Under Glass: Greenhouse Pest Management · & plants (esp. seedlings, transplants, foliage, flowers,...
Transcript of Under Glass: Greenhouse Pest Management · & plants (esp. seedlings, transplants, foliage, flowers,...
Under Glass: Greenhouse Pest Management
Dr. Carol SutherlandExtension Entomologist, NMSU &
State Entomologist, NM Dept. Agriculture
Greenhouses & Hoop Houses---Tall or SmallWhatever You Can Imagine
Greenhouses & Hoop Houses: What Can They Do?• ‘Extend’ your growing/harvesting seasons---more yield, income potential
• Start seeds earlier, have transplants for the field; add a ‘short crop’?
• Greenhouses vs hoop houses---Size? Design? Construction costs? Durability? Ease of maintenance & repair? Costs to operate?
• Environmental control? None vs cooling, heating; air circulation
• Downside of ‘farming indoors’? Common pests? Management opportunities?
…If you plant it…
…they will come…
Deer, Elk, Wild Hogs, Javelinas, Cattle, Etc.
Obvious destroyers of greenhouses, hoop houses, plants, etc.
Besides obvious destruction, whatever is leftis likely contaminated with feces, microbes
FENCING! Multiple fence barriers?
Pest Management Practices---Dr. Sam Smallidge, NMSU, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Mice, Squirrels, Pack Rats, Rabbits, Etc.
Evidence of activity: Plant loss, gnawing, feces, finding animals, trails, entry holes
Impacts: Microbial contamination! Food poisoning! Produce losses! Hanta virus foryou in some areas; plague?
Avoidance requires constant monitoring, attention to maintenance, quick responses to any infestation
Pest Management Practices for Rodents, Rabbits---Dr. Sam Smallidge, NMSU, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Sowbugs & Pillbugs
Land-dwelling, air-breathing crustaceans with chewing jaws
Adults & immatures can feed on/in compost, soil organic matter& plants (esp. seedlings, transplants, foliage, flowers, fruits)
Both are actively crawling and feeding at night, dawn---whenmoisture levels are usually higher
Limit moisture & organic matter in infested areas. Omit mulch around plants ‘at risk’Irrigate in early morning; soil dries before sunset?Use drip or furrow irrigation, rather than sprinklers?Raised beds??
Hand picking ineffective; no traps; no magic pesticide here
Snails & Slugs
UC IPM Project
Wikipedia
TAMU
Brown garden snail
Decollate snail
Common garden slug
Air-breathing mollusks; muscular mouths with rasp-like radula; bodiescovered with slime; muscular ‘foot’.
Brown garden snail et al. can overwinter in topsoil; mulch is protective.
BGS and slugs are plant feeders; decollate snail is omnivorous
Rasp holes in foliage, fruit, stems; leave shiny trails of slime
Decollate snail may feed on slugs, other snails but take years to limittheir reproductive capacity, numbers; can feed on plants, too
Get Certifier’s opinion/approval for othertreatments: copper bands, coppersulfate, iron phosphate
Consider Using Traps to Detect/Monitor Pests?
Thrips Leafhoppers Aphids Whiteflies
Fungus gnats Psyllids Leafminers
Remember: you must be able to identify the pest of interest!
ThripsVery tiny < 1/16” long; like folds,
crevices in foliage, flowers, buds
Immatures white; adults yellow,
tan to brown
Wings fringed; only 1 mandible
Rasp and suck plant sap; kill cells
Transmit pathogens—e.g.tomato
spotted wilt---dirty mouthparts
Control difficult to impossible….
Tomato Spotted Wilt VirusOn Tomato, Pepper, More---Requires Lab Analysis to
Verify
Destroy suspect
plants
Viruses have no
controls
Thrips Management
• Parasitoids? Thripobius luteus, commercially available but efficacy is ??
( snazzy, but save your money?)
• Predators? Conserve these (outdoor situations); permit entry into GH?
