Use of LED Lights in Pest Management

Pest management is critical in commercial greenhouses or indoor cultivation. Pests and insects will damage plants and cause serious economic loss. Various pesticides are the common ways to fight pests and insects. But pesticides have potential toxicity to humans and plants. They can cause pollution to water and soil as well. So more and more growers utilize biological control, an IPM strategies, to manage pests and insects while reducing the use of pesticides.?Adding LED lights in biological control?is one of the effective ways in reducing the use of pesticides. As known, LED grow lights are used as the supplemental lighting or the sole light source for commercial growing, contributing to better plant quality, higher yields, and year-round production. But the use of LED lights in pest management is rarely addressed. How do LED lights manage pest issues? Why LEDs but not other light sources? Find the answer in this post.

What are biocontrols

Biocontrols (biological controls) are methods that reduce the pest population by their natural enemies. Biocontrols are part of IPM (Integrated Pest Management), controlling pests with reduction of the use of pesticides. Predators, parasitoids, and pathogens are the natural enemies of plants-eat pests. Introducing certain natural enemies into your greenhouses or indoor growing rooms can significantly reduce the pest populations. Biological controls provide a possibility to manage pest issues without the use of pesticides or chemicals.

Why artificial lights are attractive to pests

Different pests have different phototactic behaviors, as well as the reasons of attraction towards light. Here are some common reasons for the attraction of pests to artificial lights. Firstly, pests are attracted by artificial light because they regard artificial lights as navigation. Before artificial light, pests keep themselves aligned with the help of the natural moon or stars at night. They take artificial light as navigation mistakenly, so they keep approaching artificial lights. The second reason is because some pests are sensitive to UV light.?Artificial UV lights?will mistake them for flowers or sources of food. Thirdly, pests may mistake artificial lights as mating signals. Some pests like fireflies emit light for mating.

Why LEDs

Using artificial lights for managing pests and incest is not a new idea. The ability of UV light to kill microbes has been known for more than a century. Bug zappers have been used for many years to attract flying insects. Besides, fluorescent lights are still widely used to solve pest issues. Compared to fluorescent and incandescent lights, LEDs have various advantages. High energy efficiency is the key reason for the broad selection of LED lights. To control pests effectively, artificial lights will be on for a long time. The long term operation of artificial lights consumes many electricity, consulting to tremendous energy costs. LED lights use at least 70% less energy than conventional lights, which helps you save your remarkable energy costs. Another reason for using LEDs is because?LED lights are programmable. This allows you to manage the pests with the most effective and efficient light spectrum, intensity, and photoperiod.?

What kind of light is attractive to pests

Unlike human eyes, pests and insects can see a broader band of spectrum, ranging from 253nm to 650nm, about the UV and ends of yellow light. Most pests see the wavelength range of 380nm to 420nm, the core range of?UV-A light, every well. Therefore, UV-A light is the most attractive light to pests. Except for wavelengths, pests have different attraction towards light of different brightness and heat. Brighter lights have a greater drawing distance to pests. Here is a short table about the light that is attractive to different pests and insects.

How LED lights manage pests

Similar to factors that LED grow lights affect plants, supplementing LED lights can manages and affects the behaviors and dispersal of pests and insects through providing different light intensities, colors, and lighting hours.

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