Preventive pesticide treatment is the application of pesticides before the appearance of a pest in order to prevent their appearance in your garden. It is a component of the wider concept of preventive pest control which also includes the use of pest-resistant plant varieties and cultural practices which improve plant health to help them resist various infections.
The Balance of Nature
In addition to requiring time, energy and, for that matter, money, preventive pesticide treatments disrupt the balance of nature in the garden. With few exceptions, preventive treatments are not specific, but rather generalized: most insecticides indiscriminately kill all insects and most fungicides destroy all fungi. And that’s bad news, since most insects and fungi are either harmless or beneficial.
Both bad and good players being removed from the local environment, a vacuum is created… and it is usually quickly filled by something undesirable. That’s because most plant pests spread faster than beneficial fungi and insects. So by trying to prevent one problem, and a hypothetical one at that, then you often create another, usually more severe.
Pest Prevention for the Laidback Gardener
The laidback gardener’s solution? Don’t try to prevent it with sprays and powders. Instead, prevent by growing plants known to be resistant to predators and planting them under appropriate conditions (plants under stress from inappropriate conditions are more prone to disease and insect problems).
If a problem does occur, step back 15 paces. If you can’t see the problem, it is probably not serious enough to warrant any action on your part. If it really does appear serious, this is the time to bring out the big guns: go ahead and try an appropriate treatment, but apply it only to those plants that are affected. Finally, if the problem returns the following year, seriously consider planting something else: life is too short to spend applying pesticides!
This text was first published on this blog on August 19, 2014. It has been revised and the layout updated.
This solution is so effective.
California sycamore is almost always infected with anthracnose. It is generally harmless, and rarely noticed. When I did my internship in 1988, a few trees within public spaces, such as parks, were still being sprayed with fungicide to control such infection. The problem was that, without typical infection, trees were more likely to exhibit spontaneous limb failure as they became so densely foliated that they could not support their own weight.
Step back 15. I like that. See the big picture. No OCD. Thanks.