pierce leaf tissues and suck juices. –Symptoms of damage include a yellow speckled appearance to the leaves, and, in severe cases, yellowing of the leaves and defoliation. –Spider mites create a complex network of webbing as they move about a plant. – They appear as tiny specks on the plants and are often found on the undersides of leaves and near the apical meristems.

26. What are the major pests found in the greenhouse? Many types of scale insects infest greenhouse plants. –Typically, they have flat, oval, often brown bodies. –They may or may not be covered with armored shells. –Scale insects pierce plant leaves, stems and suck juices. Western flower thrips are small dark brown insects with two pairs of fringed wings. –They have rasping mouthparts that scrape plant tissue. –The damage they cause to many kinds of plants often appears as whitish discoloration.

27. What are the major pests found in the greenhouse? Whiteflies are small white insects. –They generally camp out on the undersides of leaves, where they pierce the tissues and suck juices. –Their flat, scale-like larvae feed on the undersides of leaves.

28. Plant Diseases & Causes A plant disease is defined as a disturbance to the normal growth and development of a plant. –Diseases are generally classified as being infectious or noninfectious. Infectious diseases are caused by living organisms such as bacteria, fungi, or virus, which are often referred to as disease pathogens. –An infectious disease can be spread to other plants.

29. How are the types of pests identified and described? Noninfectious diseases are caused by environmental imbalances and cannot be spread to other plants. –Noninfectious disease examples include over watering, nutrient deficiencies, and air pollution damage. –Plants are most susceptible to disease when they are under some type of stress. –The stress is usually associated with environmental factors.

30. How are the types of pests identified and described? 1. The occurrence and severity of infectious plant diseases is based on three factors. A susceptible plant or host must be present. The causal agent or organism that produces a disease must be present. Environmental conditions conducive to the causal agent must occur. –The relationship of these three factors is known as the disease triangle. –Disease control programs are designed to affect each or all of these factors.

31. How are the types of pests identified and described?

32. 2. Fungi are a principal cause of plant disease. Fungi are organisms that lack chlorophyll. –They absorb nutrients from living or dead organisms. –Their bodies consist of threadlike vegetative structures known as hyphae. –When hyphae are grouped together, they are called mycelium. –Fungi can reproduce and cause disease by producing spores or mycelia. –The fungus can produce spores asexually or sexually.

33. How are the types of pests identified and described? 3. Bacteria are one- celled or unicellular microscopic organisms. –Bacteria can enter a plant only through wounds or natural openings.

34. How are the types of pests identified and described? 4. Viruses are composed of nucleic acids surrounded by protein sheaths. –They are capable of altering a plant’s metabolism by affecting protein synthesis. –Plant viruses are transmitted by seeds, insects, nematodes, fungi, and mechanical means. –Viral diseases produce several symptoms including ring spots, stunting, malformations, and mosaics. –A mosaic symptom is a leaf pattern of light and dark green color.

35. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? For successful management of pests, the IPM program must be a year-round program. The strength of IPM is the combination of control measures used. Four broad areas of control include sanitation, cultural/physical control, biological control, and chemical control.

36. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? Many pest problems can be greatly reduced, if not eliminated, with sanitation. Sanitation is simply the effort made to keep a greenhouse or garden clean. Many insects and diseases can be found in plant debris.

37. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? Cultural/physical control methods are those methods that physically prevent activities of pests. –Used alone they probably will not provide complete control of pests and reduce certain problems. –Cultural/physical controls are also safe to humans and relatively easy to implement. 1. Stop the introduction of pests to the greenhouse when possible. 2. Remove and destroy heavily infested and diseased plants.

38. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? 3. Maintain optimal cultural requirements for each crop (growing medium, watering, fertility, temperatures, etc.) to promote healthy growth. 4. Fungal diseases can be reduced by providing good air circulation around the plants. (re-fluffing soil) 5. The yellow sticky traps used as monitoring tools also serve as a means of physical control.

39. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? Biological controls involve the use of living organisms to control pests. –They maybe microbial organisms, parasitic organisms, or predators. –Biological control organisms for greenhouse use are found in nature and are considered environmentally safe. 1. A bacterium, Bacillus thurengiensis, effectively controls caterpillars. –Aphids and whitefly can be controlled to an extent by species of bacteria and fungi. –The bacteria and fungi are natural diseases of those insects.

40. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? 2. Parasitic organisms help to control some pests. –The parasites are natural enemies of the pest and live off the pest organism. –An example is a tiny parasitic wasp that lays its eggs on the whitefly larva that feeds on plant leaves. –The eggs hatch with the wasp larva inside the white fly larva. – The wasp larva proceeds to eat the whitefly larva. –The wasp matures, emerges from what is left of the whitefly, mates, and looks for whitefly larva on which to lie the next generation of eggs.

41. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? 3. Predatory organisms can be released to devour certain plant pests. –A beetle attacks whitefly larva and adults. –A mite is used to control thrips. –Ladybugs eat aphids. –As with parasitic organisms, chemical pesticides should not be used with predatory organisms. –Also, predatory and parasitic organisms should be released when pest populations are small.

42. What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? The use of chemicals to control pests and diseases is chemical control. –The chemicals used are called pesticides. –Although once used almost exclusively, control of pests with the use of pesticides is now viewed as only one component of an IPM program. –In fact, use of chemical pesticides is now often done only when absolutely necessary. –Application of pesticides must be done safely to reduce potential injury to people and the environment.

43. Review/Summary What are the basic elements of an integrated pest management program? What is integrated pest management? How are the types of pests identified & described?