How to Protect Lettuce Crops from Aphids and Leafminers | NipsIt® Vegetables

Aphid and leafminer infestations can cause staggering amounts of crop and financial losses for lettuce growers. According to a study published in November of 2015 by the University of Arizona, Aphids are a key pest of desert lettuce and is one of the most important insect problems for Yuma’s lettuce industry.

Impact of Aphids and Leafminers in the Desert Region

According to the study Impact of Planting Date on Aphid Infestation and Contamination in Head Lettuce, the five year study concludes that all aphid species have the potential to severely infest lettuce crops in the desert region, particularly in the November and December planting window.  Because aphid species tend to prefer higher temperatures, the December planting dates that harvest in March appear to be the most at risk in the desert.  Although they do not pose as significant of a threat as aphids, leafminer infestations may result in crop loss as well. The threshold for leafminers in lettuce is an average of one or more active miners per leaf except on the marketable portions where damage cannot be tolerated.

Start Protecting Your Lettuce Crop with NipsIt® Vegetables

In response to the growing demand for crop protection seed treatments, Germains’ Gilroy location recently added another insecticidal seed treatment to our product portfolio; NipsIt Vegetables. Manufactured by Valent U.S.A., NipsIt Vegetables is an insecticidal seed treatment approved for Head and Romaine lettuce. NipsIt Vegetables is a seed-applied solution for protecting full season lettuce crops against leafminer, red lettuce aphids, and green peach aphids.

According to Valent, NipsIt Vegetables offers the following benefits:

1. Simplicity – your lettuce seed comes complete with an effective insecticide that protects your seedlings from sucking and chewing insects such as leafminer (from planting to thinning) and aphids (from planting to mid-season).
2. More vigorous growth – protection of tender seedlings against Leafminer (suppression) damage means a stronger and healthier plant throughout the season.
3. Season-long productivity – seedlings are protected from insects, enhancing uniformity which provides production efficiencies all the way through harvest.

Stack NipsIt with Germains ProPellet® or OxyKote® Seed Pelleting

Used only in conjunction with either Germains’ OxyKote® or ProPellet® Heavy seed pellets, NipsIt is a seed applied crop protection product that is an excellent option for growers located in California or Arizona who wish to protect their crops from aphids and leafminers. This product may not be applied directly to the seed as a filmcoat or with a seed encrustment.

Maximize Your Crops Potential

If you are a grower who wants to improve the odds of producing a successful lettuce crop, we highly recommend you include seed priming with your seed pelleting and NipsIt seed treatment.  Emergis® seed priming will improve your crops emergence speed and uniformity while the NipsIt seed treatment helps to protect your crop upon emergence. There are some other benefits to priming your lettuce seed, but we have found when paired with seed priming, pelleting, goseed® and NipsIt, growers are maximizing their crops potential by stacking these seed treatments.  Please contact us today for more information about our seed treatments and pricing. Stay tuned for updates about NipsIt for Broccoli!