pests on guavas

Correy says...
You can always try the Wild may fruit fly control systems however if you can there is nothing like covering your guavas with a fruit fly proof net when they are about to harvest. That is what I am planning to do.

People have left some great comments relating to fruit fly and the guava tree here

Scott G says...
Hi Rick

That looks like a very destructive problem you have there.

My guava used to get some fruit fly attacks (before I netted it) and the damage could hardly be seen before the fruit ripened. So I would doubt your damage is from them.

I think this could be Anthracnose. It has been a wet period which is what the disease likes.

So if that is what it is then you need to keep the tree drier. More sun and wind are needed. Ok so stopping the rain is tricky :) but you could remove things that shade the tree, and things that act as a wind break for it. Also thin out the branches for better airflow through the tree. If you water it then do it in the morning so the sun can dry the tree off fast during the day. Water only the ground (not the leaves). Affected parts of the tree need to be removed and disposed of and not left on the ground at the base of the tree. You may consider regular applications of fungicide.

Rick says...
Thanks Sarath, I had just one fruit in a mesh type bag and that remained sting free so i guess it is fruit fly, they just attck the fruit so early on. Up here ther always seems to be some flowers on the trees but i guess tht is more due to the funny weather of the last few years. i have a mango in flower at present and also a stoneruit tree!
Rick

Speedy says...
It's most likely this little bug(ger)
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_bugs/GreenCoonBugs.htm
It causes a problem with growing tip of papaya plants too.
A contant frustration on the sandy soils close to the coast while trying to grow papaya.
They'd suck the soft upper parts of the main stem and petioles causing the growing tip to colapse and die off.

Grrrrr! >:-#

amanda says...
PS Scab is a fungus - try a bordeaux spray - it won't hurt your tree if i am wrong :)

Godwin says...
I am not yet convinced that the problem is caused by scab. I was almost accepting it but when I closely looked at scap symptoms on guavas it did not much with one in the picture.This problem is more of entomological than pathological. We shall plate it and see the culture and examine the spore.

Godwin says...
Am Plant Pathologist am not yet a farmer but soon. The farming community bring their diseases plant samples to us for identification hence is my interest in the discussion and unfortunately it not coming out. The answers I am seeing are too shallow. Help me.

Godwin says...
Any success? You said you will check with other people.

Brendan says...
Hi Rick & Godwin, I'd say your soil is too sour. Add dolomite, a good handfull to the sq. metre, scratch it into the soil, cover with lots of mulch and water in. Also, I'd add a bit of boron (borax) and Sulphate of Potash fertilizer as well. Spray the trees and fruit with 30g copperoxy chloride (a good tablespoon full) in 4.5 litres of water with 60ml of a good wetting agent. This will take a while to come good.

Wayne says...
Hello Aahil
I had exactly the same problem, to me they are aphids and I ended up fixing them by spraying with Lebaycid. I dare say there are more friendly sprays about but these critters were extremely thick on my tree and they took some killing.

Sharma says...
Hi All forum members,
if you have any pests or disease in your plants start spraying the plant with neem oil and soap water mixture. it would do wonders for you.
regards,
Sharma

ad says...
It was because of helopeltis attack.

paula-f says...
I have this problem with my red cherry quavas too Diana....would love to know what it is. My whole tree is covered with mosquito netting.

Diana says...
Hi BJ,

Thanks for the reply. It is not wind rub on most of them, because it's all over (not just where it might rub), and it's on fruit in the open on the outside of the fruit at the tips of branches as well (just more in the mesh bags).

The woody guavas might be a different thing, I don't know. That affected all of my cherry guavas that were in mesh bags- it does look similar to the other brown stuff.

It is something about this year that didn't affect last year's crop, which makes me think it is related to high rainfall.

Almost no guavas are unblemished, they all have tiny holes, even ones in bags. Perhaps something smaller than a fruit fly is getting in?

If no-one knows, perhaps I will try some generic sprays for verious problems one at a time (pyrethrum? copper? sulphur? white oil??). It may be too late though.

Next year I'm going to saturate with spinosad.

Peter says...
It might be thrips sucking on the fruit surface. The dead cells turn brown, but the flesh inside is unharmed. This year I have massive problems with it on my red cherry guavas and they also turned all leaves of my nearby Ugni silvery.
Garlic spray will kill those thrips. Also a chance that certain mites done the damage, anyway garlic spray will knock them all out.

amanda says...
Diana - u could try an experiment and put one of the badly damaged fruits in a jar (with glad wrap punctured with holes over the top) and keep it inside and see if 'anything' hatches out maybe..? Bit like a school project :))

It won't mean much if nothing does - but if something does then it might help.
Yum - guava paste! I am going to have a go at making tomatoe jelly (using gelatine) - just for fun! Don't know if it's possible - but I have tasted some wine jellies in the past that were divine!

Hash says...
Hi all, I have 2 trees of The guava (not sure if imported or not) anyway the leaves are rusty color and the frist tree i plnted lost all its leaves after 2 months of planting although we did protect it from frosts, still lost its leaves all toghter, which might indicate more then just cold weather..
i have a second tree and it seems that
it too the leaves are withering and dying off..and some leaves have some sort of spots on them...rustick spots..anyway know how to deal with it?

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