ARS | Publication request: Using banker plants to control insects

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: February 16, 2012
Publication Date: February 17, 2012
Citation: Osborne, L.S., Xiao, Y., Chen, J., McKenzie, C.L. 2012. Using banker plants to control insects. Society of American Florists, Proceedings of the 28th Annual Pest and Production Management Conference. XXVIII:85-90.

Technical Abstract: A banker plant is a plant that has a population of reproducing natural enemies on it. Banker plants provide growers with more options for biological control of pests in greenhouses. They can provide a means for rearing natural enemies that aren’t commercially available. They provide growers with a method to evaluate the quality of purchased beneficial insects. Banker plants increase the probability that beneficials will become established. They are an economical method of providing a reproducing population of natural enemies and they also reduce reliance on pesticides and thus insect resistance to applied chemical controls. Potential benefits and limitations of different banker plant systems are discussed.