HOSMERIT
IOWA 3OT PESTICIDE MANUAL EXAM QUESTIONS &
CORRECT ANSWERS 2025
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 - ANSWER 1.4 billion; 3.3 billion
Define integrated pest management - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER Cultural
Mechanical
Host resistance
Biological
Regulatory
chemical
Define pesticide - ANSWER Any material used to kill, attract, repel, regulate, or interrupt
growth and mating of pests, or to regulate plant growth
Contact pesticides - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER Applied prior to weed seed germination.
,Little to no effect on weeds that have emerged
Postemergence - ANSWER Applied to actively growing plants.
Work best in sunlight, high humidity, good soil moisture
Selective pesticide - ANSWER Control only certain types or stages of pests while leaving
nontarget organisms unaffected.
Example would be herbicide that kills broadleaf weeds and not turfgrass
Nonselective pesticide - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 -
ANSWER These codes help applicators quickly identify the mode of action by looking at the
group number.
Varying this can help reduce resistance
State four ways to minimize pesticide drift - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 -
ANSWER 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
Most groundwater in Iowa has a pH between - ANSWER 6.5 and 8.0
pesticide application methods for leaves - ANSWER Foliar spray
Sprayed directly onto plant leaves
Wiper application
Pesticide applied to selected vegetation through a rope-wick device
pesticide application methods for soil - ANSWER Surface soil application
Applied directly to the bare ground in the target area
Soil drench
Pouring a diluted pesticide mixture on the soil surface around the base of the plant
Soil injection
Placed a pesticide under pressure 4-6 inches below the soil surface, usually encircling
ornamental
pesticide application methods for trunk - ANSWER Bark spray
Pesticide applied to the woody portions of the ornamental plant
Basal spray
Applied only to the lower portion of a plant's stem or trunk
IOWA 3OT PESTICIDE MANUAL EXAM QUESTIONS &
CORRECT ANSWERS 2025
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 - ANSWER 1.4 billion; 3.3 billion
Define integrated pest management - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER Cultural
Mechanical
Host resistance
Biological
Regulatory
chemical
Define pesticide - ANSWER Any material used to kill, attract, repel, regulate, or interrupt
growth and mating of pests, or to regulate plant growth
Contact pesticides - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER Applied prior to weed seed germination.
,Little to no effect on weeds that have emerged
Postemergence - ANSWER Applied to actively growing plants.
Work best in sunlight, high humidity, good soil moisture
Selective pesticide - ANSWER Control only certain types or stages of pests while leaving
nontarget organisms unaffected.
Example would be herbicide that kills broadleaf weeds and not turfgrass
Nonselective pesticide - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 -
ANSWER These codes help applicators quickly identify the mode of action by looking at the
group number.
Varying this can help reduce resistance
State four ways to minimize pesticide drift - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 - ANSWER 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 -
ANSWER 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
Most groundwater in Iowa has a pH between - ANSWER 6.5 and 8.0
pesticide application methods for leaves - ANSWER Foliar spray
Sprayed directly onto plant leaves
Wiper application
Pesticide applied to selected vegetation through a rope-wick device
pesticide application methods for soil - ANSWER Surface soil application
Applied directly to the bare ground in the target area
Soil drench
Pouring a diluted pesticide mixture on the soil surface around the base of the plant
Soil injection
Placed a pesticide under pressure 4-6 inches below the soil surface, usually encircling
ornamental
pesticide application methods for trunk - ANSWER Bark spray
Pesticide applied to the woody portions of the ornamental plant
Basal spray
Applied only to the lower portion of a plant's stem or trunk
