What are the main pests of dragon fruit? A full breakdown of the common species
If the orchard previously grew pine trees, termites may be more severe. Termites will directly gnaw through the stems of dragon fruit plants or feed on the root mass, causing the injured tissue to yellow and rot upward. To control termites, pesticides can be applied at the roots. Underground pests include snails, slugs, ants, etc., which gnaw on the young branches of the plants. You can...
If the orchard previously grew pine trees, termites may be more severe. Termites will directly gnaw through the stems of dragon fruit plants or feed on the root mass, causing the injured tissue to yellow and rot upward. To control termites, pesticides can be applied at the roots.
Underground pests include snails, slugs, ants, etc., which gnaw on the young branches of the plants. You can raise ducks in the orchard to eat the pests, or spread lime on the ground or around the base of the plants, or use poison bait to trap and kill them.
Aphids and scarab beetles will appear during the flowering or fruiting stage. Biological control with hoverflies, etc., can be used, or the pests can be wiped off with soapy water using a brush; at the peak of scarab beetle reproduction, tea seed bran can be poured onto the bed surface to drive the larvae out to the soil surface, then let ducks eat them. If there is damage from red and yellow spiders, scale insects, caterpillars, rice armyworms, fruit flies, corn borers, etc., when the flower buds and new shoots have grown 3 cm, spray with 90% trichlorfon, or 80% dichlorvos plus 40% omethoate, each at 1000 times dilution, spraying 2 to 3 times consecutively at 7 to 10 day intervals.
When the fruit ripens and the peel turns red, fruit flies will lay eggs inside the skin of the ripening fruit, and the hatched larvae feed on the flesh, causing fruit cracking and rotting. Control methods: loosen and turn the orchard soil in winter or early spring to reduce the pest population base; during the peak outbreak period, spray the canopy at night with pyrethroid pesticides at 2000 times dilution, or 90% trichlorfon at 800 times dilution plus 3% to 5% brown sugar, spraying 3 times consecutively at 7 day intervals; you can also hang small pieces of paper soaked in a solution of 97% methyl eugenol plus 3% naled (mixed at a ratio of 95:5) on the trees to trap and kill adult flies, hanging 50 pieces per square meter, twice a month. Bag the fruit in the middle stage of fruit development to prevent adults from laying eggs.
Click to see more dragon fruit growing techniques
Click to see more fruit growing techniques