03/06/07 Wire worms and potatoes

Washington Ag March 6, 2007 Wire worms seem to be making a comeback as a pest for potato growers to deal with. Independent researcher Alan Schreiber of Agriculture Development Group says there are a couple of theories about why. One is that crop rotations are different and include more hosts of the wire worm. Secondly, chemical controls used in the 60s and 70s had long residuals and have finally broken down in the soil. Here's Schreiber's control recommendation based on a trial he conducted. Schreiber: "We found that Telone was very effective at controlling wire worm but it was very important that the application occur when the soil temperatures were at least 50 degrees. And that would be in fall. In the spring it probably needs to have soil temperatures like 55 degrees. If you can't use Telone for control of wire worm then the next choice is Mocap, which probably should either be broadcast incorporated, or if applied in furrow should be applied in a ten inch band or as wide a band as possible." Schreiber says they are looking forward to 2008 when a product called Regent will be available which trials show to be extremely effective against wire worm. I'm Bob Hoff.