Lesson 3 — Key Pests: ID & Thresholds
Goal: know the usual suspects and what triggers action.
Top pests in container nurseries
- Aphids
- Spider mites
- Thrips
- Scale insects
- Fungus gnats
- Root weevils (depending on crop/site)
Threshold concept
- Propagation/wean: thresholds are near-zero (protect success rate).
- Production blocks: tolerate low levels if not impacting growth/sale quality.
- Retail-quality crops: cosmetic damage = lower thresholds.
Do this
- Pick 5 crops you will grow and list their most common pests.
- Define “action threshold” for each zone (prop vs production).