Hi!

Today I will tell about peanut plant disease and insects on my blog. Diseases and insects can damage the peanut plant, which is way it is important to know about them.

The most common diseases are leaf spot. Leaf spot is a fungus that grows in areas where the weather is warm and moist. The plant leaves will have small spots with light centers. Eventually, the leaves will turn yellow and drop-off.
However, there are multiple ways to control leaf spot, for example crop rotation, remove damaged leaves, plant certified disease-free seeds and stay away from plants when they are wet. These methods are ways of preventing it and if the plants have leave spot, take action as soon as possible to prevent other plants from getting leaf spots as well.

The most common insect pests for the peanut plant are aphids. Aphids are small light green bugs and they multiply rapidly. Aphids suck sap that is within the plant and that can cause damage in a short amount of time. This insect can be prevented by checking the plants regularly and if these insects are present, you can spray with insecticidal soap sprays.

Other common insect pests are Nematodes, Thrips, Leafhoppers, Southern corn rootworm, White grubs and the Wireworm.

- Nematodes: Microscopic small and look like a worm. they kill root systems and cutting down yields. Moreover, they can also carry and spread diseases. How to prevent Nematodes is by crop rotation and add loads of organic matter before the seeds are put in the ground.
- Thrips: Microscopic pests that can transmit diseases. Thrips causes damage of whitish patches on the leaves. They can be controlled with insecticidal soap or destroy severely infested plants.
- Leafhoppers: Leafhoppers suck on the underside of the peanut leaves and spreading diseases. By sucking on the plant, the leaves will turn yellow. To prevent damage of the leafhoppers, control the weeds and cover the plants with floating row covers. If the leafhoppers are already on the plant spraying with pyrethrum can help.
- Southern corn rootworm: Rootworms can kill the entire peanut plant. Rootworms bore into young plants and feed on peanut pegs and pods in the soil. To control corn rootworms, treat the soil with beneficial nematodes.
- White grubs: They live in the soil and feed on the ground parts of the peanut plant. The way to control grubs is by growing green manure crops and by not planting peanuts where grass grew recently. The soil can be treated with beneficial nematodes or milky spore powder.
- Wireworm: Wireworms feed as well as grubs on roots and other underground parts of the peanut plants. To control wireworms there can be made use of beneficial nematodes.

the best chance of harvesting the most peanuts. If the diseases and/or insects occur, you can have a yield loss. This depends on the type of insect/disease and the rate of infected plants.

Take good care of the peanut plants and look good if you see anything unwanted. The faster you see it, the better you can take care of it!