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Brockman R, Kuesel R, Archer K, O’Hearn K, Wilson N, Scott D, Williams M, Bessin R, Gonthier D. The Impact of Plant Essential Oils and Fine Mesh Row Covers on Flea Beetle (Chrysomelidae) Management in Brassicaceous Greens Production. Insects 2020; 11:insects11100714. [PMID: 33086511 PMCID: PMC7603271 DOI: 10.3390/insects11100714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Revised: 10/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Brassicaceous leafy greens are an important crop for small growers but are difficult to produce due to damage by flea beetles. Flea beetles are problematic for growers as they chew many small holes through leaves rendering produce unmarketable. We tested the efficacy of several essential oils, the woven-mesh row cover ProtekNet, and the spunbonded row cover Agribon, compared to organic and conventional insecticides and no spray controls in the spring and fall of 2019. We found that the two row cover treatments (Agribon and ProtekNet) provided the best control of flea beetles and associated damage. Thyme oil was highly phytotoxic and killed the crop entirely and rosemary and neem essential oils caused mild phytotoxic burns. Organic insecticides rarely performed better than the no spray control. While conventional insecticides controlled most flea beetles, the crop was often still too highly damaged to sell. The results of our study suggest row covers offer producers an effective method of flea beetle control that reduces their dependence on insecticides for conventional and organic production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Brockman
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
| | - Ryan Kuesel
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
| | - Kendall Archer
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
| | - Kyla O’Hearn
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
| | - Neil Wilson
- Department of Horticulture, N-322 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (N.W.); (M.W.)
| | - Delia Scott
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
| | - Mark Williams
- Department of Horticulture, N-322 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (N.W.); (M.W.)
| | - Ricardo Bessin
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
| | - David Gonthier
- Department of Entomology, S-225 Ag. Sci. Center North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA; (R.K.); (K.A.); (K.O.); (D.S.); (R.B.)
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