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June 2006, Volume 3 Number 1
Homeowners have many things to consider when choosing an insecticide
Taking the Right Steps to having a beautiful
and healthful display
Preparing your Lawn for Spring
Rose Care
Pest Spotlight - Stinging Wasps, Hornets and
Carpenter Bees
One important decision homeowners have is deciding which type of insecticide to choose when facing off against bugs. The first step should be evaluating plants to determine if any problems are indeed caused by bugs or perhaps by other factors, including weather or cultural practices, like over-watering.
Homeowners should make certain insecticides are in fact the answer to the problem. Can you eliminate pests through different cultural practices, such as planting in a different location? Once you determine that an insecticide is the proper method of treatment, carefully inspect the package label.
This lays out how the product affects the environment, as well as the insects it targets and for which plants it safely treats. This is especially important for fruit-bearing plants, as some insecticides have detrimental effects on such vegetation
While all insecticides are required by law to register with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some put humans, animals, and the environment at a higher risk than others. Experts, such as Wallace Wood, county extension agent with Clemson (S.C.) University in McCormick, won’t recommend products that are not registered with the EPA.
Some active ingredients, such as carbaryl, are easily broken down by the environment, posing little threat to your backyard ecosphere. Carbaryl, says Wood, “[controls] lots of things. It’s been around for a long time.” Despite the efficacy of insecticides such as carbaryl, chemical controls are not necessarily a cure-all for bug-ridden gardens.
Factors, including the amount of insecticide used and the fact that some bugs build immunity to it, can determine how healthy a garden is. Insecticides such as carbaryl come in various forms, including dust, granular, spray, and ready-to-use. Insecticides, though, are just one available option.
Wallace says that organic treatments can be effective, but “most organic controls have not been proven by scientific research.” A homeowners’ best bet is to use a safe and well-researched insecticide.
Insecticides are the most effective method for ridding gardens of plant-hungry bugs. Choosing which to treat your garden with ultimately depends on factors, cost-wise, environmental, and otherwise, that affect your plants
