Garlic Pest Busters Quiz Quiz

Explore essential strategies and knowledge for managing pests in garlic horticulture. Assess different methods and identify best practices for protecting garlic crops from common threats.

1. Identifying a Common Garlic Pest

   Which insect is a major pest known for causing damage to garlic bulbs by burrowing into them and leaving brown tunnels?

   1. Colorado potato beetle
   2. Onion maggot
   3. Aphid
   4. Whitefly

   Explanation: Onion maggots frequently attack garlic by burrowing into bulbs, resulting in tunneling damage. The Colorado potato beetle typically targets potatoes and eggplant, not garlic. Aphids are sap-sucking pests found mainly on leaves, and whiteflies usually affect leafy vegetables and ornamentals.

2. Cultural Pest Management Technique

   What is an effective cultural practice to reduce garlic pest infestations, especially improving soil conditions and reducing overwintering pest populations?

   1. Burning garlic leaves
   2. Spraying with neonicotinoids
   3. Crop rotation
   4. Applying lime sulfur spray

   Explanation: Crop rotation disrupts pest life cycles by changing host availability, helping prevent build-up of pests in one area. Neonicotinoids and lime sulfur are chemical treatments, not cultural practices. Burning garlic leaves can injure the crop and is not a recommended pest management strategy.

3. Biological Control Example

   Which of the following is an example of a biological control method used to manage garlic pests?

   1. Introducing predatory nematodes
   2. Handpicking adult beetles
   3. Watering garlic at night
   4. Covering garlic plants with plastic mulch

   Explanation: Introducing predatory nematodes helps control soil-dwelling pests by naturally reducing their populations. Plastic mulch is a physical barrier, watering at night can increase disease risk, and handpicking is a physical rather than biological control method.

4. Understanding Integrated Pest Management

   Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in garlic cultivation involves combining multiple strategies. Which is NOT a typical component of IPM?

   1. Utilizing resistant garlic varieties
   2. Implementing crop hygiene practices
   3. Monitoring pest populations regularly
   4. Using only a single chemical pesticide repeatedly

   Explanation: IPM emphasizes combining various control strategies, such as monitoring, resistant varieties, and hygiene, rather than relying exclusively on one pesticide. Repeated use of one pesticide can lead to resistance and is contrary to IPM principles.

5. Recognizing Damage Symptoms

   If garlic plants show yellowing leaves, stunted growth, and rotting at the base, which pest or disease should be suspected?

   1. Nematode infestation
   2. Cabbage looper damage
   3. Anthracnose fungus
   4. Blister beetle feeding

   Explanation: Nematode infestations often cause yellowing leaves, stunted growth, and basal rot in garlic. Blister beetles usually chew foliage but don't cause rotting; anthracnose generally affects aboveground parts with lesions; cabbage loopers prefer leafy crops and rarely affect garlic.