What to Do When Lettuce Gets Pests? Sharing Practical Control Methods

The economic benefits of lettuce are very high, it has good planting value and edible value, and it is grown fairly widely. If pests appear during the growing process, what should be done about lettuce getting pests?

1. What to do when lettuce gets pests?

Lettuce generally rarely gets pests; the main pest is aphids. Aphids often gather on the leaves and continuously suck the sap from the leaves, causing the mesophyll tissue to disappear, leaving only a layer of epidermis, and eventually the plant withers and dies.

Control method: when aphids break out, use a 1500-fold dilution of 10% imidacloprid wettable powder or yellow sticky traps to trap and kill them.

2. Other common diseases

1. Soft rot: soft rot mainly occurs in the late growth stage or heading stage of lettuce. Its pathogen mainly overwinters latent in the soil or on diseased plants, and spreads infection through watering and fertilizing. It generally infects through wounds when the plant has wounds. In the early stage of the disease, the infected area appears water-soaked and semi-transparent; as the disease develops, irregular water-soaked lesions form. There is also a brown sticky substance on the lesions, accompanied by a foul odor, and finally the entire head rots.

2. Downy mildew: downy mildew is a major disease in lettuce production. It generally occurs in spring and autumn, and can harm plants from seedlings to mature plants, with mature plants suffering more severely. It mainly harms the leaf parts of lettuce. When the disease occurs, light yellow lesions appear on the leaves. In humid environments, a downy mildew-like mold layer appears on the underside of the leaves, and in severe cases it spreads to the leaf surface. In the late stage of the disease, the leaves wither and die.

3. Sclerotinia rot: sclerotinia rot mainly harms the base of the lettuce stem. When the disease occurs, yellow-brown water-soaked lesions appear at the base of the stem. As the disease develops, it gradually spreads to the entire stem, causing rotten leaves and rotten hearts, and finally the whole plant wilts and dies. At high temperatures, cotton-like mycelial masses also form on the diseased areas, which later turn into black, mouse-dropping-like sclerotia.

Lettuce can develop some pests and diseases. If they occur, suitable methods should be chosen according to the specific situation to kill and control them.