Aluminum Foil and White Polyethylene Mulches to Repel Aphids and Control Watermelon Mosaic1

Abstract

Aluminum foil and white polyethylene plastic soil mulches were tested as repellents of aphid vectors of watermelon mosaic virus 1 in 2 field experiments at Immokalee and Felda, Florida. Aluminum repelled aphids more effectively when all, rather than half, the rows were mulched. More aphids were trapped over white poly, ethylene than over bare ground, but white was attractive to some aphid species and not to others. Vine cover reduced the exposed area of the mulch surfaces when they might have been most effective in reducing the incidence of watermelon mosaic. The onset of mosaic epidemic was delayed 5 days and 20–21 days in separate tests when aluminum was applied to all rows.