Season-long Row Covers for Squash ePLUS Collaborating Farms
OBJECTIVE Demonstrate applicability of pest management tactics of using seasonlong row covers in winter squash production.
OSU Extension Pike, Highland, and Sandusky
STUDY INFORMATION Planting Date 06/17-07/03/2024 Harvest Date(s) 09/10/2024 – 10/2024 Variety Table Ace Management Conventional System Plasticulture, irrigation – drip tape, row covers Study type Randomized Complete Block Part of larger Yes replicated study? Treatments 4 Replications 3-4 Size of trial
1 acre
STUDY DESIGN
Eastern cucurbit bees, Peponapis pruinosa, were captured by picking closed flowers and transferring to a plastic bug for counting and removal of errant cucumber beetles.
Plots consisted of three rows of winter squash, each 50 ft long which were either covered with lightweight mesh row covers (ProtekNet) supported by 3 ft tall hoops, polypropylene fabric (Remay) row covers supported by 18 in tall wire hoops, or left open as controls. Further, the row middles were either treated with pre-emergent herbicides or seeded with Teff grass, Eragrostis tef, as a weed suppressing cover. No fungicides or insecticides were at OSU South Centers or on covered plots, but commercial growers and NCARS sprayed open plots as typical for their operations. At flowering, 25 native cucurbit bees, Peponapis pruinosa, were captured from nearby cucurbit fields while resting in closed flowers and transferred to a plastic bag. Any bycatch cucumber beetles were destroyed prior to released into each covered plot beneath the row covers. All fruit were harvested and graded according to USDA standards.
74 | Ohio State Digital Ag Program
Row covers worked well to exclude pests and offer a favorable environemnt for plant growth.