Controlling garden pests is a year round battle but during warm weather the battle intensifies as gardener’s plant vegetable gardens and flowers come into full bloom. When garden pests appear, many people wonder if they need a chemical spray to kill a particular garden pest and if so, which one.
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There are only two basic types of pest control options for the lawn and garden: chemical pesticide and insecticide. It is not necessary to use both to kill garden pests, since over application of any chemical has a detrimental effect on soil and plants. Instead, it is necessary to understand what each of these products does in order to decide which one to use.
A chemical pesticide is any chemical substance that is designed to kill, repel or prevent any type of pest. The category of chemical pesticide actually includes insecticides, which is where the confusion comes in for most people. In addition to insecticide, there are several other substances that are classified as a chemical pesticide. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, herbicides and fungicides are also considered to be chemical pesticides. The site also states that by law, the term chemical pesticide refers to any substance that is designed to be a plant defoliant, a plant regulator or a desiccant.
To better understand the term chemical pesticide, think of any living organism that is a pest. This includes not only insects, worms, and rats, but also other garden pests such as weeds, bacteria, viruses, fungus.
Now that readers understand that insecticide is a category of chemical pesticide, it’s time to expand more on what that means. Put very simply, a chemical solution that is labeled as a garden insecticide is designed only to kill insects. Whereas a pesticide can kill a variety of animals and garden pests, if it’s not an insect then the garden insecticide will have no effect on it.
Insecticides are available in several different forms including liquid and powder form. The two most popular chemical components of insecticides are boric acid, also called boracic acid, and silica. These two ingredients are present in different concentrations in almost every garden insecticide on the market.
So it is easy to see that if the garden pests are insects, purchase a garden insecticide product. If the garden pests are anything else, a chemical pesticide is the best option to go with. It should also be noted that in addition to the traditional chemical pesticide and insecticidal options, many gardeners choose to use organic pesticides and organic insecticide solutions to treat garden pests.
Identifying Carpenter Bee Damage
How to Identify Signs of Termites and Termite Problems
Organic Pesticide Options
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants
Killing Flying Ant Colonies with Ant Pesticide Products
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