Papaya Problem

[surat04]

Can anyone with experience of growing Papaya in Thailand help me identify the problem shown in the photographs.The plants are 4-5 months old and apart from the damage to the main trunk appear to be healthy and are now flowering and forming fruit. 2 varieties are planted and almost all 600 plants are showing signs to some degree. Any advice on possible treatments would be welcome

Thanks Surat04

[Lickey]

Hi Surat,

The problem is almost certainly "wet feet", or root rot, same thing, A good start would be to clean a metre dia circle round the base of each plant, let the sun onto the ground to dry it out a bit, its difficult this time of year but every little helps.

The link below will explain treatment, its a bit involved but worth trying.

http://www.ficciagroindia.com/production-g...ya/diseases.htm

Weve had most of the problems on the site but not this one, perhaps because its hillside land, heavy soil but well drained.

Good luck with a cure, Lickey..

[surat04]

Hi Surat,

The problem is almost certainly "wet feet", or root rot, same thing, A good start would be to clean a metre dia circle round the base of each plant, let the sun onto the ground to dry it out a bit, its difficult this time of year but every little helps.

The link below will explain treatment, its a bit involved but worth trying.

http://www.ficciagroindia.com/production-g...ya/diseases.htm

Weve had most of the problems on the site but not this one, perhaps because its hillside land, heavy soil but well drained.

Good luck with a cure, Lickey..

Hi Lickey

Thanks for the link, theres plenty of info for me to read up on. Not sure if these plants will make it as we do not get our rain proper until Nov/Dec down south here. It was a bit of a trial really as they are planted in between some new rubber that we have recently planted.

I had a quick look at the cure but not sure if the chemicals are available around here.

Thanks again

Surat

[cmfarmer]

Can anyone with experience of growing Papaya in Thailand help me identify the problem shown in the photographs.The plants are 4-5 months old and apart from the damage to the main trunk appear to be healthy and are now flowering and forming fruit. 2 varieties are planted and almost all 600 plants are showing signs to some degree. Any advice on possible treatments would be welcome

Thanks Surat04

From the second photo the disease looks quite similar to what we had with our papaya plant at the research station I worked before.

The disease is called phytophthora. We used the chemical Aliette for it. It is in powder form. Stirr about one hundred grams. of the chemcal to make it into a light paste.

Scrape the affected area of the trunk with a clean tool until you see healthy tissue and apply a thin paste all over. The ooze should stop in a few days. Try with some plants and go see the staff at the Plant Pathology Department of the agricultural university or college nearest to your location for confirmation.

You have 600 plants and may tend to spray the grass around the base of the plants with the contact herbicide Gramoxone or other similar one with the active ingredient paraquat. Paraquat kills the green chlorophyll but it can also damage the trunk tissue of your plants. So weeding around the base of the plants by hoe is advised.

During the hot dry months you may notice tiny red colour ' insects' on the underside of the leaves. It is called red spider mite. Post it here for assistance.

[surat04]

I think you are right about the Gramoxone as the whole area was sprayed a few weeks ago. I went to check on the plants at the weekend and they were actually looking better and the trunks seemed to be drying out. I managed to buy some Aliette and applied it as you suggested, although the shop said i should spray it on. The small 100gram packet does not go far when made into a paste though.

Thanks for the help

Surat

[cmfarmer]

I think you are right about the Gramoxone as the whole area was sprayed a few weeks ago. I went to check on the plants at the weekend and they were actually looking better and the trunks seemed to be drying out. I managed to buy some Aliette and applied it as you suggested, although the shop said i should spray it on. The small 100gram packet does not go far when made into a paste though.

Thanks for the help

Surat

If the trunks were damaged by Gramoxone then it is not necessary to use Aliette for further treatment. This chemical is not cheap and not the right treatment.

Instead if the trunks have started to dry out you can apply a light paste of calcium oxicide or lime ( the whitish powder used for house construction ) on the affected part to prevent infection. No scraping is necessary.

What variety of papaya do you have ? Is it papaya ring spot tolerant ?

[surat04]

Hi cmfarmer

seems like i misunderstood your first post. The variety we have is called Krang, my wife purchased the seeds by mail from a guy in Chiangmai. Not sure if they are tolerant to ring spot. What should i look out for?

Surat

[cmfarmer]

Hi cmfarmer

seems like i misunderstood your first post. The variety we have is called Krang, my wife purchased the seeds by mail from a guy in Chiangmai. Not sure if they are tolerant to ring spot. What should i look out for?

Surat

There are two serious diseases of papaya I can think of in Thailand, mosaic and ringspot. I have no photo to show you but I think you use Google to search for the images. Both are transmitted by insects.

I would suggest you see the Plant Pathology Department of the university or agricultural college nearest to your location.

I am not familiar with the variety of the papaya you mentioned. The common variety here is the Kek Dum. Perhaps you could contact the gentleman who sold you the seed if the variety is tolerant to ringspot disease.