- Vegetable Crops IPM Update
Kristian Holmstrom
- Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan: Harmonized Audit SOP & SSOP
Meredith Melendez & Wes Kline
- Weekly Weather Summary
Keith ArnesenSubscription information for the Plant & Pest Advisory
 | Read more Jersey Vegetable Crops Ag Updates @ Commercial Ag Updates on the Rutgers Plant & Pest Advisory |
Thursday, August 16, 2012
This week in the Plant & Pest Advisory:
8-15-2012
Plant & Pest Advisory - Vegetable Crops Edition (printable pdf):
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tomato pinworm in New Jersey
Tomato pinworm is an unusual pest of tomatoes and eggplant for New Jersey as it is typically found in the southwestern states. It can be transported on transplants but is probably capable of spreading to new locations with weather fronts. Tomato pinworm was found in Somerset and Morris Counties in fields and high tunnels. This week an infestation was found in a field in Cumberland County. This would suggest that we have a state-wide infestation. Undoubtedly these infestations are in part due to the unusually warm winter and spring we experienced. Pinworm cannot overwinter in New Jersey.
The pinworm moth is a small, greyish-white with small dark, insect that lays it eggs singly on the underside of leaves of the tomato. When the eggs hatch the caterpillars begin feeding within the leaves creating a blotch leafmine. This will be a papery appearing section of the leaf where the caterpillar has eaten the tissue between the upper and lower leaf cuticles. As the caterpillars grow they leave the leafmine and invade fruit, attacking the calyx and stem area but also borrowing into the rind anywhere. The tunnels are short and occur almost entirely in the rind. The holes appear similar to tomato fruitworm (corn earworm) damage, but the pinworm holes are much smaller. Mature caterpillars may create a mine under the cuticle of the fruit. The caterpillars will drop to the soil and make loose cocoons to complete their development to the adult stage. There are multiple generations a year.
Pictured is a medium sized pinworm caterpillar, about 1/4 inch long. Mature caterpillars are white or yellow with purple markings and are about 3/8 inch long.
Joe Ingerson-Mahar
The pinworm moth is a small, greyish-white with small dark, insect that lays it eggs singly on the underside of leaves of the tomato. When the eggs hatch the caterpillars begin feeding within the leaves creating a blotch leafmine. This will be a papery appearing section of the leaf where the caterpillar has eaten the tissue between the upper and lower leaf cuticles. As the caterpillars grow they leave the leafmine and invade fruit, attacking the calyx and stem area but also borrowing into the rind anywhere. The tunnels are short and occur almost entirely in the rind. The holes appear similar to tomato fruitworm (corn earworm) damage, but the pinworm holes are much smaller. Mature caterpillars may create a mine under the cuticle of the fruit. The caterpillars will drop to the soil and make loose cocoons to complete their development to the adult stage. There are multiple generations a year.
Pictured is a medium sized pinworm caterpillar, about 1/4 inch long. Mature caterpillars are white or yellow with purple markings and are about 3/8 inch long.
In areas where tomato pinworm is a common threat, mating disruption and biological control methods can be used to help minimize damage. In New Jersey, insecticides are the only reliable means of control. The 2012 Commercial Vegetable Recommendations includes several materials that should provide control. For more information on tomato pinworm go to: http://ipm.ncsu.edu/ag295/html/tomato_pinworm.htm, and, http://www.ent.uga.edu/veg/solanaceous/tompinworm.htm
Farm Food Safety: Field Harvest and Field Packing Activities
Part 10 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan
- Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline
Part 10 of your farm food safety plan addresses field harvest and field packing activities. Your plan should document your actives and your pre-harvest assessment log. Field harvest assessment should be made the day prior to starting to harvest to ensure everything is in place to reduce the chance for product contamination. We covered the specifics of the pre-harvest assessment log in article number 6 of this series. If a field is harvested over several days each morning the assessment is repeated.
Part 10 of your farm food safety plan addresses field harvest and field packing activities. Your plan should document your actives and your pre-harvest assessment log. Field harvest assessment should be made the day prior to starting to harvest to ensure everything is in place to reduce the chance for product contamination. We covered the specifics of the pre-harvest assessment log in article number 6 of this series. If a field is harvested over several days each morning the assessment is repeated.
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