INSECTICIDAL CONTROL OF PEPPER WEEVIL ON JALAPENO PEPPER, 2001

Pepper weevil is a key pest of all pepper varieties in Florida, as well as in the American Southwest, Mexico, and Central America. Because of the inaccessibility of immature stages within the pepper fruit, the few effective alternatives for controlling adults must often be combined in rotation to provide season-long control. For this trial, greenhouse-raised pepper plants were transplanted on 27 Feb at 10-inch spacing in single rows on two sets of three plastic-mulched beds 240 ft in length. Water and fertilizer were provided through Netafim drip tape with 12-inch emitter spacing. The center bed in each set of three was left untreated to serve as a source of weevils. Each treated bed was divided into plots 30 ft long to which treatments were assigned in an RCB design with four replications. Plants designated for treatment with Avaunt or Lannate were sprayed in eight weekly applications beginning 11 Apr. Vydate or Cryolite was applied in weekly rotation over this same period. Actara at 3 oz/acre was applied four times on 11 and 25 Apr, and 9 and 24 May. Actara at 4 oz/acre and Capture were applied three times on 11 and 25 Apr and 9 May, each followed by two applications of Vydate on 24 and 30 May. Calypso was applied on 11, 18, 25 Apr and 1 May followed on 9, 15, 24 and 30 May by Vydate, applied invariably at 0.75 lb (AI)/acre. Applications were made with a high-clearance sprayer operating at 200 psi through two vertical booms, each fitted with two ceramic yellow Albuz hollow-cone nozzles to deliver a total of 44 gpa. Seven adult weevils were found in the course of a pretreatment count made on 10 Apr from 60 randomly selected plants across the trial area. Pepper weevil damage was monitored by collecting fallen fruit from both sides of 21 plants per plot on 23 and 30 Apr and 8, 14, 21, and 29 May. On 21 May and 6 Jun, all fruit 2.5 inches or more in length was harvested and weighed from the same 21 plants/plot monitored for dropped fruit. Weight of marketable fruit was determined by dissecting a random sample of up to 100 fruit per plot if available to find the percentage of infected fruit with weevils and adjusting the total weight accordingly.