Green lacewings---easiest to find/see
Minute pirate bugs
• Plants affected by viruses?---pull them out & dispose 12
Common Aphids---usually cool weather pestsSucking, needle-like mouthparts
Host specificity: broad to narrow, by sp.
Weaken & wilt plants; can kill plants
Honeydew makers! Ants et al. arrive
Potential plant virus vectors (dirty mps)
Many have female only colonies
Live birth! 8-12 daily/30 days as adult
1 week from birth to ‘Mom’
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Pepper Viruses & Aphid Vectors
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Pepper Mottle Alfalfa Mosaic Cucumber Mosaic
Winged aphids
can take virus
from one field
or host plant to
another
Wingless aphids
can transmit
virus within fields,
among hosts
‘Dirty mouthparts’
Aphids in the GH or Hoop House?
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Forceful streams of water?
Predators, parasitoids?
Neem, neem oil, horticultural oil products?
NO TREATMENT FOR VIRUSES IN
PLANTS---OTHER THAN PULLING !
Aphidius ervi (Braconidae)
‘Mummy’
Green lacewing
Beet Leafhoppers – Curlytop Virus Vectors
London Rocket
(mustard weed) Beet Leafhopper---3mm long
Beet Leafhopper picks up Curlytop Virus from weeds & transmits it to popular veggies
Yes, curlytop CAN occur in GHs & hoop houses---from transplants
Spinach Beans Beets Peppers Melons, squash
Managing Beet Leafhoppers, Curly Top?
Yellow sticky cards---for detecting only
really have to identify pest correctly;
CANNOT ‘trap them out’
Insecticides? Not effective; hoppers can
transmit pathogens faster than
insecticides can act
Eliminate Weeds---reservoirs for disease;
staging place for new pests
Plant Extra Plants---destroy infected ones;
still have enough for your crop
Tomato/Potato Psyllid - Bactericera cockerelli
Native to North America (Central America and north)
Sucking mouthparts; ‘psyllid yellows’ may be actual disease! Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum
Since 2009-2010, serious pest in potatoes in western U.S.; also pests of tomato, peppers, eggplant (?) (Solanaceae)
Life cycle = about 4-5 weeks at summer temps.
Females may lay 30-250+eggs/each (inserted into host plant)
Abt. 1/16”; appears as black dot
Eggs minute,stalked
Nymphs flat,
slow moving
Series of nymphs, very flattenedNymphs on undersideof leaves
Potato---Especially
Ugh –ly, yucky taste, too
More Impacts of Tomato/Potato Psyllid
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Vein greening in tomato (CO) Honeydew globs from psyllid
feedingtomato & pepper
Vegetable Leafminer(Diptera, Agromyzidae, Liriomyza spp.)
Damaging Stage: larva mines foliage
Adult fly: abt. 1/16” long; yellow &black; red compound eyes
Maggot: 1/8” long at maturity
Evidence: minute white dots on foliage; serpentine, silvery mineyellowish maggot in mine
Numerous mines in foliage can cause leaf loss,fruit sunburn, decreased growth or fruiting
Variety of natural enemies for larvae; ignore?Or not?
Insecticide Resistance IS a possibility
Whiteflies: Greenhouse, Silverleaf, Sweet Potato • Adults minute (2mm), white, ‘moth-like,’
‘swirling flight,’ sucking mps; many hosts
• Nymphs immobile, scale-like, sucking mps
• Chlorosislethal; honeydew; sooty mold; virus vectors
• Common vegetable hosts (among others) include:
Cucurbitaceae: squash, melons, cukes, pumpkins
Solanaceae: tomato, eggplant, potato, peppers
Malvaceae: okra
Fabaceae: beans
Asteraceae: lettuce et al.
Scott Bauer USDA-ARS; Silverleaf wf
David Cappaert, MI State Univ; Greenhouse wfAPS.net; Bemesia tabaci complex ‘pupa’
Whitefly Identification: Magnifying Glass!
