Flaming
Edward J. Grafius (grafius@msue.msu.edu)
Tue, 27 Feb 1996 10:59:04 -0500 (EST)
We have used propane flaming when potatoes are small to control adult
Colorado potato beetles. It works very well and is inexpensive (ca. $7
per acre). The flamer is also inexpensive to build and maintain, unlike
crop vacuums (which also work well on CPB). The only drawback to flaming
is that the flamer can only be as wide as the planter because you need to
follow the rows; it is therefore fairly timeconsuming to treat a whole
field. We are recommending it as a field border treatment.
We do not recommend flaming on muck soils (are your onions on muck?)
because of the danger of fire and even potentially long-burning
underground fires.
Ed Grafius
Michigan state University