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Elisabeth C. Miller Library

Keyword: Integrated pest management

Pacific Northwest Nursery IPM

“This website has been established to provide educational materials and links for the identification and management of pests in commercial nursery production in the Pacific Northwest.”

Garden Tip #70

Warm winter days above 50 degrees make gardeners eager to get back out working in the garden. The warm temperatures also trigger many over-wintering insects and caterpillars to hatch and begin their development. Practitioners of Integrated Pest Management use “degree days,” or days above 50° to forecast when a garden pest might start doing damage and when management should begin. Some pests require more accumulated heat then others to complete their lifecycles. The variegate cutworm, for example, may start feeding as early as February during mild Northwest winters. Dedicated fruit and vegetable growers will want to download degree day calculators and spread sheets from Washington State University’s Entomology department.

Colorado State Cooperative Extension published an interesting article on the strategies pests use to survive cold winter days.

Garden Tip #93

A reference book is available to help gardeners solve pest problems. Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs: An Integrated Pest Management Guide (University of California, $42.00) diagnoses common diseases, insects and environmental stresses with color photos and suggests appropriate solutions. This book also has a chapter on how to get your plants off to a healthy start with proper planting techniques.

The Integrated Pest Management approach tell us the most important fact to remember about plant problems is that poor growing conditions like soggy roots or bone-dry roots inevitably leads to pests and diseases. Select the right plant for the garden conditions to avoid problems later.