Common pests of Dendrobium officinale and their control methods

Common pests of Dendrobium officinale: Philippine shield scale

Pest symptoms

Philippine shield scale is the main pest of Dendrobium. The male adults and nymphs gather and fix on the leaves of the plants to suck sap and cause damage, while also inducing sooty mold disease, which causes the leaves of the plants to wither. Severe cases can lead to the death of the entire plant.

The female adults of Phenacaspis den drobii Kuwana hibernate on the back or edges of leaves of plants. The peak hatching period is mid-to-late May. The newly hatched nymphs are on the back of leaves of plants, and then gradually move to the edges of leaves and settle down to harm plants. Around late May, they begin to secrete wax and gradually shape into a shield shell, and never move again for the rest of their lives.

Prevention and treatment methods

Prevention is the main focus, and healthy plants should be selected for breeding. Secondly, since scale insects often occur when the environment is too wet and ventilation is poor, special attention should be paid to environmental ventilation in daily management to avoid excessive humidity.

Once a small number of insects occur, you can use a soft brush to gently remove the insects and then rinse them with water.

When the nymphs have just hatched and have not yet formed a waxy shell, you can use 800-1000 times diluted 40% dimethoate emulsion or 80% DDT emulsion for prevention and control. Lime sulfur mixture can be used for control in early spring and early winter.

Common pests of Dendrobium officinale: snails

Pest symptoms

The pests mainly hide on the back of the leaves and eat the leaf flesh or bite the stems to damage the petals. This pest can occur many times a year. Once it occurs, it is extremely harmful and can often eat the entire plant beyond recognition in one night.

Prevention and treatment methods

Mix trichlorfon with bran and spread it in places where pests often move as poison bait to kill them; spray trichlorfon, cypermethrin and other pesticides on the cultivation beds and surrounding environment, and you can also sprinkle quicklime and saturated salt water; pay attention to the cleanliness of the cultivation site, and remove dead branches and leaves outside the site in time.