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 Cucumbers - Primary concerns are diseases, insects, and weeds

Diseases	Insects	Weeds
Damping off	Striped Cucumber beetle	Annual grasses
Angular Leaf spot	Spotted cucumber beetle	Annual broadleaf weeds
Anthracnose	Western corn rootworm beetle	Perennial weeds
Alternaria leaf spot, Scab	Seedcorn maggot
Gummy stem blight	Aphids
Downy mildew	Thrips
Powdery mildew	Spider mites
Belly rot (Rhizoctonia)	Leafhoppers
Cottony leak (Pythium)	Cutworms, Armyworms
Viruses: CMV	Pickleworm
Bacterial wilt
Nematodes

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 as needed with fertilizers. Desired soil pH is 6.5-6.8.	15
	Apply 50-60% N pre-plant. Split the rest between at plant and side dress.	15
Site	Select a well-drained site, high organic soil.	15
	Use rye strips for wind protection and earlier warming on light-textured soils.	15
	Use fields rotated 3 years away from other cucurbit crops to minimize disease, in particular angular leaf spot.	15
	Avoid fields treated with a triazine herbicide the previous year.	15
	Maintain accurate records of planting dates, field locations, varieties, fertilizer and spray applications.	10
Seed & Hybrid	Use seed treated with insecticide (to control seedcorn maggot) and fungicide, especially if planting into wet, cool, and highly organic soils.	15
	Select hybrids well adapted for the growing area with good tolerance or resistance to powdery mildew and virus diseases, such as cucumber mosaic virus.	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
	Apply pre-plant herbicides to control seedling broad leaf weeds and annual grasses if necessary.	10
	Use stale seed bed technique.	10
Equipment	Calibrate sprayer; check flow rates and nozzles for herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide use. Select drift guard nozzles.	15

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			180 pts Goal		225 pts

At-planting IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Insect	Apply systemic insecticides to soil at planting for several week's control of cucumber beetles.	15
Weed	Apply pre-emerge herbicides to control seedlings broad leaf weeds and annual grasses if necessary.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			20 pts Goal		25 pts

In-season IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Insect	Especially if a systemic insecticide is not used at planting, scout twice per week for cucumber beetles at field edges.	15
	Treat field with insecticide if greater than three cucumber beetles per plant are found to prevent beetles from vectoring bacterial wilt to crop.	10
	Use Adios insecticide to target cucumber beetles while minimizing effects against other beneficial insects.	5
	Protect honey bees by..... Properly timing insecticide sprays, late evening first, early morning second, and before temperatures reach 65-70 F.	15
	Use EC over WP product formulations if possible	15
	Move or cover hives when insecticides will be sprayed.	15
	Refrain from using bee toxic products if possible.	15
Weed	Control nearby weeds which may harbor virus potentially vectored to crop	10
	Consider using cultivation to control weeds before vines close.	10
	Use post emergence broadcast herbicide or directed or shielded applications of post emerge herbicides to control emerged perennial weeds, broad leaf weeds, or grasses.	10
	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
Disease	Scout for powdery mildew, key time around August 1st, if found apply appropriate fungicide every 7 to 14 days.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			128 pts Goal		160 pts

Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Crop	Train vines parallel with rows to aid picking and reduce mechanical damage.	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			424 pts Goal		530 pts

Back