EFFICACY OF DIMILIN AGAINST CITRUS PEELMINER, 2006

Citrus peelminer causes significant downgrading of fresh market citrus by mining the rind of the fruit. In 2006, a field trial was conducted on ‘Melogold’ grapefruit in Lindsay, California, to compare the efficacy of two treatments of 10 oz Dimilin 2L and 3 treatments of 6.67 oz Dimilin 2L in combination with oil with an untreated check for control of citrus peelminer. An RCB design was used with 3 plots per treatment comprised of 5 rows by 15 trees (approx. 0.73 acres each). Treatments were randomized within three groups of 10 rows. Treatments were applied using an Aerofan D240 air blast sprayer calibrated to deliver 500 gpa at first sign of mining activity in the orchard. The first Dimilin treatments were applied on 28 Jun 2006, and subsequent treatments were applied approximately 3 wk apart on 20 Jul and 11 Aug. Sampling consisted of examination of all fruit within reach on 10 trees in the center row of each plot. The percentage of mined fruit was calculated for each plot. The data was analyzed using a two-way ANOVA with treatment and block as main effects. Treatment means were separated using LSD (P = 0.05).