Alternative Methods to Manage Silverleaf Whitefly [Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)] in Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)

Effect of plastic mulch color and row cover on plant growth, leaf whitefly index (WFindex), and zucchini fruit yield (Trial #1)_ Values are means ± SE, fall of 2019

Treatment	Plant fresh wt (g)	Whitefly index1	Marketable (1000 per ha)	Marketable (t per ha)	Fruit wt (g per fruit)
Mulch
Black	328 ± 34	3.0	101.3 ± 9.1	21.6 ± 2.6	208.0 ± 26.5
White	336 ± 36	3.2	131.8 ± 13.5	28.4 ± 3.3	216.8 ± 12.3
Row cover
Covered	333 ± 32	1.8 b2	135.4 ± 11.0	28.1 ± 3.7	201.3 ± 12.9
Uncovered	331 ± 37	4.3 a	108.6 ± 11.5	24.6 ± 1.9	236.0 ± 24.0
Significance
Mulch (M)	0.882	0.972	0.180	0.298	0.845
Row cover (C)	0.971	<0.002	0.094	0.360	0.218
M × C	0.667	0.994	0.829	0.820	0.706

Effect of plastic mulch color and particle clay applications on plant growth, leaf whiteflies index (WFindex), and marketable fruit yield in zucchini (Trial #2)_ Values are means ± SE, fall of 2019

Treatment	Plant fresh wt (g)	WFindex	Marketable (1000 per ha)	Marketable (t per ha)	Fruit wt (g)	Leaf temperature (°C)	Mulch surface temperature (°C)
Mulch
Black	521 ± 46	2.641	52.6 ± 2.9 b2	11.9 ± 0.9 b	227 ± 11.9	36.9 ± 1.7	45.5 ± 2.6
Gray	509 ± 33	2.75	68.7 ± 5.0 a	16.4 ± 1.6 a	237 ± 11.4	36.2 ± 1.4	46.6 ± 3.1
White	462 ± 23	2.63	68.6 ± 5.9 a	14.9 ± 1.5 ab	217 ± 12.6	36.8 ± 1.2	46.8 ± 1.3
Particle clay
Untreated	488 ± 28	2.90 a3	58.0 ± 4.0 b	13.0 ± 1.1 b	225 ± 10.5	39.6 ± 0.9 a	51.0 ± 1.4 a
Treated	509 ± 32	2.44 b	67.2 ± 4.2 a	15.4 ± 1.2 a	228 ± 9.3	33.7 ± 0.7 b	41.5 ± 1.2 b
Significance
Mulch (M)	0.508	0.708	0.007	0.018	0.468	0.737	0.798
Particle clay (C)	0.613	<0.0001	0.032	0.035	0.645	0.0002	<0.0001
M × C	0.990	0.079	0.335	0.069	0.092	0.865	0.188

Effect of organic insecticidal solutions on plant growth, whiteflies index (WFindex), and zucchini fruit yield (Trial #3)_ Values are means ± SE, fall of 2020

Treatment	Plant fresh wt (g)	WFindex1	Marketable (1000 per ha)	Marketable (t per ha)	Fruit wt (g per fruit)
Neem oil	777	2.7 b2	102 ± 2	16.6 ± 1.0	162 ± 9
Soap	717	2.6 b	105 ± 6	16.8 ± 1.4	158 ± 7
Control (water)	602	4.1 a	108 ± 8	17.0 ± 1.2	159 ± 6
P	0.283	<0.0001	0.850	0.959	0.804

Effect of row cover on whitefly index (WFindex) odds ratio estimates and Wald confidence intervals in zucchini grown with row cover or uncovered, fall of 2019

Odds ratio	Estimate	95% confidence interval
WFindex 2: With cover vs. Uncovered	4.874	2.040	11.650
WFindex 3: With cover vs. Uncovered	2.181	0.608	7.819

Effect of organic insecticidal solutions on plant growth, whitefly index (WFindex), and zucchini fruit yield (Trial #3)_ Values are means ± SE, fall of 2019

Treatment	Plant fresh wt (g)	WFindex1	Marketable (1000 per ha)	Marketable (t per ha)	Fruit wt (g per fruit)
Neem oil	624 ± 74	2.7 ± b2	46.6 ± 3.9 a3	9.3 ± 1.0 a	199 ± 10.4
Soap	631 ± 44	2.5 ± c	34.1 ± 6.1 ab	6.0 ± 1.3 ab	181 ± 7.1
Control (water)	569 ± 49	3.7 ± a	20.6 ± 5.7 b	3.8 ± 1.2 b	175 ± 22.1
P	0.693	<0.0001	0.023	0.024	0.517