According to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, whitefly numbers remain low in most crops for this time of the season. But according to growers and scouts, adult populations have increased in multiple places, and nymphs are being observed in older tomato, eggplant and watermelon.
The spikes seen in some melon fields have led to cucurbit viruses. Populations will start moving around the area may cause additional problems on younger crops, as fall fields are destroyed.
Respondents in Homestead, Florida say whitefly adult and nymph counts are increasing around the field edges of beans and squash. Sporadic spikes have been observed in tomato.
Widespread whitefly pressure is being reported across all vegetables in the Manatee Ruskin area.
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