Along with diseases, garden and vegetable pest beetles cause severe, sometimes irreparable damage to plantings. Plants wither, stop budding, fruits dry out and rot. If you do not pull out the weeds and do not take other control measures, garden pests spread throughout the area with lightning speed, threatening the destruction of the entire crop. It is necessary for every gardener to know the “enemy,” as they say, “by sight.” Read the description of plant pest beetles and their photographs.
Garden pest cruciferous flea beetle
There are several types of cruciferous flea beetles that are found everywhere.
These are small bugs that gnaw out the top layer of the leaves of cruciferous plants, resulting in ulcers and small holes appearing on them. Seedlings and young plants are especially affected; if the growth point is damaged by beetles, they may die.
Planting seedlings early promotes faster growth and development of plants. In addition, it increases resistance to damage.
Also, during the period of mass appearance of the pest beetle, plants can be treated with tobacco dust mixed with ash 2-3 times at intervals of several days.
Garden pest dark click beetle
This garden pest beetle is a brown-black beetle with red-brown elytra, the length of which does not exceed 1 cm.
Unlike other beetles, when tipped over on its back, the dusky click beetle can jump up. At the same time, it makes a sound similar to a click, which determined its name.
Look at the photo: This pest beetle lays thin, long (up to 4 cm), smooth, cylindrical larvae.
At the initial stage they are translucent, then acquire a yellow-brown tint. The development of larvae occurs within 3-5 years.
The beetles overwinter in the top layer of soil at a depth of up to 15 cm, from where they emerge in the spring when the cherry tree begins to bloom.
As you can see in the photo, these garden pests first feed on the buds, flowers and leaves of trees, then move on to the ovaries of fruits, making deep holes in them.
10 days after cherry blossoms, female trumpetworms begin to lay eggs in the pulp of the berries, covering the holes with excrement. After a week, larvae emerge from the eggs, make their way to the bone and eat it from the inside. After another month, the larva moves into the soil, where it pupates. There she remains to spend the winter.
To combat the cherry borer, it is necessary to collect and destroy the affected fruits.
Like all insect pests, these beetles are “afraid” of loosening and digging up the soil near trees, which causes a decrease in the population.
Garden pest flower beetle
The flower beetle is a black insect with a bluish tint and brown legs, whose body length is 2.5 mm.
Pay attention to the photo: These vegetable garden pests lay white-gray larvae covered with black warts.
The rapeseed flower beetle damages radishes, turnips, daikon, watercress, horseradish and various varieties of cabbage.
The beetles overwinter under fallen leaves, on plant debris, and also in thickets of bushes.
Beetles appear in early spring on the flowers of any herbaceous plants. During the period of bud formation on cabbage plants, the rapeseed flower beetle moves onto them and begins to feed on the internal parts of the bud and pollen. Females lay eggs in unopened buds, from which larvae hatch after 10 days and damage the flowers.
After 3 weeks, the larvae of these plant pest beetles move into the soil, where they pupate. In June-July, flower beetles of a new generation appear.
Spraying should be carried out 2 times a week. Treatment should be stopped 1 week before harvest.
It is advisable to plant plants in the ground as early as possible so that they bloom before the females are ready to lay eggs in the flower buds.
Garden pest beetle rapeseed bug
This pest is a small bug that damages radishes, turnips, rapeseed, turnips, daikon, watercress, cabbage, and horseradish.
Overwintering of rapeseed bugs takes place under fallen leaves and other plant debris. They come to the surface in early June. Females begin to lay eggs on the stems, leaves and pods of plants.
Leaves damaged by this beetle turn yellow and dying spots appear on them. Young shoots may die. The ovaries and flowers fall off.
To combat the rapeseed bug, it is recommended to spray the plants with an infusion of onion peels. To prepare it, you need to pour 2 cups of chopped onion peel into 10 liters of boiling water and leave for 1 day. Spraying with the resulting infusion should be carried out 2 times a week with a break of 5 days. Treatment should be stopped 3 days before harvest.
Insect pests of plants are a real scourge of the garden. What measures do experienced plant growers take to protect their plantings? Unfortunately, most control methods turn out to be useless, and all because each pest requires its own “approach” - some are enough to be collected by hand, while others cannot be eliminated without pesticides.
Just like people, plants can get sick. In addition, there are also numerous insect pests of plants - those who like to feast on leaves, roots, buds and flowers. And the gardener becomes very upset and painful when his pets suffer from diseases and pests. How to protect the garden? The main thing is proper care, and a healthy plant can stand up for itself. It is not difficult to deal with many pests of cultivated plants if measures are taken in time, but if this is not done through ignorance or negligence, then it will be much more difficult to defeat this scourge.
