Alton Sparks

  • We have received many questions about Lorsban in the last week. EPA has provided a prepublication version of the final rule which will revoke all food tolerances. Some changes are possible, but not likely. Upon publication, all food tolerances for chlorpyrifos will be cancelled 6 months later (again, some changes are possible, but I believe…

  • I received a question this week about spraying for spider mites and protecting honey bees. First and foremost, spider mite problems are frequently a result of repeated application of broad-spectrum insecticides. Don’t apply these products without a specific need. That said, spider mites have become a more consistent problem in the past decade and are…

  • Whitefly transmitted viruses – Fall 2020

    The outlook for problems with whitefly transmitted viruses does not look good for fall 2020 vegetable crops. Several viruses were reported at low levels at the end of the spring crops and have already been detected in early fall crops/experiments. This combined with rapidly increasing whitefly populations (and continued hot, dry weather) indicates we will…

  • Whitefly Outlook for Fall 2020

    I believe everyone knows that whitefly populations have been building dramatically the last few weeks. Whiteflies love hot dry weather and reproduce rapidly under our current conditions. While we are probably not as bad as we were in 2017 (maybe a month behind), we are far ahead of the last two years. Populations are higher…

  • A newly registered insecticide, PQZ, from Nichino America has shown good efficacy against the adult stage of silverleaf whitefly in multiple small plot tests in the last few weeks. While overall efficacy has not been fully evaluated, the activity on adults has appeared equal to Sivanto, which has been considered our best product on adults…

  • WHITEFLY NUMBERS AHEAD OF 2018

    Dr. Apurba Barman has been running a line of yellow sticky traps throughout southern Georgia for almost two years. These small traps are placed along roadways and changed and counted weekly. The trap lines include 125 locations stretching from Dothan, Alabama, to Reidsville, Georgia. The data collected from these traps are helping us to better…

  • PEPPER WEEVIL – Fall 2019

    While some growers were successful managing pepper weevil this spring, others were not. PEPPER WEEVIL IS NOT A PEST YOU WANT TO GET BEHIND ON. Weevils can enter a field and feed on foliage as soon as it is transplanted (or before in the greenhouse), but they cannot reproduce until there are fruiting structures present.…

  • WHITEFLY INSECTICIDE OPTIONS

    Whitefly have been building for several weeks and are at high levels in some areas. Insecticide options for whitefly have not changed a great deal in the last year. The cornerstone chemistries for whitefly are still the Group 4 (Venom, Assail, Actara, Sivanto and pre-mixes containing these prodcuts) and Group 28 (Coragen, Verimark, Exirel) insecticides,…

  • Whitefly Situation Could Change Rapidly

    We have had reports of whiteflies in multiple locations for some time. Thankfully they have remained low; however, that could change rapidly. In tests on station in Tifton, the whitefly population has increased significantly in the last week or so. We are seeing silverleaf in young squash. Adult counts today in squash averaged about 30…

  • Pesticide Registration Activities

    Pesticide registration/review is always interesting, if nothing else. The 9th Circuit Court once again as ruled that all Lorsban registrations should be cancelled. This was more over procedural issues than safety, but safety is consistent area of discussion. DOW is working to maintain those labels and for now we still have them. The Department of…