Foliar Sprays to Control Insects on Fall Tomatoes, 1994

Abstract

Abstract Tomatoes were transplanted on 26 Jul at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Painter, VA. Each plot consisted of a single 25 ft row with 5 ft spacing, bordered on each side by an untreated guard row, and replicated four times in a randomized, complete block design. Treatments were applied on the dates indicated in the table using a 3 hollow cone nozzle boom backpack sprayer delivering 45 gal water/acre at 40 psi. A 6-ft section (30 sq ft) of each plot was flagged off for hand harvesting. Fruit at the “breaker” stage or riper was harvested on 29 Sept and 20 Oct. Numbers of marketable and worm-damaged fruit and calculated yields/acre for the combined two harvests are recorded in the table. Damage from all three worm species is similar and no attempt was made to separate the damage according to species. Worm pressure was moderate to heavy with peak moth flights occurring in mid-Aug through mid-Sept, as determined by the black light trap at Painter, VA. Dimethoate and AgriMek were applied for the first spray on the plots indicated in the table to control leaf miners. XenTari was applied on the remaining spray dates on these plots because the leaf miner population declined to well below threshold levels after 6 Sept.