To successfully combat plant pests, you need to know the “enemies” by sight. It is equally important to have an idea of the nature of the damage that this or that pest causes, since thrips cannot be seen without a magnifying glass, the slug hides in secluded places for the day, and many, having eaten to their fill, fly away.
You can find photos and names of plant pests, as well as their descriptions and the most effective methods of control on this page.
Root pests of garden plants
The click beetle damages many flowering plants, including tulips, poppies, and gladioli. This is a small pest, 1.5-2.5 cm long, black in color, and there are striped individuals. Distributed everywhere, but most numerous and harmful on wet soils.
As can be seen in the photo, the larvae of plant pests, known as “wireworms,” are narrow, long, consisting of segments, with a very dense shell of yellow or brown color:
They live in the ground and damage the bulbs or roots of plants, eating holes and passages in them. Fungi and bacteria settle in the damage, and the plant dies over time. In the winter, insects and larvae hide deep in the soil; in the spring, as the soil warms up, they rise to the top.
Hoverfly, or large daffodil fly. Its larvae cause great damage to the bulbs of daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and can also damage gladioli corms and iris rhizomes. The larvae, about 1 cm long, overwinter in the bulbs. These pests of plant roots eat away the bottom, and the bulb becomes soft. In the spring, weak plants with ugly, quickly yellowing leaves are formed from the affected bulbs; flowering usually does not occur. With severe damage, the entire inside of the bulb turns into a black, rotting mass.
Onion root mite harms bulbous plants - daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, and also damages gladioli corms and dahlia tubers. The mite poses a danger both during the growing season and during storage of planting material. These insect pests of cultivated plants persist in the soil on plant debris and quickly penetrate bulbs planted in the ground through the bottom or mechanical damage, but healthy planting material can also be affected. Pests settle between the scales and feed on the juice, wearing away at the bottom, which becomes loose and peels off easily. At the same time, the plants develop poorly, turn yellow, wither, and if the bulbs are heavily infested with mites, they do not sprout at all. An adult tick has a convex oval body up to 1 mm in size, light yellow in color, with four pairs of legs. The larvae are smaller. Females lay up to 800 eggs in bulbs. After a week, larvae appear, which develop and feed inside the bulbs for a month. Adult mites and their larvae make numerous passages, as a result of which the worn-out bulb can turn into dust. The pest loves warmth and moisture. When humidity is below 60%, the development of mites stops, they lose mobility and enter the resting stage. They can remain in this state for a long time. It is very difficult to destroy the pest.
Iris and winter cutworms- dangerous pests of bearded and, especially, Siberian irises. At the beginning of the growing season, cutworm caterpillars eat away the bases of flower stalks, and they turn yellow and dry out. These pests of garden plants are not able to “cut off” the powerful flower stalks of tall bearded irises, but the damage they cause is sufficient for the flower stalks to be blown over by the wind. In addition, caterpillars can also damage rhizomes, which are then easily affected by bacterial rot. In dry summers, iris plantings are more affected by armyworms. Cutworm caterpillars also harm bulbous plants by gnawing holes in the bulbs and eating the roots. Plants often die in this case.
May Khrushchev or May Beetle. This large red-brown beetle eats holes of irregular shapes on the leaves in May-June. This plant pest got its name because the beetles' flight begins in May. For plants, it is not so much the beetle itself that is dangerous as its thick, curved larvae, more than 2.5 cm long. Over the course of several years, the larvae develop in the soil, gnawing and damaging roots or bulbs. As a result, the plant weakens and may die. Large numbers of larvae are found in organic debris and manure.
What are the main pests of cultivated bulbous plants?
What other insect pests of cultivated plants cause enormous damage to garden plantings?
Root nematode- one of the main pests of plants, including violas and daffodils. It is a microscopic worm, invisible to the naked eye. Adult males are up to 1.5 mm long, their body shape is thread-like. The females of these pests of garden plants have a pear-shaped body up to 1.3 mm long. The female lays up to 400 eggs. The larvae develop in galls - swellings on the roots of plants. Roots damaged by root-knot nematodes are unable to provide the plant with sufficient nutrition and water. Plants are stunted and do not bloom. Often the roots rot due to pathogenic organisms entering the galls. From the galls, the pests move into the soil and penetrate into the small roots of other plants, which also stop growing, turn yellow and often die. The root-knot nematode spreads better on light soils. Pests also cause great losses to bulbous plants. The larvae feed on the juice of leaves and stems, and then move into the bulb. It softens, and brown rings are visible on the cross section, the so-called “ring rot.” Affected plants become smaller, the leaves turn yellow and swellings are visible on them. Plant development is delayed, they bloom poorly, and if severely damaged, they die. These pests of bulbous plants penetrate healthy planting material when planted in contaminated soil, as well as during storage. If the damage reaches the bottom and spreads to the remaining scales, the bulb dies.
