Live Pest Pressure at gardenbuddy.au/guide/live-pest-pressure/ tells you which pests have the weather on their side this week, at your own postcode, before you see any damage in the beds. Here is what it actually shows, how the score is built, and how to use it.
A minute and a half on what Live Pest Pressure shows and how the score works.
What it does and shows
Every day at 5:40am AEST, GardenBuddy.au works out a pressure score from zero to 100 for each of 34 Australian garden pests, for your postcode, for the next seven days. A high score means the conditions favour that pest right now. A low score means you can relax about it. It is a weighted indicator, not a guarantee that the pest is already in your garden.
The score is read like this:
- 80 to 100: perfect conditions, in peak season, for a pest that affects your crops. Inspect weekly, start prevention now.
- 60 to 79: conditions are good for the pest but one factor is off, for example it is out of its peak month. Keep an eye out, light preventive steps are worth it.
- 30 to 59: marginal. Weather is fine but out of peak season, or your climate zone is borderline. Worth noting, nothing urgent.
- Under 30: not shown at all. The pest is not active in your conditions today.
How the score is built
Each pest in the database carries four things: which climate zones it turns up in, its peak months on the southern hemisphere calendar, its temperature range, and whether it needs humidity to thrive. Those four get checked against tomorrow’s actual BOM forecast for your postcode. Climate zone match is required before anything else counts. On top of that, a forecast temperature inside the pest’s range adds the most weight, a temperature within three degrees of the range adds less, favourable humidity adds points, and being inside the pest’s peak month adds points too. Everything is clamped to the 0 to 100 scale, and a high score only happens when several of those factors line up together, not from one input alone.
Because it runs off tomorrow’s forecast, the score updates once a day, after the BOM feed refreshes each morning. It is weather based, not observation based, so it cannot see whether a pest has actually turned up on your plants today. That is what your own eyes, and the pest observation log, are for.
Why it matters
Most pest advice is generic: a calendar that says “aphids are common in spring” no matter where you garden or what the week’s weather is actually doing. Live Pest Pressure narrows that down to your postcode and the next seven days, so a warm, humid stretch that suits whitefly shows up as a rising score before whitefly show up on your brassicas. Acting on the forecast, rather than the damage, is the whole point. Netting or a preventive spray applied a few days early works a lot better than the same treatment applied after a population has already established.
Where to see it
Live Pest Pressure is a Pro feature. Free and Starter members with a postcode set still see a static “currently active this month” list, useful, but not tuned to the week’s actual weather. Every paid plan starts with a seven day, zero dollar trial, so you can see your own postcode’s live scores before paying anything.
- On the Pests page: logged in on Pro with a postcode set, a “High risk at your postcode” band appears at the top, listing up to eight pests scoring 60 or higher over the next seven days, each with its score. Click through for identification, prevention and organic treatment.
- On My Garden: your dashboard shows your top five matched pests, after matching against the actual crops in your beds. Only pests scoring 70 or higher, that also affect something you planted, make this list. It refreshes twice a day, at 6am and 6pm AEST.
How to use it
- Set your postcode in your GardenBuddy.au account so the forecast is yours, not a generic average.
- Check the Pests page or My Garden a few times a week, not just when something looks wrong.
- When a pest that affects one of your crops climbs into the 80s, act that week: inspect, set traps, put covers or netting on.
- When a score sits steady in the 50s to 70s for a few days, monitor and hand-remove anything you spot, no need to escalate.
- When a score drops after rain, for dry-loving pests like spider mites, that is a real result, not noise. Note it and move on.
- Always read the pest’s own page first. Organic treatments and prevention are listed for every pest; chemical options only where they are still legal for home gardens.
Honest limits
- It runs off tomorrow’s forecast, computed once a day around 5:40am AEST. A change in conditions today will not show until tomorrow’s run.
- Humidity is derived from rain probability, not measured dew point, so for fungal disease risk specifically, treat it as a rough proxy.
- The database covers 34 of the most common Australian vegetable garden pests. A few regional specialities are not in there yet. If a crop of yours is not in a pest’s list of affected crops, it will not show on your dashboard even if that pest is active in your area, so let the team know and they will look at adding it.
FAQ
Is a high score the same as an infestation?
No. It means conditions currently suit that pest. It is a prompt to go and look, not a report that the pest has already arrived.
Do I need to add my vegetables for this to work?
For the Pests page band, no, postcode is enough. For the My Garden top five, yes, it matches against the actual crops you have added, so add your beds first.
Is this the same as the Weekly Pest Alert email?
No. Live Pest Pressure is the day to day weather view, recomputed daily and shown on the Pests page and My Garden. The Weekly Pest Alert is a separate, once a week email that matches the season and your crops against the same 34 pest database, rather than tomorrow’s forecast. Pro members get both.
Related features
- Australian veg garden pest and remedy library
- Track pests and treatments
- Weekly Pest Alert
- My Garden dashboard
Set your postcode and see your own seven day pest forecast at gardenbuddy.au/guide/live-pest-pressure/.
