Aphids Are A Thunderstorm Of Gardens And Vegetable Gardens. Struggle, Means, How To Get Rid Of. On Plants, On Roses, On Flowers. Photo

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Aphids Are A Thunderstorm Of Gardens And Vegetable Gardens. Struggle, Means, How To Get Rid Of. On Plants, On Roses, On Flowers. Photo
Aphids Are A Thunderstorm Of Gardens And Vegetable Gardens. Struggle, Means, How To Get Rid Of. On Plants, On Roses, On Flowers. Photo

Video: Aphids Are A Thunderstorm Of Gardens And Vegetable Gardens. Struggle, Means, How To Get Rid Of. On Plants, On Roses, On Flowers. Photo

Video: Aphids Are A Thunderstorm Of Gardens And Vegetable Gardens. Struggle, Means, How To Get Rid Of. On Plants, On Roses, On Flowers. Photo
Video: How to Control Aphids! 🙅‍♀️🌿// Garden Answer 2024, March
Anonim

Often in summer cottages, aphids damage many trees and bushes, thereby causing irreparable damage to gardeners. This small insect harms not only a garden plant, but also indoor plants. You can even see it with the naked eye. Vegetable, fruit, berry and flower crops are damaged by various types of aphids. Often, many gardeners do not know how to heal already diseased plants. Let's figure out what kind of insect it is - aphid, and how to deal with it?

Colony of Green Rose Aphid (Macrosiphum rosae) on a young shoot of a rose
Colony of Green Rose Aphid (Macrosiphum rosae) on a young shoot of a rose

Content:

  • Description of aphids
  • Reproduction and air migration of aphids
  • Aphid damage
  • External signs of defeat
  • Prevention of aphids
  • Ways to combat aphids

Description of aphids

Aphids (Aphididae) are insects of the order Hemiptera, ranging in size from 0.5 to 2 mm. The body is ovoid, soft and easily crushed, the legs are long, but insects move slowly. There are wingless and winged individuals.

The wingless female is oblong-oval in shape, the oral apparatus is long, thickened in front. Winged insects have two pairs of wings, they fly over and infect other plants. The rapid reproduction of aphids is explained by the fact that one fertilization is enough for a wingless female to give offspring up to 150 larvae 10-20 times every two weeks.

An adult aphid is a small green or black insect. In the middle of summer, some individuals grow wings. Thus, pests move long distances to find new sources of food. Aphids live on buds, stems and the underside of leaves, on the tops of young shoots, giving preference to fattening branches (tops).

Aphids are an extremely large group of insects. According to the most conservative estimates, it unites about 4,000 species, of which almost a thousand live in Europe. Every year more and more new species are described.

Reproduction and air migration of aphids

Aphids lay eggs, some species have viviparity. Most aphid species reproduce over several generations through parthenogenesis. A certain generation is born winged and heterosexual. In species that change hosts, this happens before the colonization of a new plant or when the colony grows too quickly and the associated overpopulation. Winged individuals are able to travel long distances and create new colonies in new places.

According to new research, the birth of winged aphids may also be caused by a special scent released by aphids when they are attacked by enemies such as ladybirds. These warning substances cause great anxiety and increased movement in the colony. This creates the effect of overpopulation, which causes the rapid production of winged offspring.

Aphid colony on cabbage
Aphid colony on cabbage

Aphid damage

The harm caused to plants by aphids is underestimated by many, but in vain. Aphids suck plant sap from stems and leaves, buds and buds. In the affected plant, leaves curl, buds and shoots are deformed, growth slows down, fruits do not ripen. A weakened plant may not survive the winter. In addition to direct damage, aphids carry viral diseases, a black sooty fungus (black sooty dew) settles on the sugary secretions of aphids.

Aphids pierce the covers of the plant and suck out the sap. In places of mass bites, the tissues are deformed and then die off. Flowers on affected peduncles do not develop, wither, barely opening. The peduncle itself fades quickly. Aphids, like mealybugs, root bugs, whiteflies, leafhoppers, scabbards, false scutes, suck out much more juice from the plant than they need to maintain vitality.

Excess moisture and carbohydrates are excreted from the aphids' body in the form of sugary secretions, which are called honeydew or honeydew. This sticky, sweet liquid coats the plant making it difficult to breathe. Pad is a good substrate for the development of various fungi. Sooty fungi, for example, can cover a leaf in a continuous layer, reducing the intensity of photosynthesis, which inhibits already weakened plants.

Aphid colony on mallow leaves
Aphid colony on mallow leaves

External signs of defeat

Along with insects that are clearly visible to the naked eye, deformed tops of the shoots, twisted leaves, as well as sweet secretions (honeydew) on the leaves and shoots indicate the defeat of aphids. Subsequently, a sooty fungus settles on these secretions. If you see ants running around the plant, be sure to check for aphids. Typically, ants are attracted to the honeydew produced by aphids.

Aphids live in large groups on the underside of leaves, around growth points, on young shoots, buds, pedicels, feeding on plant juices. They pose a danger in that they weaken the plant, reduce its resistance to diseases, and can also be carriers of viral diseases.

In damaged plants, the leaves curl and turn yellow, form nodules, buds do not develop or give ugly flowers. A sticky bloom appears on mature leaves, in which the fungus can settle. Especially affected by aphids are roses, carnations, fuchsias, many aroid, forcing bulbous crops.

Many species of aphids are capable of spreading plant diseases in the form of viruses and causing various anomalies in plants such as galls and gall-like formations.