Thrips they hover like a cloud over their favorite “food” - gladioli and irises, leaving silvery spots on the flowers and leaves. The buds bloom poorly, and if the damage is severe, the inflorescence does not form at all. Hot and dry summers are favorable for pest reproduction. During a season, up to 9 generations of thrips develop in the southern regions. The pest can also damage planting material located in storage. Thrips are especially active at temperatures above 10 °C. A sign of thrips damage is shiny scabs on corms, bulbs or tubers. Thrips, when there are a lot of them, can cause great harm and even destroy planting material during storage. Thrips damages irises, gladioli, clematis, roses, and less commonly dahlias and other crops. Small insects, about 1.5 mm long, barely visible to the naked eye, cause significant damage to garden plants. Thrips settle in the leaf axils. The upper surface of the leaves, damaged by many injections, acquires a silvery sheen. When there is a large concentration of pests, the leaves become covered with small black specks of insect excrement. As a result of severe damage, the leaves turn yellow, dry out and fall off, which has a detrimental effect on the development of the entire plant, the formation of peduncles and flowers.
Medvedka(top, cabbage, earthen crayfish). The pest poses a serious threat to tulips and gladioli; it is not averse to gnawing on the bulbs of other flowers. It is also dangerous for irises, especially in the southern regions. It can completely destroy newly planted summer seedlings.
Pay attention to the photo - this insect pest of plants reaches a length of 3.5 to 5 cm:
It has wings, strong movable horny jaws, strong front claws equipped with a serrated file to make it easier to dig passages in the ground. When moving in one direction, the saw-tooth file folds and forms a sharp spear, and in the other direction it opens to a certain angle like a saw blade and cuts the soil, and with it roots, tubers, and bulbs. The pest easily travels underground, swims quickly in water and flies through the air. Crawling out to the surface of the ground, it moves quite quickly. The insect's "uniform" is durable and waterproof. The pest has a very subtle sense of smell. The mole cricket causes the greatest damage on loose, fertilized soils and in warm areas, where it can reproduce in huge numbers.
What do common pests of garden plants look like?
The cabbage cutworm is polyphagous. Caterpillars cause damage to various crops. The most frequently damaged flowers are daffodils, tulips, gladioli, and dahlias. This is a dark brown butterfly with a wingspan of up to 5 cm. The pupae overwinter in the soil. This insect pest is described as similar to a moth. The butterfly flight begins in May-June and continues for a long time. During the season, one female lays up to 1500 eggs on the lower surface of the leaves. After 2-3 weeks, caterpillars emerge from them. During their development, they cause significant damage to flowering plants, gnawing holes in leaves and buds.
Khrushchi. Golden bronze beetle and garden beetle are small beetles that eat the stamens, pistils and petals of flowers and penetrate the buds. Because of this, the flowers become ugly, often in the form of one half.
Leaf-eating armyworm- a butterfly with a wingspan of up to 3.5-4.5 cm. The front wings are yellow-brown with kidney-shaped, wedge-shaped and round spots, the hind wings are white. The caterpillars of this widespread plant pest are up to 5 cm long, light green or brownish-brown, with even rows of white spots with a black rim along the entire body, with a bright yellow lateral stripe and three pale narrow ones along the back. Caterpillars feed at night, eating the petals, and during the day they hide in the depths of the flower, so they are difficult to notice.
Cabbage moth- small butterfly. Its summer begins in the second half of May. Butterflies lay 2-4 eggs on the underside of leaves. One female can lay up to 150 eggs or more. The cabbage moth produces up to 4 generations. The eggs hatch into very mobile, light green caterpillars with sparse hairs. They eat the upper epidermis and the pulp of the leaves, leaving the lower epidermis untouched, which dries out and ruptures. They also eat buds and flowers.
