The purpose of this document is to consolidate current Ohio information on integrated approaches to pest management. One of the intended results is to form a general working definition (practices) of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on specific crops. Secondly, to develop a system of assessing how far along the IPM continuum growers are, and if their operation has adopted enough core practices to qualify them as IPM practitioners under these guidelines.

Growers should use this document and its six sub headings (Educational, Pre-plant, At-plant, In-season, Harvest, & Post-harvest) as a checklist of possible IPM practices. There is a point value associated with every IPM practice; the higher the number the more important the practice. Growers should only count the points of activities they perform on a crop. The goal is to accumulate 80% of the points in each of the six areas and / or 80% of the total points available, which is simply the sum of the scores from each section (comprehensive).

This document is intended to help growers identify areas in their production system that possess strong IPM qualities and also point out areas for improvement. Growers should attempt to incorporate the majority of these specific techniques into their usual production practices, especially in areas where they fall short of the 80% goal.

Major Pests of Lettuce - Primary concerns are diseases, insects, and weeds

Diseases	Insects	Weeds
Aster yellows	Aphids	Annual grasses
Damping off	Leafhoppers	Annual broadleaf weeds
Downy mildew	Cabbage loopers	Perennial weeds
Rhizoctonia bottom rot
Sclerotinia drop
Botrytis gray mold
Lettuce mosaic virus

Educational IPM Considerations

Education	Activity	Points
	Join local or state grower associations that handle this commodity.	5
	Attend the Ohio Fruit and Vegetable Growers Congress annually to meet and exchange information with other growers. Attend current pest management informational / research presentations.	10
	Obtain the latest Ohio Vegetable Production Guide and other commodity specific reports / production guides.	10
	Gain access to e-mail or fax for weekly VegNet newsletter updates on disease, insect, and weed development, plus management options during the growing season.	10
	Implement an IPM practice currently not used on your farm on limited acreage and gauge its success.	10
	Research alternative markets that may encourage less pesticide use either through specific use reduction requirements (organic, eco-, IPM labels) or simply by permitting more insect feeding, etc.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			44 pts Goal		55 pts

Pre-plant IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Fertility	Soil test; amend soil with fertilizer according to guidelines. Desired soil pH is 5.4 - 6.0 on muck soils and 6.0 - 6.8 on mineral soils.	15
	Broadcast and disc in all fertilizer prior to seeding.	10
Site	Select a well drained muck soil site if possible, otherwise select a well drained mineral soil.	15
	Keep old and new lettuce fields as far apart as possible to avoid LMV from being vectored between plantings.	10
	Maintain accurate records of planting dates, field locations, varieties, fertilizer and spray applications.	10
Seed & Hybrid	Use fungicide treated seed to protect against Pythium.	15
	If direct seeding, use pelleted seed in precision seeders to promote uniform emergence.	15
	Sow only mosaic-free indexed seed (MTO).	15
	Select hybrids well adapted for your growing area with good tolerance or resistance to other diseases.	15
Weed	Practice weed seed exclusion tactics such as high pressure washing machinery shared between farms.	15
	Buy certified seed and weed free soil mixtures; determine weed seed content of all seed and do not plant seed contaminated with weed seed not known to occur on your farm.	15
	Use site free of perennials such as quack grass, Johnson grass, Yellow nutsedge, or Canada thistle if possible.	15
	Use a combination of fall/spring tillage and fall/spring application of a broad spectrum herbicide to control established perennials or rotate with a herbicide resistant crop on which a broad spectrum herbicide was used.	15
	Use stale seed bed technique.	15
Equipment	Calibrate sprayer; check flow rates and nozzles for both herbicide and insecticide use. Select drift guard nozzles.	15
Disease	Select properly rotated site - 2-3 years away from lettuce.	15
	Space rows for good aeration and drying.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			188 pts Goal		235 pts

At-planting IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Weed	Apply pre-emerge herbicides to control seedling broadleaf weeds and annual grasses if necessary.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			8 pts Goal		10 pts

In-season IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Weed	Update field weed maps, use to make treatment decisions next season.	15
	Watch for weeds that are not common or are new to the field, consider adopting a zero threshold for these weeds and physically remove them in order to prevent seed production.	15
	Control nearby weeds that may harbor LMV potentially vectored to crop by aphids.	10
	Cultivate to control weeds when possible.	10
	Control annual and perennial grasses with broadcast application of herbicide or apply shielded application to suppress weeds between crop rows after crop establishment.	10
Insect	Scout for aster leafhopper using yellow sticky cards and sweep net. Send specimens caught in late May and early June to OARDC to be tested for aster yellows. Spray leafhoppers only if aster yellow's is detected, using an adult control spray approximately 10-14 days after emergence or transplanting and a nymph control spray approximately 14 days before harvest.	15
	Scout for aphids during seedling stage and beyond, apply controls if they exceed thresholds established in the Ohio vegetable production guide. Aphids vector LMV.	15
	Treat any worm infestation if it exceeds 15% of the stand.	15
	Use selective insecticides that will kill worms or aphids but spare the natural enemies.	15

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			96 pts Goal		120 pts

Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Insect	Wash lettuce after harvest to remove aphids, reducing the need for strict aphid control in the field.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			8 pts Goal		10 pts

Post-Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Site	Plow down residue as soon as possible after harvest to reduce weed residue, fungal inoculum, and insect over wintering locations.	15
Crop	Evaluate and identify successful practices, incorporate them into next years crop	10
Weed	Update field weed maps, use to make treatment decisions next season.	15
	Spot spray persistent perennial weeds.	15

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			44 pts Goal		55 pts

Comprehensive IPM Score
(Add scores of previous 6 sections)

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			388 pts Goal		485 pts

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