INFLUENCE OF THE PHENOLOGICAL PHASE OF TWO PEPPER CULTIVARS ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF Polyphagotarsonemus latus (BANKS)

Resumen

The severity of the damages caused by Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) in the protected production of pepper have been related to the phenological phases of the crop. The
influence of the phenological phases on the damages produced by P. latus on two Cuban pepper cultivars is evaluated in the present work. Groups of eight pots were formed with plants of each of the cultivars. The treatments consisted in the infestation of the apical zone of the plants with ten females of the broad mite at 5, 7, 10 and 14 weeks of seed germination, time periods corresponding to the different phenological phases. A group of eight plants of both cultivars were left uninfested as controls. After infestation, one leaf was collected from the apical zone of each plant every seven
days for eight weeks to determine the number of mites. In addition, the leaf fresh and dry weights and the leaf area were determined. The trial was concluded after 22 weeks, when the height and the fresh and dry weights of the plants were determined. The number of mites present in each of
the pepper phenological phases was statistically different in both cultivars. Both cultivars showed significant differences in the plant height and fresh and dry weights in relation to the remaining treatments and the control only when the mite was released at the vegetative growth phase. These results suggest that the pepper crop is more vulnerable to the attack of the broad mite at the initial life cycle phases of the crop. Therefore, it is when the crop must be protected with greater emphasis.