Abstract
Living mulch, buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum Moench, and ultraviolet reflective mulch in combination with Imidacloprid (Admire 2F) significantly reduced Cucurbit leaf crumple virus, a whitefly-borne virus and its vector (B biotype of Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) in zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo L.). Treatments evaluated included living mulch with and without imidacloprid) and ultraviolet reflective mulch with and without imidacloprid. Living and reflective mulches were compared with standard white mulch (control) in a completely randomized block design in Fall 2006 in Florida. Results indicated that plants growing within the white mulch had the highest number of whitefly immatures compared with all the other treatments. In November, plants were observed to show virus symptoms, which were identified to be caused by Cucurbit leaf crumple virus (CuLCrV). Plants growing within white mulch had the highest incidence of CuLCrV while the lowest incidence was observed in mulches with imidacloprid. Imidacloprid significantly reduced the number of whitefly immature populations in the zucchini squash leaves only when used with buckwheat mulch but not with reflective mulch.
