Questions tagged [pest-management]
pest management or control refers to the active control of (the numbers of) a species that is regarded as a pest. Pests can be [plants], [insects] or other [animals] and are usually unwanted because of their (potential or perceived) negative influence on the human health, the environment, or the economy.
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Aeroponics system on a rooftop in the tropics - what could go wrong?
I have recently come across aeroponics - and I am considering using it to grow plants on a rooftop - in a tropical country.
All of the videos I have seen online (or articles I have read), seem to be ...
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What are environmentally friendly and efficient ways to fight hogweed?
There's a whole movement in Russia called "Antiborschevik" (Antihogweed). Sosnowsky's hogweed used to be cultivated on purpose in the Soviet Union as a type of fodder, but then it became an ...
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Does cotton really require all those harmful pesticides?
They say "cotton is bad because they use pesticides". But are they really necessary? Suppose your options are limited when it comes to dramatically reducing cotton farming's water ...
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Gnat problem with a rotating composter
I use a Maze Compost Tumbler, which is a 2-sided rotary composter, to compost kitchen scraps. By volume, I add equal parts kitchen scraps, sawdust and peat moss whenever I add the scraps. It is ...
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What do I feed my snails?
So I've recently gotten into foraging and found a site called eattheinvaders.org that encourages people to eat invasive species. One of the most invasive species here in California is the common ...
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Is there a way to remove cockroaches without having to use poison?
My parent's house has a pretty bad case of the cockroaches currently and I'm wondering if there is an eco-friendly way to deal with them. I don't find the use of poisons appealing at all seeing as ...
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Are bats and chickens good animals for pest control?
In an effort to keep bugs down in a food forest, would it be a good idea to use chickens for day time pest control, and bats as night time pest control?
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Are possum fur products typically from culled possums?
While in NZ and Australia, I've seen some souvenir shops offer products including possum fur, or a mixture of possum fur and merino wool.
Is the possum fur typically from deliberately culled possums ...
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Diatomaceous earth ground injector
I am researching ways to eliminate difficult yellow jacket (wasp) ground nests without using dangerous chemicals. Does anyone know of a commercial machine that is made to inject large quantities of ...
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How can I easily detect the presence of insecticides?
I suspect that my roommate has been using insecticides in my bedroom, living room, or kitchen.
How can I check or test this?
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Dealing with flies indoors: Carnivorous Plants
I was wondering about a sustainable chemical free way of dealing with house flies. Specifically, I thought to keep this from having too many possible answers and evolving into a discussion I am ...
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How does one judge the sustainability of using burnt motor oil for termite protection?
I am having a discussion on the permies forum here about a sustainable wood protector. I have been using burnt motor oil from several neighbors' small engines. This can contain heavy metals, but I ...
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With increasing emphasis on biosecurity, how do I properly dispose of livestock remains?
Overview
If you own livestock, even on the small-scale such as for family subsistence or a hobby-farm, the death of livestock is inevitable. In cases where you are raising animals for meat or hide, ...
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Dragonflies vs. mosquitoes [closed]
There is a small pond next to my house and I observed that dragonflies spawn there. Probably so do mosquitoes, at least the location in general is plagued by mosquitoes. Standing water is a suitable ...
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mosquito control with plastic bottle
My friend is managing a tiny guesthouse on an otherwise desert island in Indonesia and, as you could expect, have big problems with mosquitoes.
I plan to make some test one of those days using PET ...
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More sustainable mosquito repellants
Having already looked at more sustainable ways of preventing mosquitos, this is a question on living with the remaining ones without getting bitten so much. What methods are there to avoid getting ...
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Best sustainable way to keep squirrels from eating our tomatoes
The internet contains answers to this question that don't take into account sustainability. This Mother Nature Network article probably comes the closest I've found. The last resort method they ...
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How can I keep foxes from digging in my garden beds?
My front yard consists of five vegetable beds surrounded by gravel. There are no fences, and we do not want to put any in. Most years, my main wildlife problem is with deer that wander through and ...
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How to deal with leafcutter ants?
The picture says it all. They strip a complete tree in a day of all its leaves. Can't blame them, because they use the leaves to make their own food, but they do attack my fig tree, roses, hibiscus, ...
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Sustainable way to get rid of rats?
Here where I live, there is a food store located beside my home.
Due to that, there is a problem with rats and because of the rats, lots of other problems occur. They cut up many things and defile the ...
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Getting rid of those little flies (gnats) without using a spray?
Since a while we have a problem with those little flies, which generally are present near the plants (or flying along your ears when you are reading or working on the computer).
As I do not want to ...
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Ants and Compost
My community compost pile is now home to a very active ant's nest. As soon as any food goes on the pile, the ants are swarming over it.
Is it anything to worry about, or are the ants a healthy ...
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Sustainable methods of cockroach control (Periplaneta americana)
A second significant pest issue we have here is that of the so-called American Cockroach, which seems to normally live outside near human activity and come inside at least a few times a year. ...
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Sustainable methods of mosquito control
Right now I am in Jakarta (planning on returning to the US sooner or later) and of course mosquitos are a problem over here.
The common method over here to control mosquitos is to spray airborne ...
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Non toxic insect(ant) repellent for use in the kitchen
I have an ant problem in my house, specially in the kitchen, where they seem to have taken over. Just found out that they have cut through the plastic packaging of some food items and gotten inside. ...
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Dealing with bugs in compost
My community compost pile is incredibly buggy. It's a ~30 gallon bucket, with a closed lid and ventilation holes. It has hundreds of flying bugs swarming in it. As soon as the lid is open they're ...
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What is a permaculture solution for dealing with deer in a suburban environment?
The old problem of the deer moving into the city. My neighborhood is overrun. So far the best solution I've seen to keep them at bay is fences or hedges. The true permaculture solution would be to ...
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What Permaculture solutions are there for slugs?
My plants are under attack by slugs. I've heard a number of solutions for slugs over the years. There's the old beer trap, where you fill a bowl full of beer and leave it out. This works, but it's ...
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Organic aphid control on houseplants
What is the best option that's going to be safe for children/pets and require the least amount of reapplication?
I'm looking for something that has little to no phytotoxicity between plant species.
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