180
-Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26,2002
Horti Country
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Tim Elkner
Lancaster County
horticulture Agent
INSECT AND
DISEASE MANAGEMENT
IN VEGETABLE
TRANSPLANTS
Pest management for vege
table transplant production is
an integrated process and in
cludes sanitation, sound cul
tural practices, the use of
resistant cultivars (where
possible), and finally, proper
use of the correct pesticide.
Your pest management
program should be starting
now in the greenhouse. Begin
the season with a clean,
weed-free disinfected green
house. This means clearing
the growing area of any plant
debris, weeds, and any dis
carded flats or tools. After
cleanup, wash and disinfect
empty benches, potting areas,
storage shelves, tools, and
leftover cell packs and flats
that you plan to reuse.
Your disinfecting solution
can contain any of the sani
tizing products such as
Green-Shield, Physan 20,
Triathlon, Zero Tol, or chlo
rine bleach (10 percent solu
tion). Be sure to follow the
manufacturer’s directions
when using any commer
cially prepared materials.
If you are using a 1 to 9
bleach solution, remember
that it requires a 30-minute
soak in order to be effective.
Also, while chlorine bleach is
an effective sanitizer, please
note that there will be a 50
percent reduction in strength
of a chlorine solution after
just two hours. Therefore,
you should prepare a new so
lution each time you plan to
sanitize. This includes a new
solution after lunch if you
started working in the morn
ing.
Once you have the growing
area and equipment sani
tized, be sure to avoid recon
tamination. Dirty hose
nozzles or tools can contami
nate potting soil and the gen
eral growing area. Be sure
that everything brought into
the area is clean! The floor or
soil in the growing area is a
good source of insects and
diseases. Do not stand on the
benches after they have been
cleaned as you can easily
move diseases up from the
floor on your shoes. Use
hooks to keep your hose
nozzle off the floor. Ideally,
grow your transplants off the
floor as well, either on
benches or pallets.
The floor in your green
house should be well drained
and cleaned before plants are
started there. Some growers
have taken to covering the
entire floor with black fiber
cloth to both prevent weed
growth and make clean up
easier after transplant pro
duction. Once dry, plant and
soil residues are easily swept
up and removed.
Does your growing area
have good air movement?
Circulating air not only dis
tributes heat more evenly but
can also reduce condensation
in the greenhouse. Consider
installing a horizontal air
flow (HAF) system in your
transplant production area.
I’ve heard growers ask if
allowing the greenhouse to
“freeze” for several days in
cold weather means that
insect pests will be killed. No,
according to Alan Michael,
our regional ornamental spe
cialist. Heat is much more ef-
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fective for pest destruction.
For example, heat has been
shown to be more effective
for the control of thrips, ac
cording to Leanne Pundt of
the University of Connecti
cut. In one study, high tem
perature (104 degrees F)
combined with very low hu
midity (less than 10 percent)
for three to four days killed
most adult thrips. However,
your greenhouse must be
completely weed-free for this
method to work.
If you have constant thrips
problems, this control
method might be something
to try this summer.
Finally, always use
disease-free media for trans
plant production. If using
soil, be sure it is pasteurized
before you bring it into the
growing area. Successful soil
pasteurization requires 30
minutes at 180 degrees F. Be
sure to frequently sanitize
and maintain clean areas
where soil is mixed and pots
are filled. Ideally, you will
have separate areas if you are
producing both vegetable
transplants and ornamentals.
Bringing cuttings of flower
ing plants into the vegetable
area can introduce pests such
as thrips and diseases such as
tobacco spotted wilt virus
(TSWV). Look at your avail
able space(s) and plan ac
cordingly.
Proper disease control in
the greenhouse starts with
correct identification of the
cause of the problem. The
symptoms caused by diseases
can also be caused by poor
cultural practices. Chemicals
cannot control problems
caused by improper crop
management, so it is import
ant that you follow good cul
tural techniques.
Consider using seed treat
ments to control root diseases
and/or some bacterial dis
eases. Seed treatments are
either preventative or eradi-
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cative. Preventative treat
ments are intended to protect
the seed from decay and soil
borne fungi. Eradicative
treatments are intended to
kill harmful organisms on or
in the seed. Be sure to follow
recommended procedures
when using eradicative treat
ments as these procedures
can also reduce germination
or even kill the seeds you are
treating.
Root diseases can be con
trolled by using fungicides as
a soil drench. Always read
and follow the directions on
the label of any fungicide you
aie using. Frequently, a fung
icide applied to the soil sur
face will need to be watered
in to be effective. For foliar
diseases, complete coverage
of all leaf surfaces (top and
bottom) is necessary for suc
cessful control. Good scout
ing practices and early
treatment of disease infesta
tions will result in reduced
plant loss and better overall
control.
Another important disease
control practice is to reduce
the relative humidity in the
greenhouse, especially during
the evening when cooler tem
peratures might result in
water droplets forming on the
leaf surfaces. Run your ex
haust fans for a few minutes
to force warm, humid air out
of the greenhouse and replace
it with cooler, drier outside
air. Then heat the cooler air
to reduce the humidity inside
the greenhouse. You may
need to repeat this procedure
two or three times per hour
after the sun sets and again at
sunrise. This will raise your
heating costs somewhat but
what will it cost you if you
lose all of your vegetable
transplants to disease, espe
cially close to planting time?
Good scouting practices
will also help you detect and
control insect infestations in
your transplants before the
problem becomes severe.
Again familiarize yourself
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with the symptoms of insect
infestations as well as the life
cycles of the pest you are
likely to encounter such as
thrips, aphids, mites and
fungus gnats. Use sticky
cards to monitor for adult
thrips, aphids, and fungus
gnats. Actual plant inspec
tions are also necessary, par
ticularly to detect mites and
immature whiteflies. Exam
ine plants at 10 locations per
1,000 square feet of green
house weekly. Each time you
scout, start at a different lo
cation in your growing area.
Chemical controls are fre
quently needed to control
insect pests in vegetable
transplants. Be sure you have
identified the pest correctly
and selected a material la
beled to control that pest.
While there are not as many
choices for insect pest control
in a greenhouse as there are
for field situations, there are
still several choices for each
pest that allow you to choose
what will work best in your
situation. This includes
“softer” materials that will
help preserve natural preda
tors you may be using.
As always, be sure to thor
oughly read the label and
follow the directions for any
insecticide you use for pest
control.
Remember, disease and
insect pest control for vegeta
ble transplant production
starts before any plants are in
the greenhouse. Waiting until
seeding time to start this
chore may not leave enough
time to do the job thoroughly.
Once the transplants are
growing in the greenhouse,
regular scouting is necessary
to detect pest outbreaks and
control them before they
become major infestations.
Attention to detail through
out the process of vegetable
transplant production should
help you have healthy, vigor
ous plants to get your crop off
to a good start in the field.
Toll Free: 866-241-8426
In Area: 724-528-8013
Fax; 724-528-8016
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