Monitoring the populations of pests, diseases, weeds, and beneficial organisms such as predators and parasitoid wasps is an important component of implementing integrated pest, disease and weed management in orchards. It does not need to be onerous or time consuming.

The methods outlined below provide guidelines other than trapping that should be read in conjunction with the IPDM Monitoring Calendar and the IPDM Monitoring Sheet.  Use of these guidelines will help to standardise record keeping and allow advisors to more easily interpret and compare what is happening in your orchard.

4 suggested sampling methods

There are 4 general categories of sampling based on the use of 5 trees selected at random each date that you conduct monitoring. These have been designed to allow monitoring of multiple pests or diseases with the one sample and are:

• 20 flower clusters (4 clusters x 5 locations on the tree) per tree.
• 1-minute inspections per tree.
• 10 randomly selected leaves per tree
• 100 randomly inspected fruit per tree.

For detailed sampling methods and printable document click on IPDM Monitoring Guidelines

Video footage of monitoring clusters for Apple Dimple Bug and thrips.