INSECTICIDAL CONTROL OF PEPPER WEEVIL AND EFFECTS ON BROAD MITE, JALAPEÑO PEPPER, 2007

Pepper weevil is the major pest of all pepper varieties in the southern parts of the US, damaging fruit primarily through larval feeding. Control is difficult due in part to the inaccessibility of all but the adult stage to insecticide sprays. For this field trial, greenhouse-raised pepper plants were transplanted on 5 Apr at 18 inch spacing in single rows on a set of 3 beds, 240 ft in length and covered with polyethylene film mulch. Approximately 25 % of the fertilizer was preplant soil incorporated (granular 15-0-15) with the remainder applied as liquid 8-0-8 delivered by drip irrigation. Each bed was divided into 4 plots 60 ft long and the 3 treatments assigned across the 3 beds 4 times in a RCBD. A high clearance sprayer was used operating at 200 psi and 2.3 mph with the spray delivered through two vertical booms using yellow Albuz® hollow cone nozzles that applied 10 gpa each. Both May and Jun applications were conducted with 4 nozzles that delivered 40 gpa. Applications were made 16, 21, 25, 30 May and 1, 5, 8, 13, 18 Jun. Pepper weevil damage was monitored 29 May and 4, 12, 19 Jun by counting fallen fruit and fallen flowers from 10 plants per plot collected by fixing a barrier of wood lathing onto the plastic. All fruit 2.5 inches or more in length was harvested 15 and 22 Jun from 20 plants located centrally in each plot. No fruit of harvestable size was available from any plot in replicate 3 during the entire experiment and therefore was not included in the harvest analysis. Fruit was weighed and then cut open to determine if weevil larvae and/or larval feeding damage were present. Broad mite damage was evaluated as light = less than 33% of whorls with visible damage and less than 10% with severe curling, and severe = more than 67% of whorls with visible damage or more than 33 % with severe curling. Data were subjected to ANOVA, and means separated by Fisher’s Protected LSD, P = 0.05.