Soil and Foliar Treatments to Control Insects in Sweet Potatoes, 1993

Abstract

Sweet potatoes were planted on 22 Jun at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Experiment Station, Painter, VA. Each plot consisted of 3 rows 20 ft. long with 3 ft. spacing between rows. Plots were separated by an untreated guard row and replicated 6 times in a randomized, complete block design. Mocap treatments were applied and incorporated on 10 Jun to avoid phytotoxicity. Lorsban and Temik were applied and incorporated immediately prior to planting. Mocap and Lorsban were broadcast using a 6 flat fan nozzle boom backpack sprayer delivering 20 gal water/acre. Temik was applied in a 12 inch band using a hand-held shaker. Sevin foliar sprays were started on 14 Jul, after the first clickbeetles (wireworm adults) were caught in the black light trap at Painter. Clickbeetle light trap catches were used as a basis for determining dates for the Sevin threshold sprays. The Sevin schedule sprays were applied weekly from 14 Jul through 30 Aug. The Sevin threshold sprays were applied on 14 and 27 Jul, and 9 and 30 Aug. Foliar sprays were applied in 40 gal water/acre using the same sprayer described above. On 18 Oct, the center row of each plot was harvested and 25 market-sized roots were randomly selected to determine insect damage. Damage from wireworms, southern corn rootworms (Diabrotica) and Systena flea beetles is very similar and thus recorded and analyzed as a complex (WDS damage).