Chilli thrips are a nuisance to rose growers , as their eating causes foliar and flower harm . For the first time , UF / IFAS researchers investigated the utility of a banker plant scheme for managing chili thripid on roses . of late published research in the Journal of Applied Entomology attest the potential of this system for helping lift growers using two predatory pinch species .
The Osborne Lab at the UF / IFAS Mid - Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka has researched banker plant system for more than a decade . In the case of chili thrips , the overall concept is that the pepper banker plant render resources , food , and shelter , which are involve by the mite vulture of the chili thrips .
In the case of roses , this plant does n’t come along to allow suitable pollen or habitat for the predatory mites that are found to be effective in managing chili thrip on other crops . The banker plant is placed in the greenhouse to represent as a shelter for the predator to live and procreate on . As the predator population increases , they will begin to move off the banker works to feed on pests living on the other greenhouse plants .
Researchers frequently work to playact marriage broker between horde plants , vulture , and pests . find the veracious combination helps cultivator control pests farsighted - term and tighten pesticide use .
In this case , researchers wanted to know if they could establish predatory mite populations of Amblyseius swirskii and Amblydromalus limonicus using the banker plant concept to control chili thrips on rosebush . Specifically , Double Knock Out roses , the most widely betray rose in North America and a major Florida crop susceptible to chili thrips . Feeding by chili thrips on roses causes visible harm , which greatly reduces their aesthetic time value and can make them unvendible .
“ We get a lot of song from rosarians that can not regain good management for chili thrips and roses , ” said Erich Schoeller , UF / IFAS postdoctoral researcher . “ There are chemic options , but the growers desire biologic command options . Typically , most of the biologic dominance options have a portion of issues with roses , so we have not had a root . ”
“ I have interpret thrip destroy rosaceous blooms in public garden as well as personal rose wine gardens , ” said Diane Sommers , prexy of the American Rose Society . “ When this happens , it discourages mass from growing roses , even while the availability of stalwart disease - resistive varieties continues to grow . In a recent webinar on how to utilize beneficial insects in the rose garden , the most ofttimes asked question was how to command chili thrips . ”
Predatory mite like A. swirskii typically do not establish well on blush wine due to the structure of the works . rosebush leave are liquid and miss protective complex body part underneath that pinch need for shelter and facts of life . But when Piper nigrum plant life are added as a home for the mite predators , thrips hurt to the rosiness importantly decreases .
“ While we have sex A. swirskii was an effective predator of chili thrips on other crop , it was squeamish to show that A. limonicus was another effective chili thrips predatory animal . ” enunciate Schoeller . “ A. limonicus had never been tested before on chili thrips , so that was an exciting finding . ”
Despite both mite predators controlling chili thrips equally well , A. limonicus may offer a superior pest direction resolution for rosaceous growers . A. limonicus is test to manage other roseate pests and moved from the banker plant to the roses faster than their similitude A. swirskii .
Overall , both A. limonicus and A. swirskii are promising biological control agents of chili thrips on Double Knock Out roses .
“ In the future , we would care to run additional experiment to read the minimum ratio of banker plants to rose you need to see the same level of control we did in our experiment , ” said Schoeller . “ We ’d also wish to quiz using both predator at the same sentence . But that ’s down the road . ”
This work was a collaboration between UF / IFAS entomologist Lance Osborne and USDA research entomologist Cindy McKenzie and funded by grant from the Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative , USDA APHIS , the Farm Bill , and USDA NIFA .
For more information : UF / IFASwww.ifas.ufl.edu
