VIEW ARTICLE

Disease Control and Pest Management

Field Control of Coconut Lethal Yellowing with Oxytetracycline Hydrochloride. R. E. McCoy, University of Florida Agricultural Research Center, Fort Lauderdale 33314; V. J. Carroll(2), C. P. Poucher(3), and G. H. Gwin(4). (2)Pfizer Inc., Chemicals Division, New York City 10017; (3)(4)Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Winter Haven 33880, and Miami 33158. Phytopathology 66:1148-1150. Accepted for publication 15 March 1976. Copyright © 1976 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-66-1148.

Large-scale field testing of oxytetracycline-HCl (OTC) demonstrated that it could exert a definite protective effect on apparently healthy coconut palms in areas of advancing lethal yellowing disease (LY). Rates of spread of LY were decreased three to five times over a course of 12-16 months in field plots in Dade County, Florida, when all coconut palms were preventively injected with 1-3 g OTC at 4-month intervals in comparison to adjacent untreated areas.