Tobacco Insect Scouting Report, July 31 2015
go.ncsu.edu/readext?368031
Similar to recent weeks, we are still in a bit of a midsummer lull for pest pressure. However, we still have weeks to go, and a lot can change in that time. Below are a few points of interest from the week.
Heavy aphid infestation on a leaf. Photo: Jeremy Slone
Although we haven’t seen aphids at any of our on-farm sites, we are seeing heavy infestations at the Oxford Tobacco Research Station. Our project there focuses on tobacco production for use in biofuel manufacture, and this week we had to made a foliar treatment of Admire Pro to help control these aphids. The active ingredients used on hornworms and budworms are not as effective for aphids, so selecting the proper chemical for treatment is very important.
First Priming. Photo: Jeremy Slone
Several sites have already started harvesting and are done with the first priming. We collect leaves by hand from 100 plants throughout the field to measure differences in green leaf weight between our IPM and standard fields. The goal is to see if fewer pesticide applications, characteristic of an IPM program, will have an effect on yield. We also collect samples to determine differences in pesticide residues.
Plant disease. Photo: Jeremy Slone
Lastly, I wanted to show an image of potentially diseased plants. It may be important for a grower to investigate what pathogens are present in the field now to help with identification or plant rotation schedules in the future. Better, more detailed information on a given field and it’s history can help to plan rotations such that pest pressure and disease can be limited as much as possible. This may also help to reduce the need for preventative or remedial chemical treatments.
Eastern 1
Scouting Report, Eastern 1 – Grower Standard Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 1.12 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 6% infested – No treatment | 12% – Req treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Scouting Report, Eastern 1 – IPM Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.87 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 6% infested – No treatment | 6% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Eastern 2
Scouting Report, Eastern 2 – Grower Standard Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.18 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 0 – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Scouting Report, Eastern 2 – IPM Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.26 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 0 – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Eastern 3
Scouting Report, Eastern 3 – Grower Standard Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.96 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 10% – Req treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Scouting Report, Eastern 3 – IPM Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 1.12 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 0% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
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Piedmont 1
Scouting Report, Piedmont 1 – Grower Standard Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 1.3 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 0 – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Scouting Report, Piedmont 1 – IPM Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 3.2 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 4% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Piedmont 2
Scouting Report, Piedmont 2 – Grower Standard Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.64 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 4% infested – No treatment | 8% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Scouting Report, Piedmont 2 – IPM Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.44 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 4% infested – No treatment | 2% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Piedmont 3
Scouting Report, Piedmont 3– Grower Standard Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.32 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 2% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
Scouting Report, Piedmont 3 – IPM Field
| Insect observation | No. aphid infested plants | Flea beetles per plant | Percent tobacco budworm infested plants | Hornworms per plant | Percent cutworm damaged plants | Other insects |
| Treatment needed? | 0 – No treatment | 0.67 flea beetles/plant– No treatment | 0% infested – No treatment | 3% – No treatment | 0 – No treatment |
More information
Tobacco insect scouting methods – Tobacco Growers Information Portal