Insects are important to soil health and growing food. Soil engineering insects help create soil structure that is stable for water and nutrients. Decomposers eat organic material and unlock nutrients.  Pollinators help many crops reproduce and yield fruits and vegetables.  Then there are the pest controllers. These beneficial insects serve as natural enemies to pests and help suppress their populations through predation and parasitoidism. The paper wasp (above) and aphid wasp (below) are great examples of insects that keep pests at bay.

There are an estimated 5 million insect species. Of these, it is just a handful that happen to cause issues in the garden. In fact, insects can come in very handy when growing crops. Here are some resources that can help you manage them.

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Don’t forget that one of the keys to insect management is in the soil.  Adequate plant nutrients and soil moisture, including favorable soil pH and healthy soil, can reduce plant stress, improve plant vigor and increase the plant’s overall ability to tolerate pests. Soil Health = Plant Health. 

Consider following the PAMS method as a foundation for your insect management strategy.

  • Prevention – Activities such as cleaning equipment and gear when leaving an infested area, using pest-free seeds and transplants, using exclusion netting,  and irrigation and watering scheduling and methods to limit situations that are conducive to disease development.
  • Avoidance – Activities such as maintaining healthy and diverse plant communities, using pest-resistant varieties, and crop rotation.
  • Monitoring – Activities such as pest scouting and weather forecasting to help target suppression strategies.
  • Suppression – Activities such as the judicious use of cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical control methods that reduce or eliminate a pest population or its impacts while minimizing risks to non-target organisms.
aphid-wasp-and-aphids-closeup

Compiled by Kevin Allison
Photographs by Heather Holm
Updated December 2020