I’ve heard it said that you can’t stay mad at anyone for very long when you take a bite out of a tomato fresh from your own garden, still warm from the sun, with deliciousness dribbling down your chin. Remember that the right plant in the right place at the right time usually does pretty well. That is, given proper conditions and
regular maintenance, tomatoes are relatively easy to grow.

But again, we all love tomatoes – “we” being the key word, including the visitors with 6 legs, 4 legs or more. Or no legs. Tomatoes are attacked by a large number of pests from the time plants first emerge until harvest. Aphids, flea beetles, and leafminers threaten young transplant-bed tomatoes. In the field, flea beetles, aphids, leafminers, stink bugs, and tomato fruitworms cause minimal damage to the foliage; but their feeding on the fruit or by their spreading of diseases can be trouble. From the tips to the roots, we need to be on the lookout for pests, diseases and sun/moisture/fertility problems with an integrated pest management (IPM)  strategy. One of the best explanations for how to do this is PAMS. Not to be confused with my friend Pam, who is a lovely, gracious person, PAMS is an approach to be as inhospitable to unwanted guests (pests) as possible.

The acronym, PAMS, which stands for Prevention, Avoidance, Monitoring and Suppression is an easy way to remember the actions you can take in IPM. We use this acronym, because it is simple, and it connects pest biology with what we do to solve pest problems. By combining tactics from each of the PAMS categories into a
single strategy, pests can be managed with minimal environmental impacts.

Prevention tactics keep potential pests from entering an area or inhibit their spread to new areas. The key to prevention is understanding what the pest needs to survive – then make sure it’s denied to them as much as possible so their “house hunting” choices lead them to move on to easier pickings.

What if they’ve already moved in? If a pest is already present, or if it may turn up every year, avoidance tactics are those that limit resources and create inhospitable conditions to make life (and reproduction) as hard as possible for the pest organism. Prevention and avoidance tactics work best together when currently pest-free
areas are also made unfavorable to pest development. Essentially it’s flipping the concept of attracting wildlife to your yard on its head. Attracting wildlife into your yard is as easy as providing food, water, cover and places to raise young. While we may not want them in our vegetable gardens, we can still manage the rest of our
spaces to make a difference in the declining habitat for bees, butterflies, birds, amphibians and other wildlife nationwide.

Monitoring, as part of the PAMS approach can be broken down into two activities: monitoring and assessment. After you’ve done your due diligence to prevent and avoid pest infestations don’t waste that effort. It is important to watch regularly for the appearance (and reappearance) of insects, weeds, diseases, and other pests. Get out into your garden and LOOK. Identify if a situation is a problem that merits attention. How much is too much?

Once you’ve decided that something needs to be done, now what? Pest eradication is usually an unrealistic goal, but risk management is doable. Suppression tactics (cultural practices, physical barriers, biological controls, and pesticide applications) are used when pest pressure calls for action to reduce the risk of damage. Choice and timing of using these tactics are based on the pest biology and behavior, limitations placed on the area where the pest is occurring, tolerance for injury, economics, and impacts of the control measures themselves. There’s the Benefit To Burden Ratio to consider – Is this worth the reward? If yes, then decide if the tactic(s) is working for you. To find out more about creating wildlife habitats, or vegetable pests and diseases contact me at minda_daughtry@ncsu.edu. Garden smart – it’s good for your heart!