Making Peace with Pests
“What is commonly called a pest is nature’s way of bringing back into balance an imbalance that man has created.” -Alan Chadwick
The longest war in history has been fought between humans and the insect world. During the eons in which our ancestors were hunters and gatherers, insects were just a fact of life amongst the earth’s biological diversity, varied and plentiful in season and locale, considered an occasional nuisance but never a scourge or pestilence. When agriculture became a way of life for early cultures, the stage was set for a struggle over resources. From swarms of locusts (grasshoppers, actually) to grain weevils and rodents, early societies faced challenges with pests that occasionally ended in catastrophic famines. In the modern world, where humanity is ascendant and has pushed many of our fellow creatures into a tenuous existence in isolated scraps of natural habitat, insect pest species continue to thrive on the monocultured crops we grow and the chaos we have wrought. Not only do they still threaten our food supplies but often confound our comfortable lives with their crawling, swarming, buzzing presence.
For many of us, when it comes to living harmoniously with nature, there is no greater challenge than insect pests. Fear of insects, especially biting/stinging insects and spiders, is also one of the greatest barriers preventing many of us from spending more time outdoors and visiting natural areas. Adopting the strategies of modern agriculture, and encouraged by manufacturers in the horticulture industry, gardeners are all too ready and willing to employ chemical warfare in dealing with garden pests. While only 1% of insect species are harmful to crops and gardens, many of us don’t distinguish between harmful pests and beneficial insects. Unfortunately, both harmless and benign insects, as well as other creatures, pay the price for the use of toxic pesticides on our farms and gardens. Even our own health is impacted by the chemicals used in growing our food. Maybe it’s time to call a truce, a ceasefire, in this endless battle.
Making peace with pests is possible without conceding and giving our farms and gardens over to total destruction. In fact, pre-industrial agricultural societies often devised methods of mitigating and limiting pest damage through cultural practices that nurtured soil health and created mosaics of food plantings that more closely mimicked the natural world. They also used pest control strategies that were low toxicity by today’s standards and worked just well enough to limit damage to their crops while still supporting the beneficial predatory creatures that naturally feed on insects. Yes, making peace with pests is possible, but only with patience and attentiveness to the living community that lives in and around your yard and garden. It also requires that we willingly temper our discomfort with bugs and other ‘creepy crawlies,’ replacing our fear with respect and even admiration.
Integrated pest management (IPM) is now considered ‘best practice’ for both organic and regenerative agricultural landscapes as well as home gardens. IPM seeks to address pest problems in the least toxic way possible to avoid collateral damage to the environment and human health. The goal of IPM is pest suppression rather than eradication. It includes four key components:
- Prevention Strategies
- Setting of Pest Tolerance Thresholds
- Identification & Monitoring of Pests
- Control Measures
The focus on prevention may be the most important and easiest to implement, although it does take time. The best way to prevent pest problems is to create conditions that deter establishment of pests in the first place. A prime focus needs to be on nurturing the biological health of soil, which helps your plants to be healthier and better able to resist pests. This is best accomplished by building soil organic matter through the addition of compost. Other strategies include crop rotation, proper plant spacing, use of companion plantings, and floating row covers.
It was once standard practice on farms to rotate fields between corn, oats or rye, winter wheat, a root crop such as parsnips, rutabaga, etc. and then to allow the field to go fallow for a year. A cover crop such as buckwheat, alfalfa or clover was often planted during the fallow year to replenish nitrogen in the soil. This rotation allowed the soil nutrients to replenish between plantings of nutrient-hungry crops like corn. Crop rotation in a garden setting simply means moving the planting locations of various vegetables from year to year. Moving your tomatoes and other vegetables each year makes it harder for pests that overwinter in the soil, and are usually plant-specific in their food preferences, find them so easily the next year.
