Suppression of tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) and cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum and Diabotrica undecimpunctata) populations and damage by vermicomposts

The effects of food waste vermicompost on populations of adult striped cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum) and spotted cucumber beetles (Diabotrica undecimpunctata) on cucumbers and larval hornworms on tomatoes (Manduca quinquemaculata) were evaluated in both greenhouse and field experiments as well as damage caused. In the field, cucumber and tomato plants were grown, with two different application rates (1.25 and 2.5 t ha⁻¹) of food waste vermicompost or inorganic fertilizer, in a complete randomized block design field experiment. All treatments were balanced for NPK. Field cucumber beetle populations were suppressed significantly on cucumber plants treated with food waste vermicompost at both application rates, compared with those on plants treated only with inorganic fertilizer. In the greenhouse, cucumber and tomato plants were grown in a soil-less medium MetroMix 360 (MM360) substituted with 0%, 20% or 40% food waste vermicompost, and exposed to standardized pest attacks in nylon mesh cages. In the greenhouse, both the 20% and 40% vermicompost substitution rates decreased damage by cucumber beetles to cucumber foliage and hornworms to tomato foliage significantly.