You’ve likely come across the term “integrated pest management” in gardening or farming literature but are still unsure of what it means, let alone how to incorporate it into your own gardening initiatives.
In a nutshell, integrated pest management is controlling pets in a way that does the least amount of damage to the environment, wildlife, and people, without breaking the bank.
In this article, we’ll explain this pest control approach and offer tips on how to use it in your garden or homestead.
What is Integrated Pest Management?
In simplest terms, integrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable, holistic approach that involves using several different pest management approaches in concert to mitigate damage and reduce pest populations.
The goal is to use methods that don’t rely on commercial pesticides, which damage countless different species, rather than targeting specific pests.
IPM may include:
- Habitat management
- Biological controls
- Mechanical and physical controls
- Plant deterrents
- Cultural practices
- Organic chemical controls
The approaches used will depend entirely on the types of pests being dealt with.
Habitat Adjustment
This aspect of integrated pest management concerns pests such as mice, rats, and similar interlopers. By adjusting to your surroundings, you can discourage them from nestling into their preferred habitats.
For example, mice are drawn to areas where there’s plenty of safe shelter, as well as access to food and water. They can enter places via cracks and small holes and love cluttered areas where they can hunker down and hide.
To deter them without using poison, you can seal up entry points, reduce clutter, and ensure that all food is stored in vermin-proof containers.
Since mice and rats love to hide in dense vegetation while they’re scouting around for food, ensure that you keep a clear perimeter around all of your buildings, especially those that store food.
Eliminate any standing water (or random water sources), ensure that waste is contained in pest-proof boxes, and these critters will seek out alternative options for their resources.
Additionally, having guard dogs and/or cats around can work wonders to keep the rodent population down.
Read our article on hunting dog breeds to learn more about which species make ideal homestead guardians as well as good hunting companions and family pets.
Biological Controls
In integrated pest management, “biological controls” involve introducing living organisms to suppress and eliminate pest species. These may include predators, parasitoids, pathogens, or antagonists.
Predators are species that naturally prey upon the pest in question. Beneficial nematodes, for example, are ideal for obliterating garden wireworms, as well as hundreds of other pest species.
Similarly, while parasitoids don’t eat these pest species, they lay their eggs on them (or their larvae), which kill the pest off when they hatch and start eating them.
For instance, Ageniaspis citricola parasitoids are remarkably effective at killing off citrus leafminers, and thus have been used in Florida orange groves since the late 1990s.
An example of pathogen use is introducing a fungus called Entomophaga maimaiga, which is lethal to gypsy moth larvae.
Meanwhile, antagonists are usually other species that are known to reduce pests. These may be fungal or bacterial in nature or may be mammalian or avian. A perfect example of avian antagonists in integrated pest management would be ducks that have been let loose in cabbage fields to prey on slugs and cabbage worms.
B.T. (Bacillus thuringensis) is a beneficial bacteria that can be used to eliminate caterpillars and other larvae that would otherwise obliterate leafy green crops
Physical Controls
In simplest terms, these controls block pests from being able to access the crops in question.
If you’ve used floating row covers to protect your brassicas from cabbage white butterflies, or put beer traps around to catch slugs, then you’ve already used physical controls as part of your integrated pest management endeavors.
Similarly, physical (aka “mechanical”) controls also include anything that involves physical activity. For example, pulling weeds, tilling soil to expose grubs, and even picking beetles off plants are all actions that fall under this umbrella.
Plant Deterrents
We’ve touched upon plant deterrents in some of our other articles, so you’ve likely read about these before and didn’t even realize that we were talking about integrated pest management.
For example, we’ve discussed how planting alliums such as garlic chives and spring onions around the periphery of your vegetable beds will deter herbivores such as rabbits and deer from eating your greens, because they can’t stand the smell of them.
Similarly, various other pest species can be effectively deterred by plants—or plant-based scents—that they dislike. For example:
- Mice despise the scent of mint and will do all they can to avoid it
- Carpenter bees can be deterred with citrus oil spray
- Catnip, sage, and mint will deter flea beetles
Cultural Practices
With regard to integrated pest management, “cultural control” refers to human activities that improve crop development or reduce/mitigate insect and other pest damage. It may include (but is not limited) to the following:
Soil Health and Maintenance
Healthy crops are more resistant to pests and pathogens, and crop health begins at the soil level. As such, integrated pest management is most effective when the soil is treated like the most valuable, foundational aspect.
