By Tracey Baute, OMAFRA Field Crops Entomologist
From fieldcropnews.com
With planting delayed briefly due to rain, it is the perfect time to get out and set up some wireworm bait stations. Soil temperatures are quite warm now and recent University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus research has found that spring is the better time to successfully bait for wireworms.
Springtime is likely better in part because the soil is still moist, ensuring that the bait actually does its job. Soil conditions that are too dry prevent the bait ingredients from fermenting and releasing CO2 which is what the wireworms are attracted to. There is, of course, one exception…you don’t want to dig baits in really saturated soils. The bait station will either dry like cement or the water will flood the bait entirely and make it useless. So wait a few days if there are puddles in the field before setting them up.
If you need to complete a pest assessment report, or just want to know what the wireworm activity is like in your field, go to the full article on fieldcropnews.com for more details.
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