What to Do When Bottle Gourd Leaves Have Pests? A Few Control Methods to Teach You
Bottle gourd is a climbing vine plant of the genus Lagenaria in the Cucurbitaceae family. In China's traditional culture, the bottle gourd is a symbol of fortune and prosperity. The bottle gourd has a graceful shape, and finished craft pieces are yellow like gold, with a highly auspicious meaning, making it very popular among people. But the growing of a bottle gourd is not as easy as making bottle gourd handicrafts; it must endure much wind, rain and pest damage, so when the leaves have pests, what should be done?
1. Treatment Methods After Bottle Gourd Leaves Have Pests
The pests commonly occurring on bottle gourd leaves include aphids, cotton bollworms, whiteflies, red spider mites, leaf miners and so on. The type of pest should be determined according to the specific symptoms so that the right treatment can be applied.
Aphids can make bottle gourd leaves deform and shrivel, and they can spread viruses. Their secretions can also induce sooty mold, so attention must be paid to their control. Aphids reproduce at an extremely high rate; if not controlled in time, they will soon affect the young leaves of the whole plant and most nearby plants. After discovering a small number of aphids, they can be squeezed by hand and then rinsed clean with water, or washed with soapy water. For chemical treatment, spray 20% fenpropathrin EC at 2000 times dilution, or 2.5% bifenthrin EC at 3000 times dilution, or 25% leqing EC at 1500 times dilution, or 40% dimethoate EC at 1000 times dilution, or 20% compound liuyangmycin EC at 1000 times dilution, etc.
Cotton bollworms (second-generation larvae) generally harm the flowers, tender fruits and other parts of the bottle gourd, forming holes and notches that affect the normal development of the bottle gourd. When controlling cotton bollworms, manual capture or light trapping of adults can be used. The main chemical control methods are spraying dichlorvos EC plus dimethoate EC, or choosing dingbai for uniform spraying during the peak period of egg hatching.
The excrement of adult whiteflies not only affects the respiration of bottle gourd plants, but can also cause diseases such as sooty mold. Whiteflies secrete large amounts of honeydew on the undersides of bottle gourd leaves, causing fungi to multiply in large numbers and affecting normal respiration and photosynthesis. The main control measures are manual capture or light trapping, or spraying with 10% imidacloprid at 400-600 times dilution, or 10% buprofezin EC at 1000 times dilution, or 25% buprofezin EC at 1500 times dilution.
Red spider mites often make the leaves of the whole plant turn yellow and whitish. The common control method is to use 10% fenbutatin oxide plus pyridaben EC at 1000 times dilution, or 10% fenbutatin oxide plus pyridaben EC (such as Guoguang Hongsha) at 1000 times dilution + 5.7% emamectin benzoate EC (such as Guoguang Leke) at 3000 times dilution, mixed and sprayed for control. It is recommended to use it 2 times in a row, with an interval of 7-10 days.
Leaf miners mainly feed as larvae inside the leaves or leaf stalks of the plant, and the linear or curved, coiled, irregular tunnels they form affect the plant's photosynthesis. Adults mainly lay eggs on the undersides of leaves, so the pesticide should be sprayed on the undersides of the leaves. Alternatively, spray pesticide to control the larvae when damage first appears. To control the larvae, spray 2~3 times in a row. Pesticides that can be used include 40% dimethoate EC at 1000 times dilution, 40% omethoate EC at 1000-2000 times dilution, etc.
The above are the common pests of bottle gourd leaves. The ones that generally occur most are aphids and cotton bollworms, which are relatively easy to identify, and the right treatment just needs to be applied accordingly.