What's eating my cavendish banana?

Cavendish bananas face the banana weevil as their most destructive pest — larvae tunnel through the corm and can kill entire plants. Banana aphids spread cucumber mosaic virus, and spider mites cause leaf stippling in hot, dry spells. Outdoors, nematodes weaken root systems and topple mature plants.

Larvae tunnel through the corm and pseudostem base, causing wilting, plant collapse, and drastically reduced yields. Use clean certified planting material; remove and destroy infested corms. Set pheromone traps. Keep the plantation free of old pseudostem trash where adults shelter.

Leaf curl and sticky honeydew on young foliage; more critically, vectors Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) causing stunted, stiff upright leaves. Remove and destroy BBTV-infected plants immediately. Apply insecticidal soap or neem oil to control aphid colonies; encourage parasitic wasps.

Fine yellow stippling on upper leaf surfaces, webbing on undersides; leaves bronze and die in severe infestations. Maintain adequate irrigation and humidity; apply horticultural oil or miticide. Introduce predatory mites (Phytoseiidae) in enclosed growing environments.

Root rot, corm lesions, and 'toppling disease' where heavily infested plants fall over before harvest. Use nematode-free planting stock; hot-water treatment of corms at 52 °C for 20 minutes. Rotate planting sites; soil fumigation is an option in commercial settings.