Abundance of major pests of anthurium and orchid in relation to temperature and relative humidity under greenhouse conditions

Abstract

Abundance of major pests of anthurium and orchid were studied in relation to temperature and relative humidity under greenhouse conditions at Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat, India. In case of anthurium, no thrips population was observed at any stage of the crop while, mite, Tetranychus urticae population varied from 0.25 to 1.43 mites per 2 cm2 leaf area per plant indicating its highest (1.43) and lowest levels (0.25) at 1 and 7 SMWs, respectively which in turn indicated positive correlation with temperature (maximum and average)(‘r’ = 0.1276 and 0.0156) and relative humidity (‘r’ = 0.1093) and negative with minimum temperature (‘r’ = - 0.1138). Likewise, no pest was observed on orchid during the current investigation except solitary appearance of blossom midge (1.88/plant) at 30 SMW exhibiting positive correlation with temperature (maximum and average) (‘r’ = 0.0947 and 0.0405) and negative with minimum temperature (‘r’ = - 0.0248) and relative humidity (‘r’ = - 0.1605), although the relationships were non-significant.