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Microscopic and sub-microscopic pathogens and insects in the environment can cause significant damage to plants. Find out how you can manage these plant pests in the sections below.
Identify the causal agents
Managing plant health problems effectively involves identifying causal agents accurately. For growers needing laboratory services, identifying causal agents helps determine the appropriate tests to be conducted to get information on the possible causal agents and final diagnosis. Diagnosis based on symptoms alone is risky and inaccurate.
To identify the causal agent accurately, you will need to consider and analyse the following information in relation to the plant’s growth.
- Signs and symptoms of unhealthy plants
- Presence of possible agents responsible for the problem
- Growing conditions
- Growing practices
You should consider the following questions when a plant health problem arises.
| On healthy plants |
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| On unhealthy plants |
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| On the surrounding environment |
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Common plant pests
Insects are a type of plant pest. They damage plants by feeding on them during the course of completing their life cycle. Good sanitation and horticultural best management practices can prevent or reduce insect infestation.
Some examples of good horticultural practices are:
- Removing weeds
- Removing affected plant parts
- Improving basic environmental and operational conditions
Types of plant pests
Different plant pests cause different symptoms on your plants. Knowing what these pests are and their symptoms are important to help you remedy the infestation. The common types of plant pests you might find among your plants include:
- Bacteria (including phytoplasmas)
- Fungi
- Viruses
- Caterpillars, especially in their larval stages
- Moths
- Beetles
- Thrips
- Mites
- Nematodes
- Weeds
| Sucking insects | |||||||
| Food source | Plant sap | ||||||
| Symptoms of infestation |
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| Examples |
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| Chewing insects | |||||||
| Food source |
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| Symptoms of infestation | Caterpillar feeding results in:
Bagworm feeding results in:
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| Examples |
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| Mining insects | |||
| Food source |
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| Symptoms of infestation |
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| Examples |
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| Boring insects | |||||
| Food source |
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| Symptoms of infestation |
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| Examples |
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| Plant parasitic nematodes | |||||
| Food source |
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| Symptoms of infestation |
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| Examples |
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Signs of plant pest infestation
If you observe damage on your plants, look out for the following pests which might be responsible.
| Type of damage | Pests responsible |
| Chewed foliage, blossoms, or fruits |
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| Bleach, bronze, or silver stippling (flecked) or streaking on mined leaves |
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| Distortion (swelling, twisting, cupping) of plant parts |
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| Twig or plant shoot dieback (frass may issue from holes) |
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Presence of the following insects or insect-related products on plants:
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Common plant diseases
| Plant disease | Description |
| Leaf spots | Caused by:
Appearance of bacterial spots:
Appearance of fungal spots:
Fungal leaf spots Bacterial leaf spots |
| Wilting (loss of leaf or shoot rigidity) |
Caused by:
Resulting in:
Fusarium wilt Angsana wilt |
| Damping off (death of seedlings before or just after their emergence from the ground) |
Caused by:
Resulting in:
Prevent damping off by:
Damping off |
| Sooty moulds (refers to the fungi that grow on leaf surfaces) |
Resulting in:
Sooty mould on leaves |
| Ganoderma rots
(attack on trunks and butts of trees and palms) |
Resulting in:
Ganoderma brackets |
| Twig dieback and blight (death of all twigs and branches) |
Caused by:
Result of twig dieback:
Result of twig blight:
Twig blight Twig dieback |
| Viral diseases | Caused by:
Resulting in:
Ring spots Mosaic |
Control measures for plant diseases
The methods for controlling pests vary depending on the plant, and the pests and causal agents involved.
Control measures should be applied to entire plant beds or garden patches rather than just an individual plant. Damages can be significant if the entire plant population is not protected. In most incidents, managing the disease or stopping the infestation is difficult once it has spread. Thus, almost all methods are aimed at preventing pest attacks and pest outbreaks.
Integrated pest control strategy
Integrated pest management (IPM) is an integrated pest control strategy involving a combination of various available control methods. In IPM, proliferation of beneficial insects is encouraged, and pesticides are used only as the last resort.
Step 1
Set up physical barriers (e.g. a netted structure over your plantings) to keep pests out.
Step 2
Follow good cultural and agronomic practices to keep your plants in good health. This reduces the plants’ susceptibility to diseases and pest attacks.
Step 3
Install sticky traps (yellow or blue sticky boards). These traps are non-chemical means of trapping incidental pests.
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