Organic Gardening For Dummies
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IPM (integrated pest management) is a practice that combines biological, cultural, physical and chemical strategies to control pests. Organic gardeners use IPM techniques as the least toxic, least environmentally disruptive solutions for fighting pests and plant disease.

IPM involves the following key practices:

  • Using cultural techniques to promote plant health: Rotating crops, sanitizing gardens, using traps and barriers, mulching, promoting air circulation and water drainage, conserving soil moisture, planting companion and disease-resistant varieties, composting, and building soil health.

  • Identifying and monitoring pests: Identifying the pests and diseases that affect your crops, predicting when they will appear, and using observation and traps to determine the extent of the problem.

  • Using control methods: First using the least-toxic methods (beneficial insects and microbes, and insecticidal soaps and oils) and then resorting to more-toxic organic pesticides only when the value of the crop or landscape plant justifies their use.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Ann Whitman is the author of the first edition of Organic Gardening For Dummies.

Suzanne DeJohn is an editor with the National Gardening Association, the leading garden-based educational nonprofit organization in the U.S. NGA's programs and initiatives highlight the opportunities for plant-based education in schools, communities, and backyards across the country. These include award-winning Web sites garden.org and kidsgardening.org.

The National Gardening Association (NGA) is committed to sustaining and renewing the fundamental links between people, plants, and the earth. Founded in 1972 as “Gardens for All” to spearhead the community garden movement, today’s NGA promotes environmental responsibility, advances multidisciplinary learning and scientifi c literacy, and creates partnerships that restore and enhance communities.
NGA is best known for its garden-based curricula, educational journals, international initiatives, and several youth garden grant programs. Together these reach more than 300,000 children nationwide each year. NGA’s Web sites, one for home gardeners and another for those who garden with kids, build community and offer a wealth of custom content.

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