Two unmanaged apple orchards, each about 0.2 ha, were used to test the effect of composted chicken manure as a mulch. Half of each orchard was left as a control and the rest was treated with either 5 cm or 10 cm thick layer of compost in June 1999. Compost treatment resulted in some degree of weed control through May 2000. Compost mulch also increased predators as measured by pitfall traps, an effect that lasted into 2001. The natural level of spotted tentiform leafminer, Phyllonorycter blancardella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), was significantly lower in areas treated with compost, which is attributed to higher predation of overwintering pupae in the leaf litter. Apple scab incidence was not affected by compost treatment in either 2000 or 2001. However, by April of 2001, fruit that had dropped in the fall of 2000 had decayed faster in compost than in control plots, which would mean a quicker reduction in fruit rotting inoculum. The use of organic mulch in apple orchards has positive impacts on pest management, in addition to the well-documented effects on nutrition and tree vigor.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Gracillariidae Phyllonorycter blancardella (spotted tentiform leafminer)
Keywords: compost, holistic IPM
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA