Florida Yards & Neighborhoods 
Manage Yard Pests Responsibly
By Ed Ayen, Florida Yards & Neighborhoods
This is another in a series of articles written about the new area urban conservation program called Florida Yards & Neighborhoods.
Populations here in south central Florida will probably double in the next twenty years. This means the number of homes will also double bringing more yards to care for and more pest management. Due to the concerns about health, the environment, and pesticide resistance, pest control practices once taken for granted are now under scrutiny. Regular preventive insecticide spraying is still common for some pests but may be unnecessary. Healthy plants can usually defend against or tolerate pest attacks, while beneficial insects, birds and other natural controls often suppress undesirable insects.
Here are some ways to avoid pest problems in your yard. Choose insect and disease resistant plants that can tolerate conditions in your yard; native plants are best. Once plants are established, go easy on fertilizer and water. Too much can cause excessive growth making plants vulnerable to some insects and diseases.
Mowing grass too short and severely pruning trees and shrubs weakens them, inviting pests. Leave 3-4 inches when mowing your lawn and prune shrubs selectively.
Encourage beneficial insect by minimizing the use of broad spectrum pesticides and spot spraying the affected area only and not the whole yard.
Try to identify pest problems before they get out of hand by walking through your yard twice or more a week and look at plants. Common plant pests in Florida include aphids, mealybugs, scale, whiteflies, thrips, mites and caterpillars. If you see curled, rolled or deformed leaves, mold on leaves or stems, you are likely to find a pest lurking somewhere. Sooty mold on leaves is a telltale clue to an infestation by what are known as piercing-sucking insects such as aphids. These insects secrete a sugary substance called honeydew, on which the black-colored sooty mold fungus feeds and grows. The sooty mold does not injure a plant directly, but if excessive can block sunlight from leaves, reducing photosynthesis.
Tolerate some insect damage and leaf disease as no one can maintain a pest and disease free yard. Should you need to treat a badly infested plant first try to simply remove the infested plant part; or if they are large, slow moving caterpillars try picking them off by hand. Should you need to use a chemical pesticide use one that is selective to your problem or better yet use insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils, both of which work to reduce populations of sucking insects. Products containing an extract of the bacterium Bacterium thuringiensis take care of caterpillars. Try to apply these materials during the cooler part of the day to avoid plant injury and always follow the instructions on the label.
The Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program is being implemented through your local county extension service in Highlands, Okeechobee and Glades County and is partially funded from Clean Water Act Section 319 funding from the U. S. EPA through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Ed Ayen is available to address interested groups such as homeowners associations, voluntary organizations and clubs. For further information he can be reached by calling the Highlands County Extension Service office. Phone: (863)402-6540 or email. Location is 4509 George Blvd., Sebring, FL 33875-5837