Eco-based pest management in high tunnels

Sweetpotato whitefly, thrips and aphids are major insect pests in horticultural crops in high tunnels. The use of repellent plants to “push” away the pests and companion planting to enhance beneficial insects is a cultural control method, which may mitigate damage by these insect pests. We monitored the insect pests and beneficial insects using yellow sticky cards from December 2019 – March 2020. Leafy greens were grown in a top vented high tunnel at the Florida A&M University Research and Extension Center, Quincy, Florida, USA. A strawberry crop was grown in a high tunnel. Potted repellent plants of mustard, arugula (var. nemat) and society garlic were placed in 4 sections of the crop in the high tunnels. Flowering plants, such as marigold (var. French marigold), sweet alyssum and potted basil (var. African blue) were placed on two sides of the top vented high tunnel to attract beneficial insects. Potted basil and sweet alyssum/Coreopsis plants were on 4 corners of the high tunnel with a strawberry crop. Commercial “preda-lure” was placed near the basil plants to increase the population of beneficial insects. Population densities of insects throughout the season were monitored by taking weekly samples of sticky traps. Preliminary results indicate that sweetpotato whiteflies, aphids and thrips were common at relatively low populations. The natural enemies collected were mainly whitefly parasites, Encarsia spp. and Eretmocerus spp. Results indicate that the combined use of repellent and companion flowering plants may be a tool to suppress insect pests in high tunnels.