Soil should be tested regularly to determine nutrient deficiencies or overabundance of any macro or micronutrients, and amended accordingly. A soil test will also tell you the pH, which might need to be amended depending on the crop.
Soil pH is important because it determines how accessible the existing nutrients will be to the plant. You can add all the fertilizer in the world, but if the pH is wrong, the plant can’t access those nutrients.
Some growers choose to till their soil while others prefer no-till approaches, depending on the crops they’re cultivating. Tilling might be necessary if you’re dealing with certain soil-dwelling critters. But it’s generally best to avoid tilling if you can.
Note that soil health maintenance also involves removing debris and waste from around healthy plants to reduce both pest habitats and pathogen formation. Keep the soil’s surface clear of weeds, fallen leaves, and dead flower heads, thus allowing airflow and light fall to keep that area healthy.
Read our article on The “Nitty Gritty” of Soil Health and Why it Matters to learn more about how to ensure that yours is as nutrient-dense and healthy as possible.
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation is ideal for integrated pest management because it’s such an effective means of disrupting pest insect life cycles.
If a particular insect species thrives on nightshade vegetables but emerges from hibernation to discover onions or carrots planted where they were expecting tomatoes, their expected food source isn’t available to them.
Similarly, certain fungal pathogens like Plasmodiophora brassicae, which causes cabbage clubroot, thrive on cabbage family members but will have little to no effect on eggplant or peppers.
This, along with replenishing soil nutrients, is the key reason why gardeners and homesteaders are encouraged to rotate their crops annually. Better yet, don’t plant anything in the same place for two years or more.
Habitat Management/Companion Planting
Habitat management refers to a few different things in integrated pest management, but it’s primarily associated with companion planting. Essentially, it centers around integrating non-crop plants with desired crops that entice species that prey on pest species.
A common example is from a 2019 study published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
This study examined the use of red clover (Trifolium pratense) interplanted amongst cucumber crops, as well as sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) planted around apple orchards.
The red clover enticed ladybugs and pirate bugs, which kill off melon aphids and cucumber beetles, while the alyssum enticed tiny polyphagous wasps that annihilate apple leaf roller insects.
It’s the perfect example of how crops can help and benefit one another.
Trap Crops
One common cultural practice that’s used in integrative pest management is the use of “trap crops”. These are bait crops that are related to the plants being cultivated for food or medicine, and thus entice the pests away from the cherished cultivars.
For example, a person might plant a perimeter of mustard greens or collards around their kale and cabbages to entice cabbage white butterflies and cabbage worms away from the more valuable kale and cabbage.
Since the large brassicas are readily available on the perimeter, as well as large and delicious, these insect pests will be less likely to eat (and lay eggs on) the interior plants.
Other crap crops may include planting sacrificial sunflowers to lure aphids, amaranth for leaf miners and cucumber beetles, ‘Blue Hubbard’ squash for vine borers and squash bugs, and so on.
Read our article How to Grow Trap Crops to Keep Pests Under Control to learn more about which plants will draw which pest species away from your beloved food plants
Organic Chemical Controls
One of the foundations of integrated pest management is controlling unwanted species with the least environmental impact. Although pesticides aren’t ideal for dealing with bothersome bugs, sometimes they’re the most effective means of reducing populations.
Growers who aim to avoid damaging the environment generally choose organic pesticides and controls instead of commercial formulas that annihilate all insects within a given area rather than targeting species.
Organic chemical controls may include (but are not limited to):
Check out our article on organic pesticides to learn more about them, as well as to discover some DIY recipes you can make at home.
Chemical Pesticides
As a last resort, you might need to rely on chemical pesticides. This is acceptable in an integrated pest management system, but it should be a last resort and after you’ve exhausted all the other options on this list.
While we try to avoid chemical pesticides because they harm beneficial insects, can have health consequences for pets and humans, and harms wildlife and the environment. But sometimes we have no other option.
When we use chemical pesticides, we do so thoughtfully. That means applying at a time of day when bees and other pollinators aren’t out and about. You should also apply when it isn’t windy and don’t overuse the chemical because excess will run off in the waterways.
Now that you’re thoroughly familiar with the basics of integrated pest management, you can determine whether this technique will work for your own garden or homestead.
Do some additional research to determine which approaches will work best for your needs, depending on which pests are giving you grief.
