Pest, Disease, and Planting Management

This unit introduces integrated approaches to identifying, preventing, and controlling insect pests, plant diseases, vertebrate critters, and weeds, while teaching safe pesticide handling and practical planting techniques. Students practice diagnostic, cultural, biological, mechanical, and chemical strategies and prepare management plans that protect plant health and environmental safety.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze common insect, disease, weed, and vertebrate damage symptoms using diagnostic keys and field samples to accurately identify garden pests and pathogens.
• Apply integrated pest management (IPM) principles and pesticide safety protocols, including label interpretation, PPE selection, calibration, and safe storage/disposal, to create site-appropriate control plans.
• Demonstrate cultural, mechanical, biological, and targeted chemical control techniques in hands-on settings, and perform proper planting procedures (spacing, depth, transplanting) to reduce pest and weed pressure.
• Evaluate monitoring data and post-control outcomes to revise management strategies that minimize crop loss, non-target impacts, and environmental risk.