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WHICH PESTICIDE SHOULD I USE?
BY
I get lots of
questions about pesticides, which leads me to believe that many
gardeners and homeowners do not know what an insecticide is, what a
fungicide is, what a herbicide is, and what are miticides. And when does
one use one or the other, and are there other alternatives to
controlling a pest.
All
insecticides, (as well as fungicides, miticides, and herbicides) are
pesticides, but not all pesticides are insecticides. Thus, Sevin, Eight,
Isotox, and Malathion, are common insecticides, but will not control a
plant disease, or kill a weed. A fungicide is also a pesticide and used
to control “spots and rots” or plant diseases. Herbicides are pesticides
and used for killing or preventing weeds, but does not kill insects or
control diseases.
Before buying a pesticide it is
important to identify what the
A PESTICIDE according to the
“Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act” is defined as “any
substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying,
repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, or
weeds, or any other forms of life declared to be pests.”
This federal
act also requires certain information be on the label.
Be sure and read the label to make sure the chemical you are
using is ok for use on your plant.
If the name of your plant is not on the label, don’t use it.
Also the label should tell you if it will control the problem you
have, what the proper dosage is, and how often you can apply it.
READ THE LABEL BEFORE USE!!!
A pest is defined as anything that:
1.
Competes
for food or water,
2.
Injures
humans, animals, plants, or possessions,
3.
Spreads
disease, or
4.
Annoys
humans or domestic animals.
Pesticides include but are not limited
to:
1.
Insecticides for the control of insects,
2.
Fungicides
for the control of plant diseases,
3.
Herbicides
for the control of weeds,
4.
Rodenticides for control of rodents, and
5.
Miticides
for the control of mites.
Some pesticides
are combinations. For
example, most fruit tree sprays contain 2 insecticides such as Malathion
and Carbaryl (Sevin), and a fungicide such as Captan. A fertilizer, such
as Miracle-Gro is not a pesticide that will control insects or diseases.
If a plant looks sick, don’t automatically apply a fertilizer.
This may stress a plant to grow rather than correct what is
wrong, and may make the problem worse.
Get a proper diagnosis.
When taking a
sample to the garden center or the Extension Office for a diagnosis,
please take a big enough sample. One or two leaves or a few blades of
grass doesn’t work. For a
tree or shrub cut off about 10 to 12 inches minimum.
For grass a piece of sod about 8 inches square is necessary.
Take the sod from the edge of the problem and include some brown
or diseased sod and some green and healthy sod.
In applying the
principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), one should look at all
other options before applying a chemical. These include
1.
Planting a
pest resistant variety,
2.
Using
biological controls,
3.
Cultural
practices such as mulch and crop rotation,
4.
Mechanical
controls such as traps, hand removal, and sticky traps,
5.
Sanitation, such as cleaning up your garden in the fall with proper
disposal of all waste. Examples of good IPM
include:
1.
Clean up
your iris bed every fall as iris borers overwinter in debris.
2.
Overplant
with a blend of disease resistant varieties of grass to control summer
patch or brown patch in lawns.
3.
Rotate
where tomatoes are planted to control tomato blight as the disease
spores overwinter in the soil. Also do not water overhead if possible so
the blight spores don’t splash up on the lower leaves.
When my tomatoes are about 3 to 4 feet high I take off the lower
8 to 10 inches of branches so I have good airflow.
This helps to prevent blight and powdery mildew.
4.
Use mulch
(wood chips or shredded hardwood) under roses to help control black spot
which also lives in the soil and can splash up on the lower leaves and
infect the bush. Do not use more than 3 inches as plant roots also need
air.
5.
Cover
young squash, melon, watermelon, and cucumber plants with row cover to
prevent insect, especially the squash vine borer, from laying eggs on or
near the base of the plant.
Uncover when plant starts to bloom so beneficial insects can pollinate
the flower. Row cover can be purchased at most garden centers.
It looks almost like cheesecloth. If you do get squash bugs, pick
them off and look for eggs on the underside of the leaves. You can also
put a board on the ground and every morning pick up the board and remove
the insects underneath and destroy. Again, before buying
a pesticide (spray, dust, or granule) it is important to identify what
the pest is, and if an insect, what insect is causing the damage, or if
a disease, what the disease is and what caused it.
Do not apply chemicals or
fertilizer before proper diagnosis.
Thanks to Larry D. Schulze, Pesticide
Education Specialist, University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension, for
permission to use material that he presents to our the Master Gardeners
most every year. For more information you can go to his website at
http://PestEd.unl.edu. Copyright 2013 |