Temperature up, humidity up, whitefly up: A perfect time to test insect nets in Western Mexico

“It’s 50 degrees in the greenhouse.”

We know hot weather in Mexico, but when we hear those words in a phone call from a customer it conjures up a really challenging combination of factors. I’m a visual sort of guy and I’m immediately seeing the whole scenario. 

I’m thinking…

• What can the grower do right now, right this moment?
• Are there thrips and whitefly present? (high temperatures are good news for them)
• How is the labor force managing in that heat?
• What’s happening to pollination?

That was more or less what was on Juan Pablo Palacios’ mind when he got in touch. Juan Pablo is grower at Frutos de Jalisco, so his call was coming from Cuauhtémoc, Colima, south west of the office here in Guadalajara.

Starting in 2003, Frutos de Jalisco has made really great progress despite a sometimes challenging climate. The growing team has tested over 500 varieties of tomatoes in their 12 hectares of passive greenhouses, before settling on a small handful of varieties. They’re in the transition zone of Western Mexico climate-wise. So, not as hot as the lowlands down by the Pacific coast. Elevation is about 900m at their site. But that means it doesn’t have the climate protection of the higher plains where the state capital, Guadalajara, and our office is located.

That's me on the left checking progress with Juan Pablo Palacios, Grower at Frutos de Jalisco

And temperatures have been on the up. As expected, Juan Pablo and the team had seen both whitefly and thrips pressure increase markedly with the high temperatures. (By the way, there’s a Svensson guide on pests and insect nets in warm regions that my colleague, Alan Falomir, put together here.)

Jalisco, famous as the birthplace of tequila, has a significant area of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture). The region has experienced more global warming than comparable regions, with 2024 setting records, and whitefly populations increasing.

In response, the company installed Svensson’s Xsect Balance insect nets as side walls and on a recent visit I could evaluate with Juan Pablo what’s been achieved.

He told me they’d managed to take two degrees celsius off the peak temperature of 50 degrees, which had meant a lot to the team. And the net had really reduced the pest pressure.

From five chemical applications per cycle, they’d come down to two per cycle, though weekly fumigations have continued.

It’s such a pleasure working with the company. Juan Pablo told me they feel the working relationship has been excellent, and I couldn’t agree more.

Now I get to visit better-ventilated greenhouses where humidity is down as a result. With the reduced applications saving the company about 15% on the cost side, it’s nice to have a clear incentive for all involved to extend the Xsect Balance insect net installation when the time is right.

Oh, then there’s the sound of the place. With the reduced applications the bees don’t have to be boxed up so much. And the lower temperatures mean they can do what they do best. Buzz.