Abstract
Water stress and N fertilization can have a profound effect on populations of phytophagous insects. While species and cultivar selection can identify plants that are resistant to common insect pests, cultural practices may further decrease the susceptibility to insect attacks. Six poinsettia and six chrysanthemum cultivars were grown under well-watered or water-deficient conditions, and three fertilizer regimes with low, medium, or high concentrations of N. Vegetative plant growth and longevity and fecundity of various insect pests on these plants were determined. Host plant suitability to insects was estimated by the quantity of foliar soluble protein. Low irrigation reduced leaf area and leaf and stem dry weights 36% to 41% in poinsettias and 26% to 28% in chrysanthemum. Leaf area and leaf dry weight increased linearly in response to increasing fertilizer concentrations in poinsettia and chrysanthemum. Cultivar-specific differences were found for all variables of vegetative growth in poinsettiasand chrysanthemum. Cultivar also strongly affected insect preference, development, and fecundity. Low irrigation significantly reduced insect survivorship of the silverleaf whitefly on poinsettias. On chrysanthemum, leafminers, thrips, and melon aphids were unaffected by irrigation or fertilizer treatments. Chrysanthemum cultivar choice strongly affected the number of insects or development time.
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