B3o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 7,1981
Apple growers fight mites
(Continued (rom Page 827)
depends on withholding miticides
as long as possible to give the
Stethrous predator time to become
well-established.
If you treat too soon, you may
reduce lady beetle numbers to a
point where they can’t provide
effective biological control. But if
Carlton Filer of Filer Orchards, Wyoming, Del. poses beside
load of fresh apples. Some will be sold through local stores,
others may end up in England. South America or Japan.
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13.8 Ft. 144 4 1453 10.3 14.3 *870.00
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13.8 Ft. 146 6 2085 15.3 19.3 *1,173.00
19.1 Ft 194 4 2883 10.3 15.8 *1,414.001
19.1 Ft. 195 5 3488 12.8 18.3 *1,654.00
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19.1 Ft. 197 7 4698 17.8 23.3 ♦2,135.00
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Prices Shown Are For Cash. FOB Manheim, PA K.D.
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could cause crop losses.
To guard against this happening,
entomologists have established a
population threshold for the mites.
As long as numbers remain below
that level, the crop is considered
safe from economic injury. The
scientists also know how many
Stethorus are 'eded for
i|| (For More Information, Call or Send Coupon)
satisfactory biological control.
Routine scouting is required over
the growing season to maintain a
count of both insects. Graustem’s
assistant Joanne Whithead trained
and supervised the scouts needed
for the Delaware pilot program
IPM worked so well in 1980 that
this year the program was ex
panded to include a total of eight
orchard blocks, all using in
tegrated pest management
practices. Blocks ranged in size
from 15 to 40 acres, averaging
around 25 to 30 acres. Most of the
trees involved were red delicious,
the variety most susceptible to
mites.
Before adoption ot the IPM
program, most blocks in the Smith
and Pifer orchards averaged three
to four miticide applications a
season. This year, under IPM,
even blocks that did require
treatment needed only one or two
sprays, thanks to superior
predator control. This represents a
savings of about $8 per acre per
spray m chemical costs, Graustem
estimates.
One 15-acre block with a history
of severe mite problems (including
resistance to miticides) was
treated six times m 1980 under a
conventional pest control schedule
with only marginal results. Last
summer, under IPM, that same
block required only one and one
half treatments for excellent
control. This represents a savings
in chemicals alone of about $36 an
acre, or $540.
Graustem is quick to credit the
program’s success to the skillful
management of Smith and Fifer.
Both did an excellent job of
pruning to permit better spray
coverage when chemicals were
used. And foliar feeding may have
helped trees become more tolerant
of low-level mite infestations.
When they did spray, both
growers used fungicides and in
secticides known to have limited
. Sons, Bridgevjlle, Del.
checks over fresh-picked apples. Firm fresh-packs 10 to
20,000 bushels of apples a year, and sends another 100.000
to the processor.
toxcity to the Stethorus predator.
The result of their efforts was a 50-
percent reduction in miticide
sprays in some orchard blocks last
summer and no miticides at all in
others.
Looking back, Charles Smith
admits that at first he was pretty
nervous about leaving the mites
alone at the start of the season
while Stethorus numbers grew,
"it’s always been the practice of
our farm to spray as soon as you
see mites,” he says. But though he
had some anxious moments
waiting for the beetle to take over,
he’s glad now that he did.
"The scouting saved me at least
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two sprays on my apples this
year,” says Smith. Scouting is a
big part of pest management with
field crops on the Smith farm, but
applying the concept to apples was
a new idea. He now wholeheartedly
supports the program and plans to
use a scout on all lus apple acreage
next year.
Fifer is equally pleased. "When
we first heard about Penn State’s
apple mite program, we were
spending a lot of money on
miticides and only one was really
working. So we were ready to try
something else," he says. “The
program really paid off for us this
year. We’ll definitely do it again.”
See
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