Pepper Sooty Mold Disease
Sooty mold is a fungal disease that grows on plants and other surfaces covered by honeydew, a sticky substance created by certain insects. Sooty mold’s name comes from the dark thread like growth (mycelium) of the fungi resembling a layer of soot. Sooty mold are fungi which cover leaves stems and twigs with a black sticker substance. They do not infect plants but grow on surfaces where honey dew is secreted by insects like aphids, scale, mealy bugs and white flies. Name of sooty molds disease is Capnodium citri. Effects of sooty molds lesson the aesthetic value of ornamental plants, flower the vigor of plants by blocking sunlight essential for photosynthesis. The combination of feeding by a large number of aphids or scales and the heavy coating of sooty molds may drastically reduce the vigor and beauty of plants. To eliminate the sooty mold, you need to control the whitefly. A biorational approach is to use neem oil weekly for one month.
It is important to cover 100% of the plant, especially the undersides of the leaves.
As a result the light penetration and photo synthetic activity of the plant get reduced. Further, it also causes tasty senescence of the coated leaves. Severe during summer months How to prevent sooty molds plants that are under attack from pests may not be getting everything they need to be healthy. Make sure your plants are getting enough water, sunlight and nutrition firms organic fertilizers such as Yatas Dynamic Lifter Soil Improve & plant fertilizer.you should know the manuring and fertilizing black pepper.
Management
Spray Dimethoate 30 E C (2 m l/litre of water) to control insects cut an destroy the affected sooty molds. The required concentration can be prepared by boiling 1 kg maid a starch with 5 litres of water. After cooling, dilute the solution with 20 litres of water. The starch solution on drying will form flakes which carry the fungus also. Spray Copper Oxychloride 50 wp (2 g/litre of water) or Copper Hydroxide 50 wp (1.5 g/litre of wate.
Chlorotic Mottle Disease
The disease is characterised by vein clearing, scattered chlorotic flecks, followed by chlorotic mottling along veins leading to interveinal chlorosis and characteristic curling, twisting and deformation of leaves. In a few cultivars, vein banding, vein thickening and green Island like symptoms are also seen. Subsequently produced leaves are small, curled, twisted and brittle with bright interveinal chlorotic patches. Intense interveinal chlorosis or yellow flecking of leaves results in poor spike and berry formation. Internodes of vines become abnormally short leading to stunting of plants. The infected vines have reduced vigour and yield.
They continue to decline and remain unproductive for a long period without dying. The disease is transmitted through sap, cuttings, grafting, cutting knives and implements; and also through mealy bugs and lace bug. (Planococcus Citrix (citrus mealy bug), Psedococcus elisae and Ferrisia Virgata (Foliar mealy bug); Diconocoris distanti (black pepper lace bug)).Other most common black pepper diseases blogs are here
Management
Raise cuttings from disease free vines and also avoid normal vines from infected gardens Uproot the infested vines along with the roots and destroy. Spray Dimethoate 30 EC (2 m l/litre of water) against vectoo.To know the black pepper plants stunt diseases,
Read more about diseases in black pepper plants.
