Armyworm and Pepper Weevil Control on Bell Pepper in West-Central Florida, Spring 1995

Abstract

Abstract Transplants were set 14 Mar, 12 inches apart on 8-inch-high and 32-inch-wide beds of EauGallie fine sand covered with white polyethylene mulch. Each plot consisted of a single row of 10 plants with rows on 5 ft centers. Treatments were replicated 4 times in a RCB design and were applied with a 2.5 gal, hand-held CO2-powered sprayer on 7, 13, 20 Apr, 4, 11, 18, 25 May, 1, 9, 14, 21, 29 Jun and 6 July. The sprayer was outfitted with a single nozzle with a D-5 disk and #45 core and delivered 100 gpa at 60 psi. The Neemix 4.5% formulation was inadvertently substituted for the 0.25% formulation for the first three applications. On 16 May, each plot was rated 1 to 12 for increasing defoliation due to armyworm feeding using the Horsfall-Barratt scale. Fruit were harvested on 24 May, 12, 26 Jun and 10 July and the number and weight of undamaged fruit and the number of fruit damaged by beet armyworm larvae were determined. Fruit with slight feeding damage only on the stem or calyx were considered marketable. Fruit with either slight or severe damage on the fruit wall were considered unmarketable. Fruit also were examined for the presence of oviposition scars on the outsides of the fruit and for the presence of larval feeding damage on the insides of the fruit caused by the pepper weevil.