Pay attention to the Greenhouse WF & Sweet Potato WF (Silverleafwill be essentially identical to Silverleaf)
ID of adults = Self explanatory
ID of mature nymphs/’pupae’ or cast skins (exuviae):
Greenhouse WF: pill-box like with vertical sides; projecting‘filaments’ elongated, readily visible on edges.
Sweet Potato WF (essentially the same as Silverleaf): thickerin the middle, thinner around all edges; no verticalsides; short, sparse setae around edges.
Source: Whiteflies in the Greenhouse, ENTFACT-456, Jen White.
Whitefly Management?There are natural enemies commercially available, e.g.
However, beneficials can be killed by insecticides, including ‘organic ones.’
Encarsia formosa Eretmocerus eremicus Delphastus catalinae
Trade Name (e.g.)
Active Ingredient or Category
OMRI? Effect on Biologicals
Botanigard Beauvariabassiana fungus
Yes Relatively harmless
AZA-Direct, Azatrol, Neem
Azadirachtin, neem
Yes Somewhat harmful
M-Pede Insecticidal soap
Yes Harmless to adults
Source: Whiteflies in the Greenhouse, ENTFACT-456, Jen White.
Remember: No control ofvirus-infected plants ispossible; pull them out &dispose
READ THE LABEL FIRST!
CALL YOUR CERTIFIER FIRST TO CONSULT, GET APPROVAL FOR USE!
Fungus Gnats
Richard Leung David Caeppart Whitney Cranshaw uga1455188 MSchmidt
Whitney Cranshaw
Whitney Cranshaw
Adults annoying; larvae feed on soil organic matter, small roots
Both can be very abundant; contaminate produce
Control? Azadirachtin (Aza-Direct, Azatrol), Beauveria bassiana (Naturalis-O),Pyrethrins (Pyganic)---READ THE LABEL! CALL YOUR CERTIFIER FIRST! THESEPRODUCTS CAN HARM OTHER BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS IN YOUR GH!
Flea Beetles(Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Several Genera)
Damaging stage: adult (chewing); <1/8”; wary Evidence: tiny chewed holes in leaves
Plants can outgrow damage
Flea Beetle Control*---if needed at allActive Ingredient Example, Trade
NameOMRI?
Azadirachtin Azatrol, Yes
Beauveria bassiana Mycotrol-O, Naturalis
Yes
Pyrethrins Pyganic Yes (only 2 formulations are OMRI approved—EC 1.4 & EC 5.0)
Spinosad Entrust Yes
*Realize that, if you have other biological control agents active in the growing area, they may be harmed by application of these materials.
READ THE LABEL FIRST!
CALL YOUR CERTIFIER FIRST TO CONSULT, GET APPROVAL FOR USE!
Cutworms & ArmywormsAdults---night flying, many
species, gray, tan, brown; ‘miller
moths’
Larvae---dull colors, plump;
feed at night (chewing mps),
hide in soil litter & mulch by day
Beet Armyworm
Damaging Stage = Larva, chewing pest; bare,2-tone green, lateral ‘stripe’
Evidence on plant: ‘windows’ in leaves; blackgritty frass; fine silk or web; larva!
Many potential hosts among veggies
Adult active at night
Generalist predators & parasitoids will attackimmatures, but may not control numerous BAWs
Beet Armyworm Controls*---If needed
Active Ingredient Trade Name, e.g. OMRI?
Bacillus thuringiensis** Dipel, Biobit, Deliver, Agree, some others
Yes
Azadiractin Azatrol, Neemix Yes
Spinosad Entrust Yes
*Be aware that, except for Bacillus…, use of these other controls may harm otherBiological agents in the greenhouse
**affects many species of Lepidoptera, both moths and butterflies, but not all
READ THE LABEL FIRST!
CALL YOUR CERTIFIER FIRST TO CONSULT, GET APPROVAL FOR USE!