Companion plantings seek to blend plantings in a way that benefits all of them. The best example of this may be the Three Sisters plantings of corn, beans and squash utilized by Native American cultures, where all three were planted together in fields. Modern gardens can utilize companion plantings of fragrant herbs, flowers such as marigolds, or onions and garlic. When these are interplanted with your food plants, they deter pest insects by confounding their sensory ability to find your vegetables and spread from plant to plant. Planting flowers also attracts foraging bees and wasps, which will often capture or parasitize insects to feed their larvae. Floating row covers are lightweight, translucent fabric sheets that are draped over supportive hoops above the plants, especially during spring to protect young plants from frost or high winds. They also prevent pest insects from laying eggs on tender young plants, while allowing air, light and water to penetrate the fabric.
Setting tolerance thresholds refers to a determination on your part as to how many garden pests you’re willing to tolerate. Note that zero is an unrealistic expectation. In a healthy garden environment, with healthy plants, not only will predatory insects and birds help to keep pests in check, but your plants can withstand a little nibbling by pests. The next component, identification and monitoring, ensures that you have eyes on your garden and can note if pest numbers and plant damage seem to be increasing. It also ensures that you know exactly what is eating your plants, as this will be key to devising appropriate control strategies.
IPM Problem Solving
With IPM, control strategies begin with the least toxic remedy, only ratcheting up to stronger approaches when the problem remains unresolved and shows signs of worsening. The progression looks like this:
Mechanical removal, i.e., removing the tomato hornworm or Japanese beetle or cabbage looper you spotted by hand and disposing of it. Caution: may involve squishing bugs! Aphids can be washed away with a forceful spray from a hose. If the number of pests shows signs of increasing, then introduce…
Biological treatments. This could include parasitic wasp cocoons or lacewings to address aphids or thrips, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) soil bacteria that target leaf-chewing caterpillars, or beneficial nematodes (microscopic roundworms) that attack root pests such as grubs. Again, it needs to be stated that healthy, living soils generally contain these natural checks on pest populations. Adding biological treatments, which can be purchased from on-line suppliers such as ARBICO Organics and NaturesGoodGuys, help when pest numbers overwhelm natural predators. If the number of pests still show signs of increasing, then introduce…
Low-toxicity targeted treatments such as diatomaceous earth for slugs or ants. Neem oil, a plant-derived oil, acts as an insecticide and fungicide, affecting aphids, caterpillars, beetles, spider mites, scale insects, and more. Insecticidal soaps are formulated to kill soft-bodied insects like aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and caterpillars. They must contact the pests directly to be effective. These treatments will need to be reapplied after rainfall. If the number of pests still show signs of increasing, only then should you resort to…
Mild chemical insecticides, such as pyrethrins or Spinosad. Both of these are fast-acting, derived from natural sources and will not harm pets or other animals. They will kill most insects on contact, including beneficial insects, which is why you want to avoid these if possible. Any stronger and more toxic product you may purchase and use is literally overkill and to be avoided.
You may have surmised from what I’ve stated so far that Integrated Pest Management takes time, patience and knowledge, certainly more so than most common chemical insecticides. Biological and low-toxicity treatments often take time to be effective, may need to be repeated periodically, and will never get rid of all of the pest insects. They can also cost more than popular garden pesticides. The upside is that they help to contribute to the health and vitality of your garden/yard/farm environment rather than detracting from it. The hands-on and eyes-on nature of IPM will result in you becoming an attentive, knowledgeable and devoted steward of your own little ecosystem. And that may be the best benefit of all. Healthy produce will not be the only thing you’ll harvest.
USEFUL LINKS
Integrated Pest Management Principles
https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/integrated-pest-management-ipm-principles https://www.pesticide.org/five_steps_of_ipm?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15439733968&gbraid=0AAAAADNaaxvcyy-KlXoUmjrMviIdByE92&gclid=Cj0KCQjwv4XUBhDBARIsAE6bQUQC3AGRcc5lq5H11zOm6dXQIX6ZgTF8HgktCksyWENxR3iFpM56s6QaAqx2EALw_wcB