Aphid- the most common pests of cultivated plants in the garden. Great damage is caused to ornamental shrubs (viburnum, mock orange, euonymus). Small insects ranging in size from 1 to 2.5 mm have different colors: light and dark green, black, orange, reddish. Insects and their larvae settle on various parts of plants: young shoots, leaves, buds and flowers. By sucking out cell sap, they retard plant growth, cause deformation of leaves and flower stalks, and buds do not open. The leaves are covered with sticky honeydew. Sooty fungi can settle on the sweet secretions of aphids. Plants lose their decorative properties. During a season, aphids can produce up to 17 generations; the pest reproduces especially well in warm weather. When storing tulip and gladioli bulbs, colonies of green aphids may appear under the outer scales. Damaged bulbs subsequently produce weakened shoots.
Insect pests of cultivated plants and disease vectors
Meadow bug. A rather large sucking insect, b mm long, causes damage mainly to young shoots, leaves and buds. The bug's body is light or dark green, covered with black dots, the stripes on the sides and the tip of the abdomen are also black. Adult insects are winged, larvae are wingless, very similar to aphids. The larvae can jump and easily avoid danger when spraying buds. The female lays eggs in the apical buds of plants. The hatched larvae pierce the delicate skin of young leaves and buds and suck the juice from them. Damaged crops grow ugly, with deformed inflorescences. This insect pest of plants is a carrier of diseases, including viral ones.
Naked slugs. The pest is polyphagous, damages a wide variety of flowering plants, and attacks vegetable crops. Naked slugs are gastropods and have a gray, brown or light yellow elongated, spindle-shaped body covered with mucus. In wet years, slugs multiply greatly and cause significant damage to plants. They eat oblong holes on the leaves, can eat flowers and young shoots, and damage the bulbs. Slugs are nocturnal; during the day they hide under lumps of earth, large leaves, and in other secluded places. The presence of a pest is indicated by the appearance of silvery mucus on the leaves. Leaf-eating caterpillars do not leave such traces. In dense plantings, favorable conditions are created for the reproduction of the pest. Like the onion bug, these insect pests of cultivated plants are carriers of diseases, in particular bacteriosis.
Mammals can also pose a danger to an ornamental garden: moles, mice, rats, hares.
Look at the photo to see what plant pests look like - now you can recognize the “enemies by sight”:
How to protect plants from pests: methods of control
Sometimes plants suffer less from pests and diseases than from the ignorance and laziness of the flower growers themselves. A careless gardener can destroy his plantings at a speed that even a locust would envy.
How to protect plants from pests and prevent hordes of insects from spreading throughout the area? In order for crops to develop and bloom well, it is necessary to choose the right place for planting, prepare the soil well, purchase healthy planting material and, finally, strictly follow the rules of care.
But pest insects also want to live and eat deliciously, so they rush into the gardens in orderly and not so orderly rows. Each region has its own specific characteristics depending on climatic and weather conditions. In some areas there is no life from the pirate mole cricket, in others everything has been “devoured” by the tripe, in others the number one enemy is bacteriosis.
An experienced gardener, taking measures to combat plant pests, begins his day in the garden by inspecting the crops. If during the next “contemplation” he notices twisted and perforated leaves, twisted shoots, mutilated buds and flowers, he will immediately understand that the garden has been attacked by pests. If there are only a few of them, you can simply pick them off with your hands or wash them off with a stream of water. But if you miss this moment, a few pests will turn into hundreds and thousands, and there will be nothing left of your flowers.
Remember the following rules on how to deal with pests on your site:
1. It is easier to prevent a problem than to eliminate it.
2. If the “invasion” has begun, do not delay the fight for an hour.
3. The devil is not as scary as he is painted. In a single garden you are unlikely to encounter more than three to five varieties of uninvited “guests”.
To calm down this gang of “robbers”, do not immediately reach for pesticides. There is no need to panic if you find small numbers of harmful insects on plants - you can pick off slugs with your hands, and wash off aphids with a stream of water. Whether pests will turn into a natural disaster that can only be controlled with “chemistry” largely depends on the condition of the plants and weather conditions. For example, plants weakened by a lack of light become easy prey for sucking insects. Thrips multiply excessively in dry and hot weather. The gardener’s task is to do everything to ensure that the plants are strong and healthy, because such plants are too tough for pests.
In addition, uninvited garden guests have natural enemies. There is a balance in nature: every pest has at least one enemy. Ladybugs, lacewings, predatory hover flies and silver flies are enemies of aphids. They also do not refuse leaf-eating caterpillars. Ladybugs and their larvae can destroy up to 150 aphids per day. Other beneficial insects called ichneumon fly lay eggs in living caterpillars, and their larvae eat the caterpillars alive from the inside. And, of course, birds tirelessly consume harmful beetles and caterpillars. Hedgehogs are excellent at destroying beetle larvae.