Cutworm, Armyworm (et al.) Management
Remove weeds from garden area
before planting (alternate food sources)
Kill armyworms & cutworms as you
find them
‘Solarization’ or ‘solar
soil sterilization’ over
previous winter or when
you’re not planting soon
May not be applicable
for GH & hoop house
planting
Cutworm Control*---if needed
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Active Ingredient Trade Name, e.g. OMRI?
Azadirachtin Aza-Direct Yes
Beauveria bassiana Naturalis Yes
Pyrethrins Pyganic Yes
Spinosad Entrust Yes
*Use of these products may affect biological control agents in the GH
READ THE LABEL FIRST!
CALL YOUR CERTIFIER FIRST TO CONSULT, GET APPROVAL FOR USE!
Spider MitesNearly microscopic; 8-legs; slow-moving; fine silk? Dusty undersides of leaves?
Paired mouthparts small enough to puncture/kill cells; ‘silvering’death
Hot, dry, dusty conditions favor these; numerous hosts
Green Light L&G Spray (spinosad), Trilogy (azadirachtin), M-Pede (soap) areOMRI approved but can harm other biological control agents. READ THE LABEL& CALL YOUR CERTIFIER! THESE ARE REALLY TOUGH PESTS TO CONTROL!
AntsVariety of species; smallest abt. 3mm;
largest abt. 6-7mm; black , reddish brown or combination; ‘workers’ always wingless; reproductive ants often larger than workers; reproductives winged initially (mating only), but remove wings later
Most species can bite (with jaws), many also sting (with stingers)
Social insects with very numerous workers
Impact: Microbial contamination; some chewing damage on fruit, honeydew;annoyance, stinging; in compost?
Harvester ant
Pyramid antFire ant
Naturalis, Pyganicmight be helpful
READ THE LABEL
CALL YOUR CERTIFIER!
One More Pest?TermitesFeed on wood, wood products---e.g. stakes,
posts (etc.) used in construction, raised beds, buried wood/cellulose debris or old stumps
Life Cycle: most likely termites will be ‘subterranean’ spp.; attack wood from soilcontacts, tunnel wood, ‘mud tubes’
Impacts: chewing jaws on workers, tunnelingweaken wood, wood failure
Replace wood with metal? Pipe? Sheet metal?
We Have Covered Elements of Integrated Pest
Management
Your Tools:
• Cultural:
– What sells? What cultivars are best adapted to your area?
– Water & Soil test. Apply ‘just enough’ soil amendments
• Physical/Mechanical:
– To mulch? Or NOT to mulch? (consider pest presence)
– Eliminate weeds; hand pick pests; strong stream of water, other?
– Sanitation---including GAPS (Nancy Flores, NMSU Food Technology)
• Natural Enemies: conserve/support; introduce?
• Insecticides: OMRI! READ LABELS! CERTIFIER APPROVAL!
• Documentation: Spend ‘quality time’ scouting your crops. Record observations,
treatments, results; pest IDs, calling your certifier for help…36
…a combination of biological, chemical and cultural pest control methods* that reduce
pest damage to acceptable levels while maintaining environmental integrity---guided by
National Organic Program principles & practices & NMDA-Organic Program.
Hoop House Construction for New Mexico:12-ft. x 40-ft. Hoop House
Del Jimenez, Ron Walser, Reynaldo Torres, 2005, NMSU CES Circular 606
Quote from the end of p. 4:
“By choosing selective low-profile fruits and vegetables that withstand cold temperatures, it
is possible to grow most of the year without the use of heating equipment and electricity.
These structures, with special plastic covers, can keep inside temperatures 4º to 6º F
warmer than outside temperatures, and with a row cover made from specially improved
webbings over the crop, another 4º to 6º F increase can be obtained.
With these structures one can make farming of food crops affordable, profitable and fun all year around….”
Row Covers? Can Retain Heat, Insulate Plants
Order this material from on-line sources
When all else fails…..check out Amazon.com
My Contact Info:
• Dr. Carol Sutherland
• Extension Plant Sciences
• N140 Skeen Hall, NMSU
• Las Cruces, NM