Chemical Control of Broad Mite on ‘Jalapeno’ Pepper for Conventional and Organic Production, 2019

Broad mite is an important pest of Florida grown peppers causing distortion of young shoots which leads to a loss of blooms and increases blossom drop. High populations of mite can also cause fruit russeting, resulting in loss of yield and quality. This trial was conducted at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee Florida. The greenhouse-raised pepper plants were transplanted in the field on 4 March at 18 inch spacing on three beds covered with black polyethylene film mulch. Plots consisting of 10 plants bordered by a 6 foot buffer were assigned to eight treatments and untreated check in RCB design with four replications. Four applications at 1 wk intervals were made using a high clearance sprayer operating at 180 psi and 2.3 mph (Table 1). Spray was delivered through two vertical booms fitted with three yellow Albuz ATR 80 hollow cone nozzles on each drop discharging 10 gpa each for a total volume of 60 gpa. Populations of broad mite were monitored on 3, 10, 17, and 24 May by sampling eight terminal leaves from each plot and counting all stages of the mites under a stereoscopic microscope (Table 1). On 26 Apr prior to the initiation of treatments, 1.58 ± 3.76 mites per leaf was observed. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and differences among treatment means on each sampling date were determined using least significant difference test (P = 0.05).

All treatments on all sample dates significantly reduced the number of broad mites and their eggs when compared with the untreated check except BoteGHA 32 oz treatment by itself for broad mites and JMS Stylet Oil/M-pede rotation for eggs on 10 May (Table 1). On the same date, broad mite numbers in these two treatments were significantly more than in the treatments of Agrimek, Torac, and Portal treatments all applied with Induce. On the other sampling dates, there were no significant differences among treatments for broad mites or their eggs (Table 1). No phytotoxic effects were observed in any treatments.¹

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