Posts Tagged: mites

Warm Fall Temperatures, Plant Vigor and Mites in Strawberries

The link below is to a paper written by Doug Walsh, Frank Zalom, Doug Shaw and my predecessor Norman Welch.  It succinctly makes the point that a warm fall following transplanting decreases plant vigor, encourages precocious bloom and can predispose strawberry plants to infestation by twospotted spider mites.  Rain can reduce overwintering mite populations, but still warm fall temperatures will decrease plant vigor.

http://www.calstrawberry.com/research_library/97-04.pdf

With the understanding that this fall and winter has more than even odds of being an "El Niño" year (http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/), which could result in warmer temperatures and more precipitation, growers and agricultural people might want to be thinking about being a little bit longer than customary on cold conditioning of the day neutrals up here on the Central Coast.

 

 

Thorough Discussion of Predatory Mites in Berries Available

Users of predatory mites in berries really should take a look at this link, which covers the feeding habits of the various predatory mites in use:

//ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=14065

 

Mite Meeting Planned for May 30 in Salinas

UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisors Shimat Joseph, Surendra Dara and Mark Bolda are holding a mite meeting in Spanish and English at the ALBA training facility at 1700 Old Stage Road in Salinas.  All aspects of mite management will be covered, from proper identification of predatory, twospotted spider and Lewis mites, treatment thresholds, use of botanical and botanical controls, and aspects of chemical, cultural and biological control.

Meeting starts at 9 and will wrap up by 11 am.  This promises to be a very good meeting.

Spanish/English meeting on mites planned for May 30 at ALBA in Salinas.

Presentations from Twospotted Mite Management Meeting Now Available

The following is the link to access most of the powerpoint presentations given at the Twospotted Spider Mite meeting given this past June 27.

http://cemonterey.ucanr.edu/Agriculture/Mite_Pest_Management_in_Strawberry_6_27_2013/

Zeal (etoxazole) Registered for Use in Caneberries

Zeal (etoxazole) is now registered for control of phytophagous mites in caneberries.  Zeal is a very welcome addition to our limited suite of miticides in caneberries.  Link to the label is here:

http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ld7DK007.pdf 

Had lunch at the Nickel with Tom Dewitt from Valent to get some clarification on the use of this material.  Our conversation was as follows:

Breadth of Control: Zeal controls phytophagous mites in the Tetranychid family very well, so this includes both twospotted spider mites and Lewis mites.  It does not kill eriophyid mites such as redberry mite nor tarsonemid mites such as cyclamen mite.  As a translaminar material, it doesn't matter that the residue doesn't stick around that long on the leaf surface, since plant feeding mites will still pick it up when they penetrate the leaves to feed.  It is important then also to not apply Zeal with surfactants that are stickers because they will impede the translaminar activity and instead to go with a good nonionic surfactant.

Activity on Predatory Mites: Zeal should not be applied on top of a population of predatory P. persimilis mites since it renders the males sterile and the population will cease to grow.  It is recommended to hold off on releasing predatory mites until 30 days after an application of Zeal so as not to impede with their activity.

MRL's: Growers and shippers please take note that while Zeal now has a MRL (maximum residue limit) for Canada in strawberries, it does not have an MRL yet in caneberries. 

I discuss the use of a miticide in this article.  As always, before using this of product, check with your local Agricultural Commissioner's Office and absolutely consult the product label for product registration, restrictions, and use information.

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