Preventing Infestation Of Peppers In Greenhouses
Author: Admin
Website: http://www.awrrm.com/
Added: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:39:05 -0400
Category: Greenhouse
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Preventing Infestation of Peppers by Growing them in Greenhouses

Pepper is likely to be infested by a number of different pests. By growing pepper in greenhouses, infestation can be avoided. Care should be taken that your greenhouse is such that pests cannot thrive. But before the prevention measures, let’s consider the different pests that can affect peppers and then how to prevent them.

The two spotted spider mice affect greenhouse pepper very often. It can make the leaves brittle and brown. A predatory mite called Phytoseiulus persimiliscan can be introduced into your greenhouse. It will control the population of the spider mite. The green peach aphid is another pest which infests peppers. There are aphid biological control agents that are available that be used to control the growth of aphids. However, first you should know the species of aphids affecting your peppers. Only then start controlling them. Parasitic wasps can be introduced in the greenhouse for controlling aphids. For better control of aphids, both predators of aphids and parasites ought to be used.

Even caterpillars and loopers can infest peppers in your greenhouse. Cabbage looper is a common one which infests peppers. To prevent this you can screen intake vents. To catch the adult moths, ultra violet light traps can be put up. Egg parasites and microbial biological control agents can be introduced to kill loopers. If the loopers are large enough they can even be picked by hand. There are different species of thrips that can affect peppers in greenhouses. These thrips can be detected by putting sticky straps of yellow or blue color. Thrip vectors should be avoided at all costs. Predatory mites and bugs can be used to prevent growth of thrips. Whiteflies could infest greenhouse pepper. But it is a rare possibility. Parasitic wasps can be used against them. Even small beetles can be used as they feed on eggs of whiteflies.

You can use biological control agents’ and other parasites for preventing infestation of peppers. But a word of caution needs to be sounded. The quality of these biological control agents need to be verified properly. Do make use of a magnifying glass to inspect them. Especially in winter they might be damaged. Thus, you can prevent infestation of peppers in greenhouses.

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