Ants guarding the aphid colony
Ants guarding the aphid colony

Prevention of aphids

Aphids can settle on almost any garden and indoor plants, it is important not to miss the moment and start the fight on time. Fruit trees and shrubs, roses, chrysanthemums, and many indoor plants are especially attractive to green aphids. For black - legumes, garden cornflower, etc.

Carefully inspect all new plants brought into the house or bought for the garden, as well as bouquets of fresh flowers - they may already have aphids. If an enemy is found, take urgent measures to combat him, otherwise he will occupy your plants and the fight will require immeasurably great efforts from you.

If we are talking about aphids in the garden: plant umbrella plants - carrots, dill, fennel, parsley and others. Thus, you will attract tireless aphid eaters to the garden - hoverflies. Arrange flower pots with wood shavings in the garden - earwigs can settle in them, as well as big lovers of aphids for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Attract birds to the garden - arrange feeders, birdhouses for them, do not destroy the nests found in the garden, birds eat aphids in huge quantities.

Thyme (savory) sown next to legumes will protect them from black aphids.

Sow nasturtium in the near-trunk circle of cherries - it will attract black aphids, reducing the load on the tree, and besides, it is easier to fight aphids on nasturtium than on a tree.

Aphids piercing the stem of a plant
Aphids piercing the stem of a plant

Do not abuse chemicals unnecessarily - together with pests, you destroy their enemies: hoverflies, earwigs, ladybugs, lacewings, wasps, ground beetles and predatory bugs.

Balanced feeding of plants is very important - aphids prefer plants that are overfed or weak from lack of nutrients. In addition to proper feeding, a strong healthy plant needs the right choice of growing place, a sufficient amount of light and water, good air circulation - all this is also a pest prevention. It is important to loosen the soil under the plants, and it is better to mulch.

Aphid colony on a yarrow stem
Aphid colony on a yarrow stem

Ways to combat aphids

Aphid insecticides

Aphids are easily destroyed by insecticides. Insecticides from aphids are divided into preparations of contact, intestinal and systemic action.

Contact drugs penetrate the surface of the insect's body and kill it. An example of such drugs is the drug Fufanon (Karbofos).

Intestinal preparations enter the digestive system of the insect, causing poisoning and death in it.

Systemic drugs penetrate into all plant cells, including fruits, and are contained in it from 2 to 4 weeks, they are not washed off by rain and watering. Systemic drugs have the longest waiting period, are convenient to use, but the most dangerous. They must be used carefully. The most modern systemic drugs: Aktara, Biotlin, Tanrek.

Aphid eating ladybug
Aphid eating ladybug

Folk remedies against aphids

Decoctions and infusions of herbs against aphids

Decoctions from herbs and crops are effective, for example, from wild wormwood, wormwood, tansy, tobacco dust, yarrow, hot pepper, dandelion, garlic, onion, tomato tops, potato tops, mustard, rhubarb (from black aphids). Requires 2-3 treatments at intervals of 7-10 days.

An infusion of garlic or onion is quite suitable: pour 30 grams of chopped garlic (onion) and 4 grams of laundry soap with a liter of water. And if you water a houseplant with a liter of warm water, in which you dissolve 80 grams of table salt, you can get rid of both aphids and ticks. Spraying and watering should be carried out at least three times with a break of 10 days.

You can use an infusion of onion peels, tomato leaves. The treatment must be repeated 3 times with an interval of 8-10 days. In case of severe aphid infestation, small plants can be dipped into this solution, after covering the ground. You can also put fragrant pelargonium near the plant affected by aphids for 2-3 days, and the aphids will disappear.

Malicious insects have a negative attitude to the infusion of hot chilli pepper. 100 g of fresh fruits are poured with water and boiled for at least an hour in a liter sealed container. Then they insist for two days, grind the pepper, and filter the solution. For spraying, the concentrate is diluted tenfold with water, add a tablespoon of soap powder.

Abundant watering with liquid fertilizer from the nettle sometimes allows you to expel aphids in a few days. Plants quickly assimilate this nutritious, strengthening mixture and therefore become more resistant to pests after a short time.

Celandine collected during flowering (take the whole plant). 300-400 g of fresh or 100 g of dry crushed mass must be infused in 1 liter of water for 24-36 hours or boiled for 30 minutes. It also helps against false shields and thrips.

Dandelion medicinal (300 g of crushed roots or 400 g of fresh leaves are infused for 1-2 hours in 10 liters of warm water (not higher than 40 degrees), filtered and sprayed.

Tagetis (marigolds) at the time of flowering (dry raw materials fill 1/2 bucket, pour 10 liters of warm water, leave for 2 days, filter and add 40 g of soap).

Lavender planted in a rose garden
Lavender planted in a rose garden

Other decoctions and infusions

Pour 100 g of dry citrus peels with 1 liter of warm water and leave for three days in a warm place. Then spray.

Tobacco, makhorka. 40 g of dry raw materials are infused in 1 liter of water for 2 days, filtered and another liter of water is added.

Also, when aphids appear, the plant is sprayed with a solution of tar soap (10 g per liter of water) or a settled and strained decoction of wood ash, prepared as follows: 300 g of sifted ash is poured with boiling water and put on fire for 30 minutes. Top up with 10 liters of water before use.

Wood ash. 2 glasses of ash are infused in 10 liters. water, add 50 gr. shavings of laundry soap.

Manual assembly

If all several aphids have appeared on the plant, remove them with a damp cotton swab.

Of course, at first glance, it seems that it is impossible to exterminate these "small parasites", looking at the plants eaten by aphids, they immediately give up, but you should not despair so early! For example, my grandmother fights aphids exclusively using folk methods and I want to say they work!

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