Author(s): Yan Chen, Richard Story and Michelle Samuel-Foo
Impatiens (Impatiens wallerana) cultivars ‘Super Elfin Red’ and ‘Dazzler Violet’, resistant or susceptible,
respectively, to western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) were grown under 112 or 336 mg?L-1 N in combination with 10, 20, or 40 mg?L-1 P to investigate the effect of fertilization and host plant resistance on thrips population level and plant quality. Half of the plants were inoculated with thrips at two weeks after fertigation treatments began (WAT) and sampled at 4 and 8 WAT. For thrips-free plants, both N rates and the two higher P rates resulted in marketquality plants with various tissue N and P concentrations. Plant quality was lower in thrips-infested plants due to thrips damage to foliage as distortion on expending leaves and browning on edges of fully expended leaves. Higher numbers of adult and immature thrips were found in ‘Dazzler Violet’ than ‘Super Elfin Red’. However, distortion index, which represented degree of distortion on young leaves, was higher in the resistant cultivar, and the two cultivars had similar quality ratings at 8 WAT. For both cultivars, N had no effect on thrips population, and plants fertilized with 20 or 40 mg?L-1 had higher number of thrips than the low rate. However, percentage of damaged leaf area, which represented the severity of browning, was found higher in plants fertilized at the low P rate. As a result, both cultivars fertilized with higher P rates had better plant quality although these plants had more thrips. Therefore, when
infestation level is moderately low, i.e. 10 thrips per plant, plant nutrient status favoring thrips development may not necessarily result in lower plant quality. The final outcome of plant marketability is a combination of plant growth, thrips damage, and the ability of plants to compensate for pest damage.
