Integrated Crop Management (ICM) is the comprehensive and coordinated use of cultural, biological and chemical tactics to maintain or reduce pest populations to acceptable levels. Successful ICM programs are those that have been well thought-out and then customized for individual needs. Gathering information before, during and after a program is essential to perfecting the strategy and achieving continued success, year-after-year.

To begin an ICM program, evaluation of preventative cultural practices and gathering information on crop monitoring, scouting and examining environmental conditions are essential. Growers should compile historical data on pests, diseases and resistance issues as well as chemicals, biological control agents (BCAs) and other treatments used in the growing area. All ICM programs including BCAs are best used preventively, so understanding your crop and potential pest pressure is imperative.

Elements of a Successful ICM Program

• Preventive cultural practices
• Scouting
• Monitoring
• Good record keeping
• Communication at all levels
• Realistic expectations
• Flexibility
• Dedication

Unfortunately, ornamental pest activity does not follow a calendar; therefore, the key to any successful ICM program is scouting. Production facilities that do not utilize a scouting program often rely on broad-spectrum calendar sprays and/or "curative" applications to gain control of established pest populations. Calendar spraying can result in unnecessary pesticide applications, and may accelerate the development of pesticide resistance. Last minute or curative applications are often not successful, resulting in multiple applications and/or an unsellable crop.

Below are some important scouting tips to help avoid the need for last minute rescue treatments:

• Rule number one is to actually have people devoted to scouting regularly, at least weekly, and maintaining good records. Scouting is an important job and cannot be done appropriately in hit or miss situations. While most growers profess to follow an integrated pest management (IPM) program, many do not employ a scout. It will be difficult to detect and identify pest problems early in the infestation cycle without a good scouting program in place.
• Be clean; keep weeds, algae, pet plants, plant debris and trash cans out of the growing area. Thoroughly inspect all newly arriving plant material for any hitchhikers.
• Utilize yellow sticky cards to monitor flying insect pests. For specific monitoring of thrips, blue sticky cards may be used. At a minimum, weekly evaluations should be done to monitor adult populations and can help determine appropriate application and timing of control options. One sticky card every 1000-3000 ft² is usually sufficient. Sticky cards can also be used to monitor populations two to three days after a pesticide application to ensure proper control was achieved.
• Look for obvious signs of plant damage such as chlorotic, stunted or malformed growth, cast off skins, feeding damage, honey dew, sooty mold and the presence of ants.
• Check undersides of leaves using a hand lens to detect infestations before they reach epidemic levels and cause severe plant damage.
• Choose an insecticide or BCA that is effective for the pest life stage present. Use the information generated by scouting to determine whether you are above or below your action threshold to make effective pest control decisions.
• Scouting must continue after your pesticide and BCA application to make sure that your management practices are successful.

Implementing a scouting program takes time and patience. Over time, growers can determine their own economic threshold for any given pest allowing better decisions for pest control. Early detection by scouts will allow growers to substitute or incorporate a targeted insecticide or BCA application before pest populations reach unmanageable levels. This will also help decrease the likelihood that pests will develop resistance, which will allow the grower to maintain effective products in their arsenal against pests.

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