Sweet Potato Vine Pests

The weevil attacks all parts of the plant.

Sweet potato vine pests.

The sweet potato weevil is a serious pest in the field and in storage. So i thought it was slugs sprinkled snail slug bait around them. The plant has enlarged roots called tubers which act as an energy store for the plant. One of the greatest threats to sweetpotato production is the sweetpotato weevil.

When kept healthy plants are resistant to most pests and diseases. I bought 4 ornamental sweet potato vines and over the last 2 weeks they have become the meal of some bugs. It s driving me mad mad. Some leaves have been eaten so much that they are practically gone now.

The adult weevil feeds on all parts of the plant but reproduces only in the stems and roots. The sweet potato looper is a caterpillar that chews on the leaves. Overwatering and poor drainage can cause fungal problems such as fusarium wilt root rot or tuber rot. Possible insect problems include sweet potato looper whitefly aphids thrips slugs flea beetles and weevils.

The sweet potato plant is a branching creeeping vine with spirally arranged lobed heart shaped leaves and white or lavender flowers. Long hind legs for jumping give metallic bronze or black potato flea beetles their name. So i asked them what was causing the holes and i was told it was an annoying pest call the flea beetle. In some areas sweet potato weevils may pose problems as well.

Almost all of the leaves are full of holes and many are also missing huge chunks. The sweet potato weevil is one of the most destructive sweet potato vine pests notes the international potato center. Sweet potato ipomoea batatas is an herbaceous perennial in the family convolvulaceae grown for its edible storage roots. The sweet potato whitefly can drain the plant of nutrients and stunt its growth.

You might want to check to see if they are in your area. But the holes kept on coming lol when i went to the local nursery i saw that their sweet potato vines had the holes. Even low numbers of larvae reduce sweet potato quality and marketable yield. The white legless larvae have brown heads and measure 1.

Adults feed directly on vines and larvae tunnel into the roots causing extensive damage both in field and storage.