Natural Pest Control in High Tunnel Tomatoes

摘要

In a recent report, the USDA documents that over the last decade off-season production of tomatoes in North America has grown by over 600 percent. Here in New York's scenic Finger Lakes district, greenhouses and unheated high tunnels have become a profitable part of diversified vegetable farms interspersed among the dairies and vineyards. For many vegetable farmers, growing tomatoes under plastic means a new framework for pest and disease management. It's goodbye to early and late blight and hello to spider mites and leaf mold. These pests are rarely a problem in Northeast field tomatoes, but they take advantage of the enclosed greenhouse/tunnel environment and challenge conventional approaches to pest management.