KEY FACTORS:

1. Start clean.

2. Monitor for pests early.

3. Start treatment without delay.

4. Use recommended rates and release frequencies

5. Use suppliers as resources at first sign of problems.

IMPLEMENTATION:

1. Starting with low pest levels is critical to success using biological control. Choose products selected for clean-up between crops with care. Fungicides will not kill insects or mites. If pests are a problem in the crop at the end of the season, treat the standing crop before pulling and again after removal with the appropriate pesticide. Keep the heat on until after treatment to avoid sending large numbers of mites and thrips into hibernation. Use pesticides with shorter residual effects if biocontrols are to be used in the next crop (e.g. Thiodan, DDVP, Dibrom, Soap, Trounce). Apply fungicides and cleaners last as they will often help remove and break down pesticide residues (e.g Agribrom, Hypochlorite Bleach, Peroxides)

2. It is cost effective to visually monitor the crop on a weekly basis and use sticky cards. Use 3"X 5" yellow sticky card traps at a rate of 1 for every 100 plants or about 25 cards per acre. Hang cards just above the plants to catch most dying insects (e.g. fungus gnats, whitefly, thrips, aphids, lygus bugs, and moths). Replace or add new cards every 5 weeks as the glue dries and will no longer trap small insects such as whitefly. Use a felt pen mark to cover the insect once counted to prevent repeat counts. To help identify many pests use a 5 power headband magnifier or hand lens. Walk the rows at least once a week checking cards, scanning the crop and leaves for damage and recording results. If you do not have the time, assign and train a staff member or use a professional monitoring service. Some growers have excellent success by giving all the responsibility (maintenance, harvesting and IPM) for specific greenhouse sections to individuals who then compete for best results and maintain records for their sections. Once all personnel are involved in an IPM program it can become a very powerful and positive force. Be able to identify the various stages of the major pests and their damage. If in doubt contact or send samples to your Agricultural extension service or biological supplier. Pictorial resources are now more available and in the future there will be direct video internet diagnosis and it will simply be a matter of selecting the appropriate samples. Record trap counts on a weekly map or report for thrips, whitefly, fungus gnats, lygus and other flying insects (e.g. 5 trapped thrips could appear as T-5 , 10 whitefly as W-10). Some pests such as mites and aphids are clumped in distribution and would take far too long to count so damage ratings similar to the following have been used to estimate levels.

A greenhouse map is an extremely valuable monitoring tool to follow records of pests and beneficials as they progress weekly. As a visual aid it is a good idea to mark the initial infestation sites as well as pest hot spots by hanging different colored survey flagging tapes above the plants and at row ends. Row numbers should be clearly marked on support posts for easy reference. Some intensive IPM greenhouses are now numbering all support posts to use as map grid reference points. This enables quite precise location of pests and by using hand held electronic data-recording devices, information can be downloaded to a computer where it can be analyzed or used in an IPM management program.

3. Act without delay when a pest is identified. Pests can build very rapidly under greenhouse conditions so IPM strategies based on past seasons pest levels often involve "preventative" introductions of biological control agents even before the pest has been detected. Many biological control agents (e.g. whitefly and aphid parasites, Hypoaspis predatory mites) are very good at finding their host at low densities and will take too long to provide control if their introduction is delayed until host populations are higher. Other pests such as spider mite descend onto the crop over a period of time and must be treated with "curative releases" of biological control agents as soon as the pests are detected. Releases must be continued until the biocontrol agents are well established on all infested plants.

4. Use recommended rates, methods and release frequencies. If using a biocontrol make sure temperature and hours of daylight are not limiting. Whitefly parasite activity is greatly reduced at temperatures below 18C and introduction numbers must be increased. Predators such as Aphidoletes will stop laying eggs and enter diapause when daylight hours become less than 16 in March and September. When using pesticides, spot treatments, reduced rates and short residue periods are important to minimize harm to the biological control agents. One major advantage to a monitoring program is that the rates and release frequencies can be related to the pest and predator levels for optimum efficiency and this should pay for itself in saved costs and improved pest control. It is critical to use recommended rates and introduction schedules. Know what to look for so biocontrol agents are not removed from the crop when pruning leaves. Poorly timed or excessive deleafing can upset an entire program for the season as most of the biocontrol reproduction occurs on the crop.

5. Use suppliers as resources to solve problems. Biological control technology is a rapidly changing area and there are many variables to consider in every pest control program. Live predators and parasites are very perishable and must be checked for viability on delivery and handled carefully under the appropriate conditions. Release instructions should include life history and handling information. Once released into the greenhouse the biological control should establish and be found cycling on the pest. This may take 2-6 weeks and may be difficult to detect at low pest densities. Contact your supplier or the biocontrol producer at the first sign of any problem for help and to determine the best solution.

