Journal of Economic Entomology (1998) 91, 256-262

Oscar E. Liburd and Richard A. Alm, Steven R. Casagrande (1998)
Evaluation of various color hydromulches and weed fabric on broccoli insect populations
Journal of Economic Entomology 91 (1), 256-262
Abstract: We evaluated the potential for variously colored hydromulches (sprayed-on wood fibers plus adhesive) and weed fabric to suppress populations of the cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.), cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (L.), and other insects in broccoli, Brassica oleracea L. Weed control also was evaluated. Commercial hydromulches were evaluated in their standard formulations or modified by adding corn starch, plaster of paris, lamp black, and latex blue or yellow paint. D. radicum populations were significantly lower in plots treated with hydromulch and blue paint than in unmulched control plots. This treatment was equal to or better than diazinon in suppressing D. radicum. B. brassicae populations were significantly higher in plots treated with hydromulch and yellow paint than in unmulcbed control plots. Weed fabric significantly reduced weed populations, but the levels of flea beetle Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) in those plots were 6 times higher than in control plots. Early-season populations of D. radicum and B. brassicae could be suppressed simultaneously if the appropriate combinations of hydromulch and color were used.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Oscar E. Liburd, Richard A. Casagrande

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Delia radicum	Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
	Phyllotreta cruciferae	Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
	Brevicoryne brassicae	Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)