Horticulture Pests & Diseases Assignment
Horticulture Pests & Diseases
A pest is any organism that reduces the availability, quality or value of a human resource including our crop plants. Flint,M. L and Vanden Bosh, R 1981. Four pests have been researched, although Flint and Van den Bosh describe any detrimental organism as a pest, in this report we will treat pests as those which breathe and move. Under the sub heading Pests I have chosen to look at Greenhouse White Fly and Woolly Aphid. In this report horticultural diseases are those which are less animate and more closely reminiscent of viruses and growths. Under the sub-heading of Diseases I have chosen to research Botrytis and Apple Scab.
PestsGlasshouse white fly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)
The Glasshouse white fly commonly known as the greenhouse whitefly is a primary pest of many fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops, frequently found in glasshouses and other protected horticultural environments. White flies are sap-feeding insects, about 2mm in length when fully grown, with four wings coated in wax, they live on the undersides of leaves. When disturbed they fly up in a small cloud if the plants are heavily infested. Infestations will cause plants not to flourish, reducing vigour and yields, in the case of a tomatoes crop for instance a loss of 25% in yield could be experienced without intervention. (The Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology).
White flies usually lay around 200 eggs at a time, on the undersides of leaves and when these hatch the small scale-like nymphs excrete a sticky “honeydew”, as they feed which falls onto the leaves below forming a black sticky substance a little like sticky soot. If conditions are right they will breed continually all year round. Development from egg to adult takes around three weeks at 70 degrees or four weeks at 60 degrees. Buczacki, Harris 1998.
These pests need warmth and as such are rarely a problem outdoors; they are a particular problem to house plants and indoor glasshouse growers.
A pest is any organism that reduces the availability, quality or value of a human resource including our crop plants. Flint,M. L and Vanden Bosh, R 1981. Four pests have been researched, although Flint and Van den Bosh describe any detrimental organism as a pest, in this report we will treat pests as those which breathe and move. Under the sub heading Pests I have chosen to look at Greenhouse White Fly and Woolly Aphid. In this report horticultural diseases are those which are less animate and more closely reminiscent of viruses and growths. Under the sub-heading of Diseases I have chosen to research Botrytis and Apple Scab.
PestsGlasshouse white fly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)
The Glasshouse white fly commonly known as the greenhouse whitefly is a primary pest of many fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops, frequently found in glasshouses and other protected horticultural environments. White flies are sap-feeding insects, about 2mm in length when fully grown, with four wings coated in wax, they live on the undersides of leaves. When disturbed they fly up in a small cloud if the plants are heavily infested. Infestations will cause plants not to flourish, reducing vigour and yields, in the case of a tomatoes crop for instance a loss of 25% in yield could be experienced without intervention. (The Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology).
White flies usually lay around 200 eggs at a time, on the undersides of leaves and when these hatch the small scale-like nymphs excrete a sticky “honeydew”, as they feed which falls onto the leaves below forming a black sticky substance a little like sticky soot. If conditions are right they will breed continually all year round. Development from egg to adult takes around three weeks at 70 degrees or four weeks at 60 degrees. Buczacki, Harris 1998.
These pests need warmth and as such are rarely a problem outdoors; they are a particular problem to house plants and indoor glasshouse growers.