On this page the following entries were made in the “Best Practices” category. Check out other categories in our Archives.
Bug Blog Archives for “Best Practices”
Don’t Freak Out Over Pests
This article was written specifically for home gardeners, those in particular whose financial well being doesn’t depend on the success of a given crop. In many ways the general idea of this — the whole concept of not freaking out over pests — applies to all, but this post has narrower focus. Commercial growers, for obvious economic reasons, must take pests very seriously. We’ve worked with commercial growers for years, but the rest of us, the majority, those who toil in the garden or tend a lawn, can and should relax a bit.
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Don’t Delay on Starting Fly Parasitoids
The time will soon be upon us. In fact, in some parts of the country, you better get going because the time is now. That’s right… it’s fly parasitoids time. Every spring — usually around the beginning to the middle of April (here in the Northeast) — we start prompting our customers to begin their filth-breading fly control program. The kick-off is slightly delayed this year, but we’re aiming for the last week in April.
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Should Interiorscapers Tell All?
The number of times we’ve been asked if interiorscapers should reveal to their clients what they are doing to control pests is nothing short of surprising. Is honesty in short supply in the interiorscape industry? No, that can’t be it. So what is the issue that makes interiorscapers ask this? Well, it can probably be summed up in two words: Client acceptance.
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Apple Maggot Control Bags
About a month ago one of our site’s visitors, Brook G., asked if we had heard of a product referred to as “apple maggot control bags.” Admittedly we hadn’t, but we were intrigued. She recommended them and because of that we decided to seek more information. After all, any non-chemical option to control apple maggots, or any pest for that matter, is always welcome and is probably something we should be clued in about.
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Clean Up Before You Green Up
You should clean all or your benches, tools, (reused) pots, even irrigation lines if you have and use such equipment. It all helps.
That time of the year is here for many of you. You’re getting into the greenhouse, starting to thaw things out. You’ll be starting plants and greening the place up soon if I haven’t waited too long to write this. And hopefully my timing is good, because before you green up, be sure to clean-up. I know, I know, you are cleaning, or plan to, but I’m not talking about just organizing, sweeping, and hauling out last year’s big debris. I mean a deep cleaning, one with pest control in mind. A little prep now can pay off throughout the season.
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Greenhouse “Bake-Out” to Control Fungus Gnats
If you are going to do a bake-out anyway for sanitation of the greenhouse, there may be some benefit in putting your new pots of soil in the greenhouse at the time of the bake-out.
At our research greenhouses in the Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, we often observe fungus gnat adults as quickly as 10-14 days following potting into fresh, bagged commercial soilless media. Since the life cycle from egg to adult takes 20-26 days, this observation suggests that the immature forms were present in the bagged media when purchased. Anecdotal reports from other research institutions agreed with our observations, and it was documented by at the University of Illinois in a report published in 2004. Another explanation for the infestation at our greenhouses, in cases where the plantings were rooted cuttings rather than seed, was that the fungus gnats were on the roots of plants prior to transplanting into the fresh soil mix.
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