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Cottonwood leaf beetle control with imidacloprid soaked cuttings

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Dormant, unrooted cuttings from three eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Marsh.) clones were soaked in either water or one of two concentrations of Admire® 2 Flowable (imidacloprid) insecticide. Half were planted immediately after soaking while the other half were stored for 12 weeks at -2℃ prior to planting. Trees from cuttings soaked in either the 0.053 or 0.106 percent imidacloprid solutions were significantly taller at each measurement date and had lower levels of insect feeding than trees from cuttings soaked in water. Insect feeding on shoot terminals was limited almost entirely to the control trees (water soaked). Treatment effects lasted for over 14 weeks, but insect population levels were low at the end of the growing season limiting damage. In a related observational study, imidacloprid treatment effects seemed to carry into June of the second growing season.

Parent Publication

Citation

Robinson, Terry L.; Rousseau, Randall J. 2007. Cottonwood leaf beetle control with imidacloprid soaked cuttings. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–101. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 198-205 [CD-ROM].
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/27827