• Cottony soft rot

  the naked eye and look like rat droppings. The symptoms may occur on stems but also on leaves, fruits and pods. Root infection often leads to premature [...] usually only mycelium is produced by the germinating sclerotia. The fungus grows quite rapidly inside the plant and kills the host cells. On the infected plant [...] General Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, also known as cottony soft root, is a plant pathogenic fungus. It has a very wide range of host plants. Damage symptoms

• Early blight

  only known stage in all Alternaria species is the asexual stage. Conidia and mycelium overwinter in the soil and on crop residues and cause primary infection [...] veins. Lesions can easily rupture. Other symptoms are brown lesions on stem and foot. On fruits, dark sunken, leathery lesions occur at the side of the stem [...] blight of potato and early blight of tomato, which presents itself as spots on leaves, petals and stems. These spots can be distinguished by the dark and

• Black rot of carrots

  only known stage in all Alternaria species is the asexual stage. Conidia and mycelium overwinter in the soil and on crop residues and cause primary infection [...] radicina ) causes death of seedlings and dark brown lesions with a yellow halo on leaves, growing into crown rot. Infection of carrots during post-harvest storage [...] storage causes dry, sunken, black lesions. Typically, Alternaria causes spots on leaves, petals and stems. These spots can be distinguished by the dark and

• Impatiens thrips

  Pupation occurs on the leaf rather than on the ground. The prepupae and pupae remain immobile on the leaf tissue. Adults are found on both upper- and [...] sweet pepper, cucumber and eggplants. It lives exclusively on the leaves and is often present on weeds in greenhouses. Life cycle and appearance of Impatiens [...] from egg to adult on the plant, specifically on the leaves. Eggs are deposited in the leaf tissue, while subsequent stages are found on the upper- and undersides

• Greenhouse whitefly

  es: If the population is very large, feeding on plant sap can affect the physiology of the plant, as a result of which growth is retarded. In full sunlight [...] and the excess is excreted as honeydew, with larger larvae expelling large quantities. The damage that whiteflies cause to a crop is the result of sucking [...] The honeydew deposited on fruit makes it sticky. Dirt adheres to the fruit, and the growth of sooty moulds ( Cladosporium spp .) is encouraged, making it

• Corn rootworm

  virgifera virgifera ) is a chrysomelid beetle originating from North America, where it is regarded as the main pest of maize. Nowadays it is present in many [...] consequently it is susceptible to serious damage. Adults may also be found on Poaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Cucurbitaceae. Damage symptoms Damage is caused [...] European countries, including Italy, where it is widespread in the maize-growing areas in the north. Maize is the only crop in which high population densities

• Tomato looper

  Noctuidae . It is a tropical and subtropical species originating in the Mediterranean and northern Africa. The larva is highly polyphagous and feeds on plants [...] inchworm (geometrid). The cocoon is usually attached to the underside of leaves within folded edges, on random objects and on tomato fruit, often in a bunch [...] countries and is now one of the most frequently found pest species in greenhouses. Damage symptoms The tomato looper (Chrysodeixis chalcites) is primarily

• Beet armyworm

  ability to develop on wild vegetation during the summer. It is highly polyphagous, feeding on plants of more than 20 families. It is a serious pest in [...] worst damage is caused by attacks on flowers and buds. Life cycle and appearance of Beet armyworm The beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) is a small, nondescript [...] and a yellow band running the length of the body on either side, above which there is a black dot on each segment. The young caterpillars live in groups

• Tobacco whitefly

  es: If the population is very large, feeding on plant sap can affect the physiology of the plant, as a result of which growth is retarded. In full sunlight [...] referred to as ‘pupa’ although strictly spoken this is not true) and adult. The larvae are found on the underside of young leaves and have an oval shape [...] often scattered over the entire plant where they deposit their eggs. This is why on one leaf all different developmental stages can be found together. When

• Damping-off

  root system survives. On the border between air and soil or substrate the plant turns brown. A typical symptom of a Pythium infection is the easy stripping [...] General Pythium is considered a ‘weak pathogen’, meaning that it can usually only affect plants that are in a sub-optimal condition or suffer from stress [...] irrigation water. Pythium aphanidermatum mostly occurs in young plants and damage is more extensive in young crops. Damage symptoms Pythium affects roots, in