Following the discovery of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) in 1998 and Huanglongbing (HLB) in 2005, this destructive disease associated with the phloem-limited bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) now affects most mature citrus trees in Florida. Despite the endemic presence of ACP and HLB, Florida citrus growers continue to plant new trees. The young trees are more vulnerable to both ACP infestation and CLas infection; therefore, protection from the vector psyllid by exclusion or other control methods is of paramount importance. Individual protective covers (IPCs), bags made from fine mesh netting, are a vector exclusion tool, which could prevent psyllids from transmitting CLas to young trees during the early years of growth. The use of IPCs is an environmentally friendly pest management strategy, contrary to the frequent use of insecticides to control ACPs. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of IPCs to protect trees from ACP and CLas infection in a citrus grove in southwest Florida during the first two years after planting. IPCs were compared against insecticide applications to control ACPs and tree health and growth were assessed. We found that IPCs effectively excluded psyllids, prevented CLas infection, altered microclimatic conditions in the tree canopy, and positively influenced most of the horticultural traits measured. However, IPCs promoted the incidence of other “diseases” such as greasy spot and sooty mold and of scale insects but reduced occurrence of citrus canker and citrus leaf miner. This suggests that use of IPCs may be an effective approach to protect young trees from ACP and HLB, but integrated pest management approaches will be needed for other pests during IPC use and after removal to maintain overall health of citrus trees.

继 1998 年发现亚洲柑橘木虱 (ACP) 和 2005 年发现黄龙病 (HLB) 之后，这种与韧皮部限制性细菌Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus ( C Las)相关的破坏性疾病现在影响了佛罗里达州的大多数成熟柑橘树。尽管 ACP 和 HLB 普遍存在，佛罗里达柑橘种植者仍在继续种植新的树木。幼树更容易受到 ACP 感染和C Las 感染；因此，通过排除或其他控制方法保护木虱病菌至关重要。个人防护罩 (IPC)，由细网制成的袋子，是一种载体排除工具，可以防止木虱传播C在生长初期的幼树。与频繁使用杀虫剂来控制 ACP 不同，IPC 的使用是一种环境友好的害虫管理策略。在这项研究中，我们调查了 IPC在种植后的前两年保护佛罗里达州西南部柑橘林中树木免受 ACP 和C Las 感染的功效。将 IPC 与杀虫剂应用进行比较，以控制 ACP 并评估树木的健康和生长。我们发现 IPC 有效地排除木虱，防止CLas 感染，改变了树冠中的小气候条件，并对大多数测量的园艺性状产生了积极影响。然而，IPCs 促进了其他“疾病”的发生，如油斑和煤烟病以及介壳虫，但减少了柑橘溃疡病和柑橘潜叶病的发生。这表明使用 IPC 可能是保护幼树免受 ACP 和 HLB 侵害的有效方法，但在 IPC 使用期间和移除后需要对其他害虫采取综合害虫管理方法，以保持柑橘树的整体健康。