Year-Round IPM Program Pages
This year-round IPM program covers the major pests of cucurbits in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Coachella, Palos Verde and Imperial Valleys, as well as Riverside County.
About Bloom
- Special issues of concern related to environmental quality: runoff, drift, risk to bees and native pollinators, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
- Mitigate pesticide effects on air and water quality.
What should you be doing during this time?
Remove row covers before first bloom.
Look for the following pests or their damage and manage if needed according to the Cucurbits Pest Management Guidelines.
Arthropods- Aphids (green peach and melon)
- Beet armyworm
- Cabbage looper
- Cucumber beetle
- Cutworm (in honeydew, crenshaw, and casaba melon)
- Spider mites
- Squash bug (in squash, pumpkin, and melon)
- Yellowstriped armyworm
- Whiteflies
- Downy mildew
- Powdery mildew
Note symptoms or damage from the following and manage prior to future planting:
- Charcoal rot
- Fusarium wilt (in cantaloupe and watermelon)
- Root knot nematodes
- Root rots
- Sudden wilt
- Verticillium wilt
- Vine decline-like symptoms caused by Pythium
- Viruses (Cucumber mosaic, Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows, Potyviruses, Squash mosaic virus)
Other pests and damage you may see:
Arthropods- Darkling ground beetles
- Flea beetles
- Leafhoppers
- Leafminer
- Thrips