By Clint Thompson
Georgia vegetable farmers must be aware that whitefly populations have spiked in recent weeks, according to Stormy Sparks, University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension vegetable entomologist. It’s a concern for producers preparing their fall crops.
“Whiteflies really jumped (recently). (This week’s rain) may slow them down. I had a patch of soybeans there on the station where last Wednesday I collected soybean leaves and didn’t notice any whiteflies. Monday I went out to collect soybean leaves and the first plant that you touch, whiteflies are everywhere. They’ve really jumped this last week,” Sparks said.
Whitefly infestations are significant because of their potential impact throughout the year. They typically migrate from winter vegetables to spring vegetables to agronomic crops, like cotton, to fall vegetables and back to winter vegetables. The buildup of whiteflies is concerning since their feeding injuries in vegetables can lead to virus transmission, including cucurbit leaf crumple virus, cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus, cucurbit chlorotic yellow virus, squash vein yellowing virus and tomato yellow leaf curl virus.
“It’s that time of year. Last year by mid-July they were going pretty good, but usually by Aug. 1, they’ve started building,” Sparks said. “Always Tift County, Colquitt County tend to be the worst for a variety of reasons.”