Controlling whiteflies on poinsettias with biologicals and trap plants

摘要

Impressive results in trials involving three greenhouses. The trouble that many growers have had in controlling whitefly on their poinsettias in recent years, coupled with concerns about the newly arrived "Q-biotype" of sweetpotato whitefly, have ledto increased interest in biological control. This interest has been further piqued by the recent availability of a new biocontrol agent, Eretmocerus mundus, which is specific to Bemisia whiteflies (i.e. silverleaf/sweetpotato whiteflies). A collaborativeproject was set up with three commercial growers, all of whom were interested in using biocontrol. As an added twist, trap plants (plants known to be attractive to whiteflies) were used at a rate of one per 1,000 square feet with the purpose of attracting the whiteflies so that larger populations would establish on them than on the poinsettias. The idea was that the biocontrol agents would then be released onto the trap plants, creating a rearing system for the biocontrols within the greenhouse.