Cool season, leafy green spinach is a welcome addition to some creamy home garden because of its rich taste and fast maturation. But when this crop gets infested by sucking, tunneling or chewing insects, your semen leaves may encounter minor to serious damage. Problems vary from a ragged look that diminishes the beauty of the garden into wilted or dead plants which become inedible even when the pests are removed. Put management procedures in place immediately once an infestation occurs
Caterpillars
A variety of caterpillar species infest spinach crops. Caterpillars are the larval form of an adult bug, like cutworms or moths, that feed on spinach crops by eating the crown. Caterpillars may display stripes or hair over an assortment of body colours with an overall span ranging from approximately 1-1/2 to 2 inches. Because feeding damage may result in stunted growth and serious crop reduction, gardeners should control the problem promptly. Releasing natural enemies, like parasitic wasps, provides biological control. For more aggressive direction, employ a pesticide with an active ingredient like spinosad.
Wireworms
Wireworms are the larval form of beetles, known as click beetles. With a wormlike look, these insects show either hard, brown-hued bodies or delicate, whitish bodies, measuring 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches in length. These insects eat underground roots and seeds, often tunneling to the main system. After damage contains stunted growth to complete plant destruction once the root system is destroyed or completely severed from the rest of the plant. Gardeners should attempt to control these insects by applying a preventive treatment with a pesticide containing an active ingredient, like diazinon. Additionally, utilizing baits formulated for wireworms, implanted every 10 feet to a depth of 3 feet, can pull in the wireworms. Gardeners may then dig them up and destroy them.
Crown Mites
Crown mites are pests of strawberries plants which are virtually invisible to the naked eye because of their small size. As the name implies, these spinach pests reside in the spinach’s crown where they feed on leaves. Since the mites eat, then they create tiny holes at the spinach leaves. The damage may also lead to a distorted look in foliage. Control of crown mites includes the use of a pesticide with the active ingredient azadirachtin.
Aphids
Green peach aphids are sucking insects that feed on the inner tissue fluid of strawberries. Displaying tiny, pink or green bodies measuring around 1/8 inch in length, green peach aphids tend to congregate in huge groups on leaf undersides. As a result of the feeding, spinach plants may experience diminished health and cosmetically damaged foliage. As aphids feed, they release a sticky substance called honeydew. This material collects on plants after dripping from feeding sites. Honeydew promotes the growth of a black-hued fungus, called sooty mold, which might block out crucial sunlight. To control green peach aphids on spinach, spray aphids from their feeding sites with water. In addition, the use of a pesticide, such as insecticidal soap, provides support when applied to the entire plant. Sooty mold will diminish on its own once aphids are under control.
Leafminers
Spinach leaf miners are miniature fly insects measuring approximately 1/4-inch long. All these gray-bodied bugs lay their eggs on leaves. The hatched larvae tunnel to foliage, leaving little trails, or mines, in their wake, first appearing slim and growing bigger with less linear, different borders. To guard spinach from damage, control leaf miners by placing a protective cover over veggies, like cheesecloth, to prevent flies from landing. Removing and destroying affected leaves is also an effective means of decreasing the severity of the infestation.