Pest Control  101: How Does Mechanical Control Manage Pests?

You may wonder how does mechanical control manage pests when considering this option of dealing with vermin. Mechanical control consists of more direct ways of getting rid of unwanted critters.

With this method, you’ll do a more hands-on or physical approach to managing your pest problem. Read on to find out more.

how does mechanical control manage pests

 

What Is Mechanical Control?

In a nutshell, mechanical control is often your first resort because of the ways you can directly control pests. You can use a variety of tools such as rakes, hoses, fly swatters, traps, or your own bare hands if you’re up for it.

This method may also include setting up small structures to prevent vermin from coming into your area. In this case, you can manipulate your surroundings to either ward off pests or make it unsuitable for them to thrive.

 

What Are The Methods Of Mechanical Control?

Mechanical control can come with three goals: exclusion, destruction, and removal. With these goals in mind, you get to control the environment around you to handle pest problems.

These often go hand in hand with other forms of pest control such as biological or cultural control. For more information, we’ve got a helpful guide on how do you control pests aside from pest control.

 

Exclusion

As the name implies, you’ll be employing methods that keep vermin out of your area. Trying exclusion can mean erecting barriers that block vermin from entering.

You can look into putting up row covers for your plants. Row covers not only prevent insects from infesting your plants but also protect them from frost and control weeds.

Aside from row covers, mesh screens can also be effective barriers against bugs.

There’s even an alternative to structural barriers such as insect barriers in the form of gels or sprays. What these substances do is create sticky obstructions that impede insects from getting through.

If you have a greenhouse, you’ve already got yourself a barrier. The walls of the greenhouse will already serve the purpose of protecting your plants.

It’s important to take note, however, that greenhouses aren’t going to protect your plants 100%. A few could still sneak in so you should also employ other pest control methods inside.

If you need help figuring out how, here’s a handy guide on how to keep bugs out of mini-greenhouse.

 

Destruction

This kind of mechanical control is often brutal and gooey. You’ll have to manually kill the various bugs that invade your territory.

Handpicking is one way of implementing this method. You can pick out the bigger, colorful insects crawling about your garden to get rid of them.

You can also shake bugs out of trees or shrubs or whack them with a stick to shake the critters out. When you try this method, you can either use soapy water or a sheet to catch the pests.

Another way of implementing destructive methods is by using diatomaceous earth.

What this type of dust does is penetrate the insects’ respiratory systems through inhalation and uses its sharp texture to kill the bug from within. Diatomaceous earth can also dry out some parts of their respiratory systems to effectively eliminate them.

This kind of dust is generally harmless to humans and pets, although those who have breathing problems or are sensitive to small particles will want to avoid inhalation.

 

Removal

These methods go hand in hand with destruction methods sometimes since the latter can take place after removal.

Among the different removal methods are the aforementioned handpicking and shaking/beating plants, traps, vacuums, sanitation, manipulating the environment, or spraying with water.

When you water your plants, you can set the water to high pressure to knock off any bugs that hide beneath the plants. Take note, however, that shaking them off with water could make them land near other host plants.

You may even use traps to attract insects and collect them and special insect vacuums in lieu of handpicking and spraying. Doing either of the two methods can control insect populations in different areas of the yard or garden.

Another way to remove vermin is to clean the surrounding environments. You never know what junk lying around could attract bugs.

Cleaning up debris, rock piles, dead insects, or rotting leaves or plants and getting rid of standing water can reduce the chances of attracting insects and letting them thrive and breed.

Also be on the lookout for structural cracks and crevices, shady areas, and moisture. These can create favorable habitats for unwanted critters such as different species of arthropods.

Figuring out how to manipulate your landscape can be the key to preventing it from becoming potential insect habitats and breeding grounds.

 

Conclusion

Implementing mechanical pest control methods can seem like a lot of effort. Don’t worry though, especially if you believe faith and hard work can move mountains.

With these tips, you may never have to wonder how does mechanical control manage pests. Now, you can come up with a pest control plan that can effectively manage insect populations.

Get ready to get your hands dirty and use mechanical control to show these unwanted critters who’s boss.

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