Bitter Gourd and Cucumber

Bitter Gourd and Cucumber Materials from AVRDC.

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Production Pest management Harvest and postharvest

Producing bitter gourd and cucumber

Insects

Seed production

Cooking and Eating

Producing Bitter Gourd and Cucumber

Pest Management

Insects

  • General symptoms: Sucking pests cause wilting, stunting, curling or distortion of new growth, spots or stippling of the leaf surface, or a sticky substance or black fungal growth on the upper leaf surface. Chewing pests cause holes in leaves, silvering of leaf tissue, complete removal of leaf tissues and burrowing in or around plant stems, branches or trunks.

Insects commonly affecting Bitter Gourd and Cucumber

Typical Symptoms

  • Galled Roots

Viruses

  • General symptoms: Viruses often cause leaf distortion, stunting and linear color contrasts - e.g., green and yellow striping. Insects often spread the virus.

Virus Diseases

Typical Symptoms

  • Mottled Leaves
  • Leaf Distortion

Bacteria

  • General symptoms: Bacteria often causes watersoaking, wilts leaf and fruit spotting and rotting.
    Note: If you place a diseased sample in a glass of clear water, you can often see the bacterial "exudate" leaking from the plant)

Bacteria Diseases

Typical Symptoms

  • Fruit and Leaf Spotting
  • Bacterial Exudate
  • Water Soaked

Fungus (causes about 85% of plant diseases)

  • General symptoms: Fungi often cause molds, mildews, wilts and leaf spotting. With close observation you can actually see signs of fungal in lesions.

Fungus Disease

Typical Symptoms

  • Fruit spotting
  • Leaf spotting
  • Fungus observed

Other factors causing disease-like symptom

  • General symptoms: Other factors can cause spots and rots on fruit (Sunscald and Blossom end rot) and fruit deformities

Belly Rot (115.8 KiB) - Fruit Spotting

Seed Production and Post Harvest

Saving Your Own Vegetable Seeds A Guide For Farmers from PX8