Chaney said he is working on a project to develop biological control measures of lettuce aphid for organic growers.

“Organic growers are limited because there are no effective organic pesticides,” Chaney said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time trying to enhance biological control of aphid. We’ve been getting pretty lucky using Syrphid Flies, a native predator, and also experimenting with interplanting flowering insectary crops, such as alyssum or coriander, that bloom quickly to encourage the beneficials to come in.”

Chaney said grower trials have interplanted a row of insectary crops within about 20 rows of lettuce and are getting good control.