Pests can be a serious problem for both homes and businesses. They can damage property and even pose health risks. Although basic cleaning methods can deter many pests, they are a short-term solution. This is where other pest control methods can help.
Knowing what types of control methods are available helps you better serve your customers. Exploring different Pest Control Tulsa methods lets you provide a more tailored solution to each customer.
Chemical
Chemical pest control methods use chemicals to destroy, suppress, or deter unwanted pests. They are usually the fastest way to control pests, but they may also cause damage to other plants or animals. They can be used in combination with other methods to improve their effectiveness. There are several types of chemical controls, including insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides. They can be purchased at most hardware and garden stores.
Physical pest control involves physically removing or disrupting the nest, den, or habitat of the pest. It can also involve introducing natural predators, such as birds, bees, or wasps, to eat the pests. You can also plant flowering plants that attract natural predators, such as lilac (Lilacus spp.) or serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), and trees that provide a source of berries or fruit, such as apple (Malus domestica). The agricultural chemicals manual recommends biological control using Bacillus thuringiensis to manage caterpillars. It works by producing a toxin that damages the midgut of the caterpillar, but it doesn’t kill them.
Preventing pests from getting into the crop is the main goal of preventive pest control. This can be done by sealing or covering growing areas, draining swamps and other standing water, and removing debris and waste. Cultural control methods are also helpful in preventing pests. They include altering the pest’s environment, such as reducing access to food, water, and shelter, by removing or blocking their breeding sites, or by changing the conditions that favor them.
If you decide to use chemical pest control, it is important to follow all label instructions and take proper safety precautions when applying them. Pesticides should be used only when the pest population is at an unacceptable level or when other measures fail to keep it under control. The best pesticides are those that work fast, have low toxicity to humans and animals, and do not contaminate the environment or food products.
Some of the most common chemical pest control treatments include horticultural oils, lime sulfur, nicotine, and copper compounds. They all have a detrimental effect on the pests they target, so you should always read and follow all label instructions carefully.
Physical
Physical pest control methods use barriers, exclusion, and traps to impede pests. For example, a window screen keeps bugs out while air flows freely. Barrier sprays create a physical boundary that repels insects and rodents, as well as other plants and animals. Exclusion methods block pests from entering a home or garden through cracks, holes, and underdoors. For example, a door sweep prevents roaches and mice from crawling underneath, while a simple insect screen keeps flies out of a kitchen window. Physical control also includes eliminating breeding grounds such as stagnant water and dark or damp places.
Chemical pest control is a popular and effective way to handle unwanted pests. This includes the use of pesticides such as ULV fogging, which releases a small amount of pesticide for quick results, and fumigation, which seals a space with a heavy dose of chemicals.
Biological pest control is another option that leverages natural predators to eliminate pests. It can be as simple as releasing ladybugs to feed on aphids or more complex, like adding nematodes to the soil to fight off root-knot nematodes that destroy crop roots. These options are environmentally friendly and more cost-effective than using pesticides.
Cultural practices discourage pests by keeping the environment clean and encouraging competitive plants. These can include sanitation, removing weeds by hand or by tillage, proper planting and watering, and growing plants resistant to pest damage.
Prevention is another important element of integrated pest management (IPM). This means assessing the situation to determine whether a pest is a problem, learning about its life cycle and biology, and then taking steps to reduce its numbers. This can be done by scouting and monitoring pests regularly, and by treating them only when needed.
Many factors affect pest populations, including weather, climate, and the presence of natural enemies. While we can’t change these factors, we can manage them to help keep pests under control. These factors may also work in tandem with other management practices, such as biological control and physical controls, to provide more robust pest protection.
Biological
Biological control utilizes living organisms (parasites, predators, and disease pathogens) to suppress pest populations and damage. These organisms, collectively known as natural enemies, are often more effective than chemical pesticides and are safer for the environment. Biological controls can also be integrated with other strategies, such as crop rotation, cultural practices that reduce pest density and damage, and methods of disrupting the mating or host-finding behavior of the target pest.
Using natural enemies to manage pests is an ancient practice. However, biological control techniques are constantly advancing, reflecting improvements in rearing and release practices, genetic improvement of natural enemies, and application of new ecological theory. Biological pest control can be divided into three broad categories: classical biological control, augmentation, and conservation biology.
Classical biological control is generally used against exotic or invasive pests that have inadvertently been introduced to a site where they are not naturally found. This approach involves studying the pest’s native habitat to find natural enemy species that are effective against it. Once promising natural enemies are discovered, they are collected and shipped to the pest’s site for release. Examples of classical biological control include the destruction of the citrophilus mealybug in the state by parasitic chalcid wasps imported from other countries; the effective predation of cottony cushion scale in the state by Rodolia cardinalis, the vedalia beetle, and the control of the invasive alligator weed in another state by Hippodamia convergens, the convergent lady beetle.
Augmentation is a similar concept to classical biological control, but it uses natural enemies that are already present in the site or region where pest suppression is desired. These organisms are released to increase their population or effectiveness in controlling the targeted pest. The most common type of augmentation is the use of insect pathogens such as entomopathogenic nematodes and Bacillus thuringiensis against aphids, caterpillars, or beetles. These products are commercially available for several pest species and applied to the soil or plant surfaces in ways that vary among species.
The third form of biological control is conservation biology, which focuses on maintaining the existence and population levels of natural enemies in the environment where the target pest is located. This is accomplished through a variety of means, including maintaining ground covers, cover crops, crop residues, and vegetated buffer zones that provide natural enemies with food, shelter, and protection.
Mechanical
A pest is any organism that causes damage to crops, lawns, gardens, trees, flowers, or other plants or degrades natural habitats. It also may harm humans, livestock, and other animals. The presence of a pest negatively affects the environment by reducing the diversity and abundance of other organisms and altering environmental factors such as soil health, available moisture, and fire events.
Pest control methods can be categorized as preventive, physical, biological, or chemical. Preventive techniques attempt to limit the build-up of pest populations by making the environment less suitable for them. Examples include removing food sources (such as aphids from vegetables), removing water or shelter sources (e.g., removing weeds that provide rodents with homes), and limiting access to the environment for pests by sealing or blocking entry points into buildings or plants.
Physical and physical pest control methods are used to eliminate or exclude pests from an area through traps, barriers, and exclusion techniques. Examples of these are closing gaps and openings in doors, vents, or windows, using mesh screens on openings, caulking and sealing around pipes, and removing trash and other attractive messes from the home. Other physical controls include increasing the temperature of the soil through solarization (using tarps or plastic sheets on crops) and removing or altering environmental conditions that support pest population growth (e.g., reducing air humidity).
Biological pest control uses natural enemies — parasites, predators, or pathogens — to injure or kill the target pests to manage their populations. This is not eradication; rather, it is a controlled reduction of pests to levels that are acceptable to the landowner or gardener. Biological control methods that require the manipulation of the environment or other living things, such as the release of sterile males, are called biocontrol.
Chemical pest control methods use synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals to kill or repel pests. They can be toxic to humans, pets, or other animals. Chemicals are most often applied as a last resort in an IPM plan. Before applying any chemical, be sure to identify the pest and understand its life cycle and ecology. This will help you select the most appropriate control technique, minimizing off-target effects and maximizing effectiveness.