By Clint Thompson The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is not yet well established in Georgia. University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and small fruits pathologist Jonathan Oliver wants to keep that way. The psyllid vectors citrus greening disease (HLB), which has decimated Florida’s citrus production. Oliver encourages producers to scout their orchards regularly to avoid a similar fate happening in …
Sanitation Remains Key in Whitefly Control
By Clint Thompson Sanitation of vegetable crops susceptible to whiteflies remains a key management strategy for Florida producers. Hugh Smith, an associate professor of entomology and nematology at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, encourages growers to clean up their fields properly following harvest to reduce the risk of feeding damage and potential viruses. “If you don’t make …
High Insect Pressure Reported in Alabama
By Clint Thompson Insect pests continue to increase in numbers across Alabama. According to the Alabama Insect Pest Monitoring Report, as of Saturday, Aug. 21, moth numbers collected at 19 locations across the state continue to be high for fall armyworm, southern armyworm, tobacco budworm and squash vine borer. There were 1,230 fall armyworm moths, compared to 252 this time …
Bayer’s Expanded Movento MPC Label Boosts Management Options for Whiteflies
By Clint Thompson Dry weather in the Southeast is inevitable. Those conditions could bring a resurgence of whitefly pressure, says Roy Morris, senior technical sales rep at Bayer. “When it’s wet, although your plants are lush, you start getting some fungi and things that’ll naturally occur and take out the (whitefly) populations. When it’s hot and dry, they can turn …
Weed Management with Fumigants
By Nathan Boyd Fumigants are the cornerstone of pest management programs in most high-intensity plasticulture production systems. They are used to manage soil-borne pathogens, nematodes and weeds. Fumigants have been broadly adopted because they reduce pest populations prior to crop establishment and provide a means to control pests for which there are no other viable alternatives. In addition, fumigants enable …
Whitefly Populations Increasing in Georgia
By Clint Thompson Whitefly populations are on the rise in South Georgia. While their numbers are not overwhelming, they have increased in recent weeks, says Stormy Sparks, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension vegetable specialist. “Whiteflies have increased over the last week or so, not dramatically, but they’ve obviously increased. Phillip (Roberts) tells me in cotton there’s not high numbers, but …
Weed Identification: Identify Pests with New Tool From UF/IFAS
Proper weed identification is key in eradicating it from the landscape or a field. University of Florida/IFAS has developed a set of resources for homeowners and vegetable growers to follow to avoid misidentification. “If you don’t take the time to identify the weed first, often times you may treat it incorrectly,” said Chris Marble, associate professor of environmental horticulture at …
Hemp Alert: Alabama Growers Watch out for Corn Earworms
By Clint Thompson Alabama hemp producers need to be wary of high insect pressure across the region. Katelyn Kesheimer, Auburn University Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, said growers especially need to watch out for corn earworms. “The biggest thing that people need to be aware of that we’re dealing with right now is corn earworm. We started finding them in …
Lack of Consistency: Fumigation Erratic in Control of Weeds
By Clint Thompson Florida vegetable producers hoping to control weeds with just fumigation need to be mindful of its erratic effectiveness, says Ramdas Kanissery, a weed scientist at the University of Florida/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. “The thing with fumigation, what we have observed, there will be good effects on nematode suppression, but when it comes to weed …
Why the Increase? Alabama Extension Entomologist Talks Rise in Fall Armyworms
By Clint Thompson High infestations of fall armyworms may be a surprise to Alabama producers this summer, but they aren’t to Ayanava Majumdar, Extension Professor in Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University. “We had the trap numbers from the very beginning, and we knew this was coming,” Majumdar said. According to the most recent Alabama Extension Pest Monitoring Report, …