Is Climate Change to Blame?
by Kymisha Montgomery, CGC Urban Agriculture Coordinator
When the temperature isn’t as harsh, I’m usually transplanting my plants and direct sowing seeds of everything I had planned during the winter months. I reflect on my journal entries from the previous year and use the info I recorded to determine when I should be expecting certain pests so I can make sure my pest control plan is ready to be executed when the time comes. Typically, I have an estimated date of when I should be expecting certain garden pests, but I’ve noticed this date is changing over time.
There are many major environmental factors—such heat waves, flooding, intense storms, and drought—that can impact your harvest. Climate change and extreme weather patterns play an important role in the success of your crops. Did you know they can also be key players in controlling the pests in your garden?
Most pests are active during the warmer months. When the temperatures are below 32°F, pests really are not able to move. At 45°F, they start to move slowly. Pests don’t become fully functional until temperatures reach 70°F. In practical terms, this means pests become annoying in the later part of April to early May here in Cincinnati. But at the rate that Cincinnati is heating up, this range can be expanded.
Knowing the life cycle of pests can help you when trying to manage them in your garden, but this all goes out of the window when we talk about temperature. For instance, a squash vine borer usually develops from an egg to a borer in around two weeks. But if the temperature is constantly above the internal temperature it takes for that egg to develop, it will, in turn, develop a lot more quickly, decreasing the amount of time it typically takes an egg to develop into a borer. So instead of two weeks, it may only take one!
All this means that there’s a chance your garden can be infested with pests earlier and longer. With the temperatures rising earlier in the year and warm weather sticking around later, we can see multi-generations of pests living in our gardens in just one season. Which stinks to me!