With these problematic Myzus should I change my beneficial strategy?

There is plenty of talk about the new Myzus strain and changing control strategies. Every greenhouse is different, every chemical control strategy is different - so talk to your local advisor for a tailor-made solution.

Almost everybody agrees this new strain is more challenging to control chemically, produces winged aphids earlier and is generally found in the plant head as well as lower down on the plant.

We advise growers adjust their control strategies accordingly. So, this might include increasing the number of parasitoids, helping reduce the spread of colonies early in the season. Our Aphidius-System continues to work well parasitising this new strain and has very good searching capabilities. If you plan to include Aphelinus-System as additional security, ensure you mark the hotspots early as these will be the release points. Although long-lived, Aphelinus spread slowly.

When this population can no longer be contained, we advise deploying more than one predator, ideally Aphidoletes-System plus hoverflies. We are seeing good results using Eupeodes-System early and then Sphaerophoria-System – at rates of just 2 pots/ha, equivalent to 0.02 individuals/m², for 6 weeks.  Micromus-System is also proving its worth in hotspots.