MANAGEMENT OF THE SILVERLEAF WHITEFLY AND LEAFMINERS ON FRESH MARKET TOMATOES WITH SOIL INSECTICIDE APPLICATIONS, SPRING 2004

On 11 Mar, transplants were set 18 inches apart on raised beds of EauGallie fine sand covered with black polyethylene mulch. Plots were three, 15-ft-long rows on 3.5-ft aisles and 5-ft centers and were irrigated by a seepage sub-irrigation system. Treatments were replicated four times in a RCB design. Treatments were applied on 11 Mar to each plant in 4 ozs of water. Because of a heavy population of southern armyworm larvae, applications of DiPel DF (2 lb product/acre) or XenTari (2 lb product/acre) were alternated weekly. The number of plants in each plot with definite symptoms of whitefly-vectored geminivirus, primarily tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), were recorded weekly. The numbers of eggs and sessile nymphs (second, third and fourth instars) of the silverleaf whitefly were counted weekly on the terminal leaflet from the seventh eighth leaf counting from the top of each of ten plants in the center row of each plot. The number of leafmines caused by feeding of Liriomyza trifolii were counted weekly during a 1 minute search of each plot. Data were subjected to ANOVA and means were separated using LSD (P ≤ 0.05).