Control of Fall Armyworm with Labeled Insecticides and Experimental Surfactants in Sweet Corn, Spring 2019

FAW is a key pest of sweet corn in Florida and larvae can feed on whorls, tassels, silks, and ears leading to a yield and grade reduction. Program approaches using rotations of insecticide mode of action are necessary to reduce the chances of insecticide resistance, and new chemistries are always in demand for more sustainable FAW control. This trial was conducted at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee Florida on four beds, 32 inches wide, and 430 ft long on 6 ft centers that were prepared on 23 Jan 2019 and fumigated with Pichlor 60 EC on 8 Feb. Fertilizer (8-2-10) was incorporated at 100 lbs N and beds were provided with two drip tape irrigation lines with 8 inch emitter spacing as they were covered with black polyethylene mulch. Corn was direct seeded on 25 Feb at 10 inch spacing with two seeds per hole and a 7-2-7 liquid fertilizer was injected through the drip using a Dosatron over the growing season. Eleven treatments and an untreated check were assigned in an RCB design with four replicates. Each plot contained 35 plant spaces with 8 plant spaces left between plots as a buffer. An untreated row of corn was in between each treated row to act as a buffer. Applications were made with a high clearance sprayer moving at 2.3 mph equipped with four ceramic Albuz ‘yellow’ hollow cone tips each delivering 10 gpa at 180 psi for a total of 40 gpa. The dates of applications and products applied are listed in Table 1. On 9 and 16 May, 10 ears were collected from each plot, and the number of larvae collected was recorded along with the number of damaged ears per plot. FAW numbers were very low in this trial.

All treatment programs reduced the number of larvae collected and ears damaged by the larvae compared with the untreated check (Table 2). No statistically significant differences were seen amongst the treatments. No phytotoxicity was observed.¹

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