What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing pests. It combines biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks. IPM is not a single control method but involves multiple methods of fighting pests, including observation, monitoring, and treatment.

IPM is usually the most cost-effective option for fighting pests in the long run as it uses preventive measures and targets the root cause of pest infestations to solve them, rather than only applying treatments after an outbreak has already occurred.

The IPM approach to pests is beneficial because it:

• reduces the number of pests

• reduces the number of and reliance upon pest treatments

• saves money

• protects human and environmental health

While the specifics may vary from outside gardening to indoor Gardyning, the basic pillars of IPM remain the same: prevent, observe, monitor, and treat.

Prevention starts with understanding that pests are a natural part of any plant or food system, but that you can select certain plant varieties for your best chances of avoiding unwanted guests. We recommend 4 easy steps to integrate pest prevention into your Gardyning routine. Want to take your prevention to the next level? Consider incorporating beneficial insects, a key part to any natural, nature-based pest management plan.

Follow our guide to scouting to learn how you can become the best plant detective and notice if anything seems amiss. Kelby also helps alert members if any pests or related damage are detected.

This is closely tied to your prevention and scouting, essentially monitoring that your Gardyn keeps growing healthily. If you or Kelby have identified a pest or suspected pest-related damage, monitoring means keeping an eye on your plants to determine whether the issue is improving or not once you begin treating the issue.

Once you or Kelby identifies the pest you need to treat, you should immediately begin the pest-specific treatment plan to stop the pests in their tracks and help get your Gardyn back to healthy growth as fast as possible. It’s important to continuously monitor the pests and their damage throughout treatment to determine the treatment’s impact.

Questions? Reach us at support@mygardyn.com, or chat with us! We're here to help.