Pepper Weevil and Broad Mite Control on Bell Pepper, Fall 1996

Abstract

Abstract Transplants were set 6 Sep, 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 27 Sep, 4, 12, 18, 25 Oct, 1, 8 Nov 6, 13 and 24 Dec. The sprayer was outfitted with a single nozzle with a D-5 disk and #45 core and delivered 100 gpa at 60 psi. All plots were sprayed weekly with Bacillus thuringiensis for control of armyworm larvae. Fruit were harvested on 14, 26 Nov, 13, and 30 Dec and the number and weight of undamaged fruit were determined. On 18 Nov, 1 leaf from a terminal of each plant in each plot was examined for the presence of eggs and motile forms of the broad mite. On 22 Nov, each plant in each plot was rated 1-4 for increasing severity of foliar damaged by the broad mite. Fruit also were examined for the presence of oviposition scars on the outside of the fruit and for the presence of larval feeding damage caused by the pepper weevil inside the fruit.