(Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
EPA reported this much was spent on pesticide use for
industrial/commercial/government sector and this much was spend for
home and garden sector in 2012
1.4 billion; 3.3 billion
Define integrated pest management
System that uses all available and suitable pest control tactics to reduce
pest populations to tolerable levels while minimizing adverse
environmental side effects.
Explain how aesthetic thresholds affect IPM tactics
Aesthetic thresholds are based on tolerance, personal comfort, taste, plant
appearance, and specific site conditions.
Nurseries and the like have zero pest tolerance whereas landscape
plantings might have low tolerance.
Healthy lawns have a higher threshold than stressed, weakened lawns
Explain how IPM can reduce the use of pesticides
Pesticides are not meant to be a solution to all problems.
IPM provides the most effective solutions in all regards, which may not
always be pesticides.
List the six control strategies used in IPM
Cultural
Mechanical
Host resistance
Biological
Regulatory
chemical
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
, (Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
Define pesticide
Any material used to kill, attract, repel, regulate, or interrupt growth and
mating of pests, or to regulate plant growth
Contact pesticides
Must physically touch the pest organism or be sprayed on the site the pest
frequents to exert an action
Example would be protective fungicide
Must be re-applied to new plant tissues or if precipitation washes product
off
Systemic pesticide
Enters the plant via roots or above ground plant tissues and is moved
inside of the plant.
Could render plant toxic to insect or mice
Could move through plant to kill parts of the plant
Example would be curative fungicide because it penetrates the plant and
stops disease
Preemergence
Applied prior to weed seed germination.
Little to no effect on weeds that have emerged
Postemergence
Applied to actively growing plants.
Work best in sunlight, high humidity, good soil moisture
Selective pesticide
Control only certain types or stages of pests while leaving nontarget
organisms unaffected.
Example would be herbicide that kills broadleaf weeds and not turfgrass
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
, (Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
Nonselective pesticide
Exert their action on a wide variety of pests.
Control most of the plants they are sprayed on.
Identify the best application timing for effective pest control as it pertains
to: plant diseases, insects, and weeds
Plant diseases
For fungicides, it is critical that susceptible tissues be protected before an
infection begins or at the first appearance of any symptoms
Insects
The younger the stage of insect, the more susceptible it is to chemical
control.
Weeds
Generally most effective when applied to actively growing plants and least
effective when plants are not actively growing
Annual weeds are easiest to control in early spring
Biennials should be treated in fall or early spring when in the rosette stage
Perennial weeds can be controlled in early bloom stage or in the fall
Explain how pesticide resistance develops in a pest population
Resistance is the ability of a pest species that was once effectively
controlled by a pesticide to survive spray concentrations that were
previously effective.
It is an inherited trait that results from repeated applications of pesticides
with the same site of action or mode of action.
Examples include pythium blight in turfgrass, botrytis in ornamental,
green peach aphid in insects, and goosegrass weeds
State the importance of the numeric codes at the top of a pesticide label
and pesticide resistance
These codes help applicators quickly identify the mode of action by
looking at the group number.
Varying this can help reduce resistance
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
, (Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
State four ways to minimize pesticide drift
Correctly chosen nozzle
Reduced spray pressure
Monitor weather conditions
Keeping the spray nozzle near the target
Summarize the ways in which pesticides can injure nontarget plants
Contact can kill or injure plants
Movement into the root zone where it can be absorbed is also bad
List posting rules for a pesticide application
Required for urban areas or municipalities
Notification signs must be posted at the start of an application to a
treatment site
4 by 5 inches, weather proof, and above grass line
"This are is chemically treated. Keep off. Do not remove sign for 24
hours."
Explain how to clean up hard surfaces after a granular application
Blow or sweep the material back into the turfgrass area or on the plant
beds.
Keep away from storm drain entrances
List two characteristics of water that may influence the effectiveness of a
spray mixture
Water pH is one area of concern.
If the water is alkaline (pH greater than 7) it can cause alkaline hydrolysis.
