Reflective Plastic Mulch As a Component of an Integrated Management Approach for Melon Thrips in Field-grown Cucumber

摘要

Melon thrips (Thrips Palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a serious pest of vegetable crops and ornamental plants. This pest is difficult to control because it is not very sensitive to commonly used insecticides. We evaluated the impact of different plastic mulches on the abundance of melon thrips in field grown cucumbers. In Fall 2015 and 2016, cucumbers were seeded in beds covered with metalized ultraviolet (UV) light reflective silver on white, UV-reflective silver on black, white on black, black on white, black on black, and a no mulch (control) in a randomized complete block design. Beginning three weeks after planting, the efficacy of the different mulches was compared weekly, based on the abundance of melon thrips in leaf samples. Significant reductions in the density of melon thrips were observed in the metalized reflective plastic mulch treatments compared to the other plastic mulch and control treatments. The highest numbers of melon thrips were observed in the white on black plasticmulch and the no mulch control treatments. The black plastic mulch treatments had an intermediate effect on reducing the number of melon thrips. The number of marketable fruit was approximately 60% higher when grown on silver reflective mulch than in thecontrol treatment. Significantly greater number of cucumber fruit and earlier fruiting occurred in the reflective mulch than in the other treatments. These results suggest that reflective plastic mulch could be an important component of integrated pestmanagement strategy for cucumber.