Canada: Greenhouse growers fight whitefly and thrips with patterned sticky traps

Optiroll Super was developed by the Russell IPM R&D team after receiving reports that insects trapped on their original non-patterned Optiroll were found most commonly at the edge of the roll. After deducing that the insects were likely attracted to the contrasting colours of the border, the Russell IPM team began researching insect catch rate for different designs and after multiple trials the most attractive pattern was identified by Dr Clare Sampson of Keele University.

Recently, Russell IPM released the news that trials of Optiroll Super in South America had resulted in significant trap catches of thrips, 450% more than the control, for protection of flower cultivars. Jade Murray of Russell IPM discloses that since then, the company has been responding to a huge number of enquiries and is receiving some excellent feedback.

Optiroll Super is a non-toxic solution to the management of thrips and whitefly pests. Application of the patterned sticky roll will reduce the necessity of additional spraying, and reduces the residues that can remain on fresh produce as a result.

During the visits which were part of the Canadian Conference Greenhouse tour, HortiDaily noted that an increasing amount of Canadian growers are using the patterned Optiroll sticky traps from Russell IPM.

Canada is one of the largest producers of greenhouse grown tomatoes in North America and so the industry is always in search of new and innovative biorational solutions to crop protection. Russell IPM’s Optiroll super has been installed by many growers to protect their yields from thrip damage.

Whitefly and thrips are a major problem for many host plants including most vegetable, flower and orchard crops. Optiroll Super can be used for the protection of this extensive range of crops and Russell IPM is currently in the process of gathering information on the success of the traps used for different crops and crop environments.

For more information:
Russell IPM
Jade Murray
jade@russellipm.com
www.russellipm.com