New fact sheet reviewing the key components of integrated pest management

Sharpening your IPM planning for your next growing season is always a good practice.

Integrated pest management (IPM) is not a new term for greenhouse producers. Greenhouse operations that implement the IPM concept and follow the process diligently are deemed a less stressful emotion when and if an outbreak occurs. In order to accomplish this, prior to the season gather information from past year’s pest issues, management options and results, determine threshold levels for each pest, develop action options, develop a system for follow-up and record keeping, and train in-house scouts or hire a private scouting firm.

Once the season begins, the scouting is underway and the preplanned process becomes implemented if needed. Some of the key elements associated with a good IPM system are

  • Proper pest identification.
  • Determining the distribution and significance of the pest using a standard sampling method.
  • Comparing prevalence of the pest with your own threshold level.
  • Choosing appropriate management strategies if necessary.
  • Evaluating success of management strategy with another sample after treatment.
  • Educating employees.

More detailed information is available on this fact sheet that is easily printable to share with current and new employees as part of your training program.

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