Pesticide Use and IPM Practices for Processing Cucumbers

ABSTRACT Pesticide use and IPM practices for weed, insect, and disease management were surveyed on processing cucumber acreage in Maryland and Delaware in 1998. Survey respondents represented 3,978 acres or 85% of the total acres grown. Growers used deep plowing and scouting on 100% of the cucumber acreage surveyed. Ethalfluralin and clomazone herbicide tank-mix combination was used on 90% of the surveyed cucumber acreage. Cucumbers were cultivated once or twice on 61 and 35% of the acreage, respectively, and 4% of the acreage was not cultivated. The insect pests most commonly receiving insecticide treatment were seed corn maggot, aphids and cucumber beetles. Carbofuran was used on 5% of surveyed acreage for control of cucumber beetle. Seed treatment as a combination of thiram, chlorpyrifos and metalaxyl at < 0.01 lb ai total/A was applied to 100% of the cucumber seed. All planted cucumber cultivars, Atlantis, Excel, Lafayette, Vlaspik and Vlasspear, had host resistance to most foliar diseases and fungicides were not used in 1998 for foliar disease control. Soil fumigation was applied to 9% of the acreage. However, the fruit diseases belly rot, Pythium cottony leak and Phytophthora fruit rot caused the complete loss of 120 acres. Fungicides were applied to 61% of surveyed acreage to control belly rot. Excluding fumigation, average pesticide use was 2.71 lb ai/A for pickle production. Although pesticide use is minimized through use of cultural practices, host resistance, seed treatment and scouting, pesticides were vital for profitable pickle production in Maryland and Delaware.