The Impact of Plant Essential Oils and Fine Mesh Row Covers on Flea Beetle (Chrysomelidae) Management in Brassicaceous Greens Production

摘要

The popularity of brassicaceous leafy greens has grown in recent years due to health benefits and the local food movement. However, for many producers and especially organic producers, flea beetles represent a major challenge to production because they chew small holes in the leaves reducing quality and appearance. The goal of our project was to assess the efficacy of row covers and essential oils in controlling flea beetles as an alternative to organic and conventional insecticides. We grew Arugula and Mizuna mustard greens in replicated experimental plots in the spring and fall of 2019. We found that in most cases, plants within the Agribon and ProtekNet row cover treatments had the least amount of flea beetle damage and the highest yields, while plants within the essential oil treatments and organic insecticides did not differ from unsprayed, uncovered control plots. Conventional insecticides had an intermediate level of control against flea beetles, but did not perform as consistently as row cover treatments. We believe that row covers could provide a strong management method for all growers of brassicaceous leafy greens, especially where quality standards are high.