Compendium of Cucurbit Diseases and Pests, Second Edition

Compendium of Cucurbit Diseases and Pests, Second Edition, provides the latest diagnostic and management information regarding diseases, disorders, and pests of all cultivated cucurbits. This new edition is organized as follows:


•  The Introduction provides background on cucurbits and their production, including botany and culture, seed production and seed health testing, cultural practices, cucurbit diseases, plant-associated foodborne pathogens, postharvest handling, and human health.

•  Part I, Infectious Diseases, includes sections on approximately 90 diseases organized by type of pathogen: fungi and oomycetes, bacteria, phytoplasmas, viruses, nematodes, and parasitic plants. Each disease section includes information on symptoms, causal organisms, distribution, diagnostic features and detection methods, and management strategies.

•  Part II, Mite and Insect Pests, includes sections on mites and a range of insects: beetles, aphids, squash bugs, whiteflies, leafminers, moths and caterpillars, and thrips. Each pest section includes information on life history and description, damage caused, and management strategies.

•  Part III, Noninfectious (Abiotic) Disorders, includes sections on air pollution, herbicide injury, nutritional disorders, bitter fruit, crown blight and crown decline, measles, moisture stress, pollination problems, and temperature stress.

•  Part IV, Diseases of Unknown Etiology, discusses target cluster and ground stain.

•  The appendix provides common names of diseases along with the pathogens that cause them, and the glossary and the index provide useful resources for readers. 


Each part of the book is well illustrated, primarily with color photos. More than 300 images are provided, most of them new to this edition.


The purpose of this book is to assist in the identification and management of diseases and pests, and it is intended for use by growers, crop consultants, Extension educators, diagnosticians, plant pathologists, entomologists, horticulturists, regulators, and gardeners. Management recommendations focus on cultural practices that can be applied across many growing regions. 


Quantity discounts are available for easy distribution to field representatives and other experts at your organization; VIP clients/customers in the cucurbit industry; colleagues in state and county Extension agencies; and fellow researchers and diagnosticians at your institution.


New in the Second Edition

Since APS PRESS published the first edition of the Compendium of Cucurbit Diseases in 1996, cucurbit culture, production, and pest management have progressed remarkably. Worldwide production of all four major cucurbits—watermelon, cucumber, melon, and squash—has increased more than 100%, with the greatest expansion in watermelon and cucumber production, which has increased more than 200%. Locally grown crops, some dedicated to niche markets, now improve the variety of cucurbit choices available to consumers. Cucurbits as plant-based foods provide important answers to persistent global problems that include hunger, malnutrition, vitamin A blindness, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. 


Almost half of the sections included in the first edition were rewritten for the second edition, and all sections were updated. One-third of the sections are new and cover topics that include cucurbit nutrition, seed health testing, one disease caused by a viroid, three diseases caused by fungi, four diseases caused by bacteria, 17 diseases caused by viruses, two diseases (or disorders) of unknown origin, two insects, and foodborne human bacterial pathogens that occur on cucurbits. Five new tables facilitate finding diagnostic information quickly. More than 275 new photos were added to enhance the text. Most sections include cultural management practices that can be implemented by organic producers.