Can fruit crops be grown in the home garden without pesticides? The answer is yes, but fruit quantity and quality may decrease, especially in years when environmental conditions encourage disease and/or insect proliferation. Quality fruit, similar to what is available in the supermarket, cannot easily be grown without pesticides. If you do not wish to use pesticides, you can employ many other tactics to reduce pest numbers in your fruit plantings. These are discussed in detail in the following sections. You should be aware, however, of the possibility that you will lose a significant portion of your crop to insects and disease.
A pest is any organism that compromises the production and/or quality of the crop being grown. For the purpose of this manual, we are referring to organisms that harm fruit crops by directly injuring either the fruit or the leaves. Pests might not seem to cause appreciable damage to plants, but they might weaken the plant and reduce its ability to survive. Many backyard fruit producers have lost fruit trees to “winter injury,” when in fact the real cause was the general weakening of the plant from pest assault. Pests generally are classified as either insects, diseases, weeds, nematodes, or vertebrates (rodents or deer, for example), and will be discussed in this manual. For example, Controlling Wildlife Damage in the Home Fruit Garden deals specifically with controlling fruit damage caused by wildlife.
Vine Planting Information
