CONTROL OF PICKLEWORM ON YELLOW CROOKNECK SUMMER SQUASH, 2005

Pickleworm is a serious pest of squash, cucumber and cantaloupe in south Florida. Larvae are not subject to insecticidal control once in the fruit, so must be controlled either in the bloom or while in transit. For this trial, greenhouse grown seedlings were transplanted to the field on 25 Mar on raised beds covered with polyethylene mulch. Water and fertilizer were provided through drip tape. Twelve beds 250 ft in length were spaced 6 ft apart with 10-inch plant spacing within the row. Nova was sprayed weekly on all plots except the untreated check for disease control. A RCB design was used with nine treatments, four replications, and 35-ft-long plots. Each replicate consisted of a set of three beds with the center left untreated to serve as the untreated check. Ten plants in the center of each plot were selected for weekly harvest from 25 Apr to 30 May. Blooms were also removed weekly from the remaining non-harvested plants in each plot to check for presence of larvae and damage. A high-clearance sprayer was used operating at 180 psi and 2.3 mph with the spray delivered through two vertical booms using yellow Albuz hollow cone nozzles that applied 10 gpa each. Two nozzles on each boom were used when the plants were small with three additional nozzles on 18 Apr and a top center nozzle added on 5 May, maintaining product rate per acre constant by decreasing concentration to compensate for increased volume. Flower buds were sampled four times, on 21 Apr and 2, 10, and 17 May. Fruit was harvested 6 times, on 25 and 29 Apr. and 9, 16, 23 and 30 May. Data were subjected to ANOVA and means were separated using LSD (P = 0.05).