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. 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 (comprehensive).

This document will 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 are short of the 80% goal.

Major Pests of Ohio Vine Crops - Primary concerns are diseases, insects, and weeds

Diseases	Insects	Weeds
Damping off	Striped Cucumber beetle	Annual grasses
Powdery mildew	Aphids	Annual broadleaf weeds
Black rot	Squash vine borer	Perennial weeds
Anthracnose	Squash bug
Gummy stem blight	Spotted cucumber beetle
Downy mildew	Western corn rootworm
Viruses: SQMV, WMV, CMV, & ZYMV	Seedcorn maggot
Bacterial wilt	Spider mites
Nematodes	Pickleworm
Fusarium belly rot

Educational IPM Considerations

	Activity	Points
Education	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. Minimum desired soil pH is 6.0.	15
	Apply 100 percent of possible P and K pre-plant.	15
	Apply 60 to 80 percent of the recommended N pre-plant. The remaining N can be side dressed before vine tip or applied through the trickle irrigation system.	10
Site	Select a well drained site for added Phytophthora control.	15
	Maintain accurate records of planting dates, field locations, varieties, fertilizer and spray applications.	10
Seed & Hybrid	Use seed treated with insecticides (for seedcorn maggot), especially if planting into wet, cool, and highly organic soils.	15
	Use fungicide treated seed to protect against Pythium, Phytophthora, and Fusarium.	15
	Treat seed with Clorox for control of bacterial diseases.	10
	Select hybrids well adapted for your growing area with good tolerance or resistance to powdery mildew and virus diseases, such as watermelon 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 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
	Establish a plant residue mulch by seeding a winter annual crop such as rye in autumn. Kill the plant residue mulch in spring will in advance of seeding, seed no till. Irrigation may be necessary to make this system work	15
Equipment	Calibrate sprayer; check flow rates and nozzles for fungicide, herbicide, and insecticide use. Select drift guard nozzles.	15
Disease	Select properly rotated site ­ one year away from vine crops for added Black rot control.	15
	Select properly rotated site - 2-3 years away from vine and solanaceous crops for added Phytophthora.	15
	Use drip tape and plastic mulch for weed control, disease control, and irrigation.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			220 pts Goal		270 pts

At planting IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Weed	Apply pre-emerge herbicide up to but no more then two days after planting for control of annual grasses, and annual broadleaf weeds.	10
Insect	Apply systemic insecticides to soil at planting for four weeks control of cucumber beetles.	10

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			16 pts Goal		20 pts

In season IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Weed	Control nearby weeds that may harbor virus potentially vectored to crop by insects.	15
	Cultivate to control weeds and prevent weed seed production before vines close, last chance to apply post emergence herbicide to control annual and perennial 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
Insect	Scout field twice per week for cucumber beetles, especially at field edges. If a systemic insecticide was not used at planting treat field with insecticides if greater than three beetles per plant are found in an attempt to prevent beetles from vectoring bacterial wilt to crop.	15
	Scout for squash bugs weekly, starting around vine tip; apply controls if squash bugs exceed threshold.	15
	Scout for spider mites and apply controls if they exceed threshold.	10
	Set up pheromone traps to monitor for squash vine borer in mid June, spray stems once for two weeks when trap catches increase.	15
	Protect honey bees by properly timing sprays (late evening & early morning before temperatures reach 65 F).	15
	Select insecticides less toxic to honey bee's, including formulation considerations (EC preferred over WP).	15
Disease	If field has a history of Anthracnose, or gummy stem blight, treat with appropriate fungicide at vine tip and every 7 to 10 days after until harvest.	15
	Scout for powdery mildew, key time around August 1st, if found apply appropriate fungicide every 7 to 14 days.	15

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			136 pts Goal		170 pts

Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Fruit	Do not bruise or cut fruit.	15
	Do not leave fruit lying in wet field.	15
Insect	Scout for aphids, cucumber beetles, and squash bugs on fruit, treat only if damaging fruit finish.	15

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			36 pts Goal		45 pts

Post Harvest IPM Considerations

Management	Activity	Points
Fruit	Cure fruit for 10-12 days ca. 80 F and 75% humidity.	15
	Keep fruit dry and above 40 degrees Fahrenheit if possible to prolong quality.	15
Weed	Update field weed maps, use to make treatment decisions next season.	15
	Spot spray persistent perennial weeds.	15
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
	Use of cover crops for fertility and moisture management.	5

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			72 pts Goal		90 pts

Comprehensive IPM Score
(Add scores of previous 6 sections)

Marginal adoption					Full adoption
0 pts			520 pts Goal		650 pts

Back