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 :

Fungus
Viruses
Bacteria

Weeds
Vectors

What can happen if you treat the wrong pest?

Look at the picture below. What is the problem here? Blight? Nutrient Deficiency? Herbicide damage?

See The Impact Of Some Of The More Common Pests

Weeds

Weeds are one of the most under-estimated pests as they can decrease your yield by more than 50%. Therefore, identifying the type and treatment is important to make sure you get the most from your field.

Insects

One of the most common and destructive insect pest of common vegetables grown in Jamaica are Whiteflies.

Whiteflies feed by extracting plant fluids with sucking mouth parts
Damage then appears as yellow leaves and stunted growth of the plant
If damage is left untreated, the plant dies

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

Damping Off
Root Rot

Powdery and Downy Mildew
Early and Late Blight

Early Blight in Tomatoes

Early blight is one of the most common tomato diseases, occurring nearly every season wherever tomatoes are grown
It affects leaves, fruits and stems and can be severely yield limiting when susceptible cultivars are used and weather is favorable
Severe defoliation can occur and result in sunscald on the fruit.

Leaves

Initially, small dark spots form on older foliage near the ground
Leaf spots are round, brown and can grow up to half inch in diameter
Larger spots have target-like concentric rings. The tissue around spots often turns yellow
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.

Damping off Disease

Control Damping-Off by mixing your potting soil with a solution of Calguard prior to sowing seeds

Damping off is seedling death Phytophthora spp., Thielaviopsis basicola
Seedlings may start to grow and then wither, break off or collapse and die.

Stem Infections

Seedling stems are infected at or just above the soil line. The stem turns brown, sunken and dry (collar rot).

If the infection girdles the stem, the seedling wilts and dies.
Stem infections on older plants are oval to irregular, dry brown areas with dark brown concentric rings

Common Pests and Diseases

Main Classification of Pests

It might surprise you to know that the term “pest” extends past insects and can include :

Fungus

Viruses

Bacteria

Weeds

Vectors

What can happen if you treat the wrong pest?

Look at the picture below. What is the problem here? Blight? Nutrient Deficiency? Herbicide damage?

See The Impact Of Some Of The More Common Pests

Weeds

Insects

Whiteflies feed by extracting plant fluids with sucking mouth parts

Damage then appears as yellow leaves and stunted growth of the plant

If damage is left untreated, the plant dies

Codigo, N-Oil and Rotaprid are products that give excellent control of whiteflies.

Fungus

Damping Off

Root Rot

Powdery and Downy Mildew

Early and Late Blight

Early Blight in Tomatoes

Early blight is one of the most common tomato diseases, occurring nearly every season wherever tomatoes are grown

It affects leaves, fruits and stems and can be severely yield limiting when susceptible cultivars are used and weather is favorable

Severe defoliation can occur and result in sunscald on the fruit.

Leaves

Initially, small dark spots form on older foliage near the ground

Leaf spots are round, brown and can grow up to half inch in diameter

Larger spots have target-like concentric rings. The tissue around spots often turns yellow

Severely infected leaves turn brown and fall off, or dead, dried leaves may cling to the stem

Damping Off

Damping off Disease

Control Damping-Off by mixing your potting soil with a solution of Calguard prior to sowing seeds

Damping off is seedling death Phytophthora spp., Thielaviopsis basicola

Seedlings may start to grow and then wither, break off or collapse and die.

Stem Infections

Seedling stems are infected at or just above the soil line. The stem turns brown, sunken and dry (collar rot).

Stem infections on older plants are oval to irregular, dry brown areas with dark brown concentric rings

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