# Weevil activity



## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

The Alfalfa here on our farm in central Pennsylvania is 4 to 6 inches tall the cold weather this weekend could get a bit interesting. I am wondering if anyone south of us here is seeing any Weevil activity as it's a little early for us for weevils and has anyone sprayed for them


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I sprayed 2 and a half weeks ago. I don't guess I caught them soon enough as my alfalfa still hasn't fully recovered from the damage. It seems that the weevils ate into the buds because many of the new leaves are full of holes but no weevils present.....also much of the growth did not recover and it is just now growing new shoots from the crown. This was my first time having to deal with weevils.


----------



## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

cline thanks for the response and with that being said I'm going to get ready to spray. I always check on what's Happening down south those type of things seem to migrate North in due time. I am planning on using Warrior. Clein what did you use?


----------



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

endrow said:


> cline thanks for the response and with that being said I'm going to get ready to spray. I always check on what's Happening down south those type of things seem to migrate North in due time. I am planning on using Warrior. Clein what did you use?


 I used karate. I was told that it was the same thing as warrior.

Is it typical for alfalfa to take a few weeks to recover from weevil damage?


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

endrow said:


> The Alfalfa here on our farm in central Pennsylvania is 4 to 6 inches tall the cold weather this weekend could get a bit interesting. I am wondering if anyone south of us here is seeing any Weevil activity as it's a little early for us for weevils and has anyone sprayed for them


I have sprayed for weevils.....I did not bother to look because it is a forgone conclusion.....pay me now or pay me later.

I sprayed for weeds about a month ago....maybe 3 weeks ago...so I might as well go ahead and add some Lambda Cy(Silencer) to the mix....weevils are like taxes....they are there. Here, they can go from a few to a plethora in about 15 minutes it seems.

Regards, Mike


----------



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Ever thought about using a sweep net to determine when to spray harmful insects in alfalfa???

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r1900311.html

My wife provided a pillow case to attach to an old fish net rim. I taped the handle to a 4 - 5 ft piece of 1.5 inch PVC pipe to extend the handle. Works great.

The larval stage of the alfalfa weevil does the chewing in new growth buds of alfalfa stems. If you want to find them, look early in the morning by stealthily approaching the individual stems and looking in the very newest growth for the larval stage.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

vhaby said:


> Ever thought about using a sweep net to determine when to spray harmful insects in alfalfa???


I have one that I ordered from Gemplers....I spray for weevils when I spray my glyphosate in early spring for weeds....saves time and money....weevils will be there just as sure as death and taxes....and after the weevils melt from the heat it will be time to spray for leafhoppers. Here, once the hoppers fly up from the Gulf, you spray for them every 4 weeks or your alfalfa will be yellow lickety split. In the Southeast we have lots of bugs....and they seem to all be fond of alfalfa for some reason.

Regards, Mike


----------



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Our alfalfa suffers from three cornered alfalfa hoppers the same as Mike mentioned above. They girdle individual alfalfa stems where they deposit their eggs about 1/2 inch above the soil surface, and this cuts off the flow of plant nutrients causing the stem to become chlorotic. First you notice a chlorotic stem here and there and the number of chlorotic stems rapidly increases until, if left unsprayed, much of the regrowth is yellow by 10% bloom. Glad we have lady beetle to control the aphids that appear between the weevil and hoppers.


----------



## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> I have one that I ordered from Gemplers....I spray for weevils when I spray my glyphosate in early spring for weeds....saves time and money....weevils will be there just as sure as death and taxes....and after the weevils melt from the heat it will be time to spray for leafhoppers. Here, once the hoppers fly up from the Gulf, you spray for them every 4 weeks or your alfalfa will be yellow lickety split. In the Southeast we have lots of bugs....and they seem to all be fond of alfalfa for some reason.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Add this to my list of reasons I don't grow alfalfa  .....regardless of how hard UGA tries to "sell" it, just seems to be too problematic. Yields down here have been good, with 8-9 cuttings a year....harvest for dry hay production is a disaster according to most folks I've discussed it with. Brown seems to be the least popular color choice amongst dry hay alfalfa buyers......balage and silage seems to be the way to go here, just very few dairies left around these parts anymore. The ones that are here have adopted bulldog 508 variety and seem to be doing very good from most experiences I've heard.


----------

