South Florida vegetable producers should be wary of increased whitefly pressure, according to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline.
Whitefly infestations are high and increasing on multiple crops in southwest Florida. Levels of tomato yellow leaf curl virus are high as well.
Whitefly populations are low to moderate on cucumber on the east coast. Pressure is also high in beans and squash in Homestead, Florida. Pressure is medium to high in tomato crops, depending on location.
Cultural control methods are available for producers to implement. These include the use of ultraviolet-reflective mulches, which repel migrating whiteflies during the first couple of weeks of production. They can help delay the virus introduction.
Fields should also be maintained weed free, as they can serve as a host for whiteflies and interfere with coverage with insecticides applied for control.
As always, growers should practice rapid crop destruction of harvested fields, good sanitation and control of volunteer cucurbits and cucurbit weeds to avoid carry-over to spring crops where viruses pose a greater threat.
Management of whiteflies later in the season depends on early suppression of populations. Growers should be aggressive with the best systemic materials (Venom, Sivanto Prime, Verimark) early in the season.
Soil applications of either imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dinotefuran, flupyradifurone or cyanatraniliprole should be used preventatively in tomato and cucurbits.