Common Pests and Diseases
At St. Jago Farm and Hardware Supplies Limited, we are aware that time and money can be wasted if pests affecting our crops are not correctly identified
Main Classification of Pests
It might surprise you to know that the term “pest” extends past insects and can include :
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Fungus
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Viruses
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Bacteria
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Weeds
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Vectors
Insects
One of the most common and destructive insect pest of common vegetables grown in Jamaica are Whiteflies.
Control of Whiteflies- Inspect plants about 2 times per week to detect their presence. Remove infested sections of plant to reduce spread in the earlier stages.
Codigo, N-Oil and Rotaprid are products that give excellent control of whiteflies.
Fungus
Some of the Fungal diseases affecting plants are
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Damping Off
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Root Rot
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Powdery and Downy Mildew
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Early and Late Blight
Early Blight in Tomatoes
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Early blight is one of the most common tomato diseases, occurring nearly every season wherever tomatoes are grown
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It affects leaves, fruits and stems and can be severely yield limiting when susceptible cultivars are used and weather is favorable
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Severe defoliation can occur and result in sunscald on the fruit.
Leaves
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Initially, small dark spots form on older foliage near the ground
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Leaf spots are round, brown and can grow up to half inch in diameter
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Larger spots have target-like concentric rings. The tissue around spots often turns yellow
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Severely infected leaves turn brown and fall off, or dead, dried leaves may cling to the stem
Damping Off
Damping Off– is a condition caused by several different pathogens that kill or weaken seeds or seedlings before or after germination.