An inexpensive technique for controlling soil moisture in laboratory experiments with insects requiring growing plants

A rope wick technique for maintenance of soil moisture in pots with growing plants was developed for use in long term (up to eight weeks) laboratory rearing, larval survival, and oviposition preference experiments with the bean leaf beetle, Cerotoina trifureata (Forster). Water was taken up into pots (10.8 cm diam. x 9.0 cm ht.) through cotton and rayon rope wicks of different lengths. Overall, this technique is relatively accurate, inexpensive, and versatile, and has wide applicability for biological studies in entomology and other fields.