Successful biological control of insects and mites is basically a numbers game with a few very serious pests. A simulation model for populations of spider mite and the predator, Phytoseiulus persimilis predicts that controlling a 5 times higher mite population will require introducing 20 times the number of predators. This points out the importance of timing to prevent excessive plant damage and make biological control programs work. The following table is only a brief outline of a biocontrol program for greenhouse tomato. Detailed guides are available from suppliers for other pests on different crops and these should be consulted in planning your own program.

	spider mite	whitefly	thrips	aphids
#1 clean-up at end and between crop	dibrom, thiodan, soap	dibrom, thiodan, soap	thiodan, DDVP, soap	thiodan, DDVP, soap
#2 early monitoring	damage on older leaves	adults on yellow traps	adults on yellow traps	damage on older leaves
#3 start weekly treatment and #4 use recommended rates and release frequencies	1+Persimilis per infested leaf +Feltiella 250/hot spot	Encarsia 1/plant preventive 2-6/plant curative +Delphastus 0.5/ plant	Hyoaspis 1 litre/1000 seedlings 20 litres/ha +Cucumeris 100/infested plant	Aphidius 0.15/m2 preventive 0.5/m2 curative +Aphidoletes 1/plant in infested area
#5 Use your suppliers as resources at first sign of problems	You may be in trouble if mites are damaging entire leaves and webbing or stringing	You may be in trouble if whitefly adult numbers exceed 20/plant	You may be in trouble if thrips numbers exceed 2 adults/flower or 5 larvae/leaf	You may be in trouble if aphid damage covers stem or appears on new leaves
signs of success	Predators on all infested plants	Few hot spots. 85% parasitism	Reduced leaf damage	Aphids eliminated

IPM REFERENCE MATERIALS

Applied Bio-Nomics Ltd., Biological Control Technical Manual, 2nd edition by Jim Mattioni and Don Elliot, out of print, should be available in 1998, (250) 656-2123, (100 pages with color photos of pests and beneficials) $45.

Biological Control 35mm Slide Set, compiled by Applied Bio-Nomics Ltd, 1996, (250) 656-2123 (34 color slide sets of common greenhouse pests and beneficials) $66.

Biological Pest Management for Interior Plantscapes, 2nd edition, 1987, by Marilyn Steiner and Don Elliot, available from Alta Publication Services, 11510 Kingsway Ave., Edmonton, Alta (32 pages with color photos of pests and beneficials) $15.

Integrated Control of Greenhouse Pests, by Bob Costello, Don Elliott, Linda Gilkeson and Dave Gillespie, available from B C Ministry of Agriculture, 808 Douglas Street, Victoria, V8W2Z7 (30 pages with color photos of pests and beneficials) $10.

Identification of Insects and Related Pests of Hotricultural Plants, by Richard Lindquest, available from Ohio Florists' Association, (614)487 1117, (43 pages with color photos of pests and damage) $32.

Diseases and Pests of Vegetable Crops in Canada, by Ron Howard et al, 1994, available from the Entomological Society of Canada, (613)725-9349, (554 pages with color photos of pests and damage, includes greenhouse pests) $65.

SELECTED COMMERCIAL SUPPLIERS OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS

There are now more than 130 different species of beneficial organisms for sale in North America. An electronic data base of suppliers with information on IPM may be accessed through the California Department of Pesticide Regulation homepage at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov

The following is only a partial list of USA suppliers of greenhouse biocontrol products.

IPM Laboratories Inc, Locke, New York	(315) 497-2063
The Green Spot, Nottingham, New Hampshire	(603) 942-8925
Rincon Vitova Inc., Ventura, California	(805) 643-5407
Evergreen Growers, Oregon City, Oregon	(503) 631-7954

Prepared by

Don Elliott, Managing Director Applied Bio-Nomics Ltd, 1174-West Saanich Rd, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada V8L5P5

Reprinted from

Proceedings. 1997 New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Conference and Trade Show. Dec. 16-18, 1997. P.154-157.

The information in this material is for educational purposes. The recommendations contained are based on the best available knowledge at the time of printing. Any reference to commercial products, trade or brand names is for information only, and no endorsement or approval is intended. The Cooperative Extension system does not guarantee or warrant the standard of any product referenced or imply approval of the product to the exclusion of others which also may be available.All agrochemicals/pesticides listed are registered for suggested uses in accordance with federal and Connecticut state laws and regulations as of the date of printing. If the information does not agree with current labeling, follow the label instructions. The label is the law.Warning! Agrochemicals/pesticides are dangerous. Read and follow all instructions and safety precautions on labels. Carefully handle and store agrochemicals/pesticides in originally labeled containers immediately in a safe manner and place. Contact the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for current regulations.The user of this information assumes all risks for personal injury or property damage.Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kirklyn M. Kerr, Director, Cooperative Extension System, The University of Connecticut, Storrs. The Connecticut Cooperative Extension System offers its programs to persons regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability and is an equal opportunity employer.