Melon Aphid Control with Confidor, 1993

Pumpkin was direct seeded in Calloway silt loam soil on raised beds with 80 inch spacing on 1 Jul at the ASU Research Farm. Plots were 50 ft long, 3 beds wide with 20 ft alleys separating plots. Treatments included applications at planting (AP) or 15 days later; these were either a soil applied sidedress (SD) or a foliar application (F). AP applications were made in a 8 inch band on top of the beds and lightly incorporated ca 1 inch prior to planting. The foliar application was applied using a CO2 charged backpack sprayer calibrated to deliver 20 gal/acre at 40 psi through a single hollow cone nozzle. SD applications were made using this sprayer calibrated to deliver 0.69 gal/1000 ft of row. The nozzle was attached to a knife that cut a 1-2 inch deep furrow ca 6 inches from the base of one side of plants. The furrow was covered using a rolling cultivator. All plots received a sidedress of liquid fertilizer (32-0-0); insecticide was included in the fertilizer mixture in one treatment. Application of SD insecticide in water was made on the same side of the plant in the fertilizer application zone. Soil temperature at a 4 inch depth at the time of the SD application was 92°F. The pH values of the Confidor spray mixtures in fertilizer and water were 5.8 and 7.8, respectively. Aphid population densities were determined by examining 2 leafs, 7 to 10 inch diameter, on 5 randomly selected plants/plot.