If water is acidic (pH less than 7) it can cause acid hydrolysis
Hardness of water is another concern
Hardness is the amount of dissolved minerals in water
Can inactivate pesticides
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
EPA reported this much was spent on pesticide use for
industrial/commercial/government sector and this much was spend for
home and garden sector in 2012
1.4 billion; 3.3 billion
Define integrated pest management
System that uses all available and suitable pest control tactics to reduce
pest populations to tolerable levels while minimizing adverse
environmental side effects.
Explain how aesthetic thresholds affect IPM tactics
Aesthetic thresholds are based on tolerance, personal comfort, taste, plant
appearance, and specific site conditions.
Nurseries and the like have zero pest tolerance whereas landscape
plantings might have low tolerance.
Healthy lawns have a higher threshold than stressed, weakened lawns
Explain how IPM can reduce the use of pesticides
Pesticides are not meant to be a solution to all problems.
IPM provides the most effective solutions in all regards, which may not
always be pesticides.
List the six control strategies used in IPM
Cultural
Mechanical
Host resistance
Biological
Regulatory
chemical
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
, (Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
Define pesticide
Any material used to kill, attract, repel, regulate, or interrupt growth and
mating of pests, or to regulate plant growth
Contact pesticides
Must physically touch the pest organism or be sprayed on the site the pest
frequents to exert an action
Example would be protective fungicide
Must be re-applied to new plant tissues or if precipitation washes product
off
Systemic pesticide
Enters the plant via roots or above ground plant tissues and is moved
inside of the plant.
Could render plant toxic to insect or mice
Could move through plant to kill parts of the plant
Example would be curative fungicide because it penetrates the plant and
stops disease
Preemergence
Applied prior to weed seed germination.
Little to no effect on weeds that have emerged
Postemergence
Applied to actively growing plants.
Work best in sunlight, high humidity, good soil moisture
Selective pesticide
Control only certain types or stages of pests while leaving nontarget
organisms unaffected.
Example would be herbicide that kills broadleaf weeds and not turfgrass
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
, (Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
Nonselective pesticide
Exert their action on a wide variety of pests.
Control most of the plants they are sprayed on.
Identify the best application timing for effective pest control as it pertains
to: plant diseases, insects, and weeds
Plant diseases
For fungicides, it is critical that susceptible tissues be protected before an
infection begins or at the first appearance of any symptoms
Insects
The younger the stage of insect, the more susceptible it is to chemical
control.
Weeds
Generally most effective when applied to actively growing plants and least
effective when plants are not actively growing
Annual weeds are easiest to control in early spring
Biennials should be treated in fall or early spring when in the rosette stage
Perennial weeds can be controlled in early bloom stage or in the fall
Explain how pesticide resistance develops in a pest population
Resistance is the ability of a pest species that was once effectively
controlled by a pesticide to survive spray concentrations that were
previously effective.
It is an inherited trait that results from repeated applications of pesticides
with the same site of action or mode of action.
Examples include pythium blight in turfgrass, botrytis in ornamental,
green peach aphid in insects, and goosegrass weeds
State the importance of the numeric codes at the top of a pesticide label
and pesticide resistance
These codes help applicators quickly identify the mode of action by
looking at the group number.
Varying this can help reduce resistance
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
, (Iowa 3OT Pesticide Manual: 2026-2027)
State four ways to minimize pesticide drift
Correctly chosen nozzle
Reduced spray pressure
Monitor weather conditions
Keeping the spray nozzle near the target
Summarize the ways in which pesticides can injure nontarget plants
Contact can kill or injure plants
Movement into the root zone where it can be absorbed is also bad
List posting rules for a pesticide application
Required for urban areas or municipalities
Notification signs must be posted at the start of an application to a
treatment site
4 by 5 inches, weather proof, and above grass line
"This are is chemically treated. Keep off. Do not remove sign for 24
hours."
Explain how to clean up hard surfaces after a granular application
Blow or sweep the material back into the turfgrass area or on the plant
beds.
Keep away from storm drain entrances
List two characteristics of water that may influence the effectiveness of a
spray mixture
Water pH is one area of concern.
If the water is alkaline (pH greater than 7) it can cause alkaline hydrolysis.
If water is acidic (pH less than 7) it can cause acid hydrolysis
Hardness of water is another concern
Hardness is the amount of dissolved minerals in water
Can inactivate pesticides
3/7/2026, 1:10:13 AM