How to deal with insect pests: plant protection methods
In order not to disturb the natural balance, try to give preference to means of controlling plant pests that would not harm beneficial insects and birds. The main thing in protecting plants from pests is a system of preventive measures: it is easier to prevent a disease than to treat it. The main role is given to plant care activities, from the purchase of planting material to wintering or storing in storage.
Crop rotations prevent the accumulation of pathogens and pests in the soil and create conditions for normal growth and development of plants. It is known that nasturtium, mustard, and calendula, which release phytoncidal substances, help cleanse the soil of infection. Therefore, it is recommended to alternate planting bulbous plants with these annuals. The plants are returned to their original site after 5-6 years.
How else to deal with plant pests in the garden? An important point is soil preparation. In poorly drained, humus-poor soil, plants are more likely to get sick, grow weakened, and are attacked by pests. Before planting a flower garden, the area must be cleared of debris: branches, stones, wood chips, etc. Deep digging of the soil in the flower garden in the fall will help get rid of the larvae and eggs of harmful insects (cutworms, wireworms, earwigs) overwintering in it. When using composts or manure, you need to be careful not to introduce Mayweed, which often settles in compost heaps, into the flower garden. The larvae must be carefully selected and destroyed; they can be fed to chickens. Boxes for seedlings must be disinfected annually (with a solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water), and the soil in them must be changed (it is better to use ready-made mixtures for seedlings).
For most ornamental plants, areas with light, loose soils are more suitable. Heavy acidic soils, which promote the spread of fungal infections, are limed. To do this, fluff lime is added in the fall at the rate of 100-200 g per 1 m2.
If you purchased healthy planting material, then there will be much fewer problems. Therefore, it is better to make purchases in specialized stores. Try to avoid thickening the plantings; in such conditions, the plants lack nutrition and excess moisture appears, which also leads to the proliferation of pests and pathogens. It is necessary to systematically remove weeds, as they are a reservoir for many diseases and pests. In addition, they thicken plantings and compete with cultivated plants for nutrients.
Plant debris (foliage, stems, fallen flowers) often become a haven for pests. You cannot leave trash near plants. Carefully rake it and destroy it.
What to do if pests appear in the garden
What to do if pests do settle in your garden? Many insects can be destroyed mechanically. Beetles (bronze beetle, May beetle) are collected and destroyed, and the affected buds are cut off. Aphids are washed off with a stream of water. Cutworm caterpillars, click beetles and their larvae are selected when digging the soil. An excellent way to combat plant pests such as click beetles and their larvae (wireworms) is by laying out baits (potato tubers). Pests make tunnels in the tubers and linger in them for some time. The bait is collected and destroyed.
Baits are also used to protect plants from insect pests such as slugs. Bunches of dill, burdock leaves, boards, pieces of slate, and wet rags are placed near the plants in the spaces between the rows, under which pests accumulate during the day. The pests are then collected and destroyed.
Pollinating the soil around plants with superphosphate, a mixture of ash and quicklime, and shag dust helps against slugs. This should be done in the evening or early in the morning, when the slugs are on the surface of the soil. But still, the most effective means of combating slugs is metaldehyde. Granules are scattered in places where slugs accumulate under plants (4 g per 1 m2).
There are many methods for protecting plants from mole cricket pests:
1. Collect more eggshells over the winter and grind them into powder. In the spring, when planting plants, moisten the powder with vegetable oil for scent and place 1 tsp in the holes. The mole cricket, having tasted the bait, dies.
2. Pour the pest’s excavations with soapy water (4 tablespoons of washing powder per bucket of water). The mole cricket either dies underground or comes to the surface, where it is easy to collect and destroy.
3. Another effective method for dealing with mole cricket pests is to plant marigolds along the borders of the site. This will prevent the insect from accessing your garden from the neighboring area.
4. You can get rid of mole crickets using an infusion of chicken droppings, watering the ground with it in dry weather.
5. In the fall, in the places where the mole cricket lived, trapping holes 0.5 m deep are dug and filled with fresh manure. The pits are located at a distance of 5 m from each other. A mound of earth is poured over the trapping pits and marked with a peg. When the weather gets cold and snow falls, they use pegs to find places for trapping holes and throw manure out of them to the surface. Mole crickets hidden in manure for the winter die in the cold.
A selection of photos “Pest Control” will help you choose the most affordable way to protect plants on your site:
Plants that protect against pests in the garden
If you want to enjoy the aroma of flowers in your garden, and not pesticides, then it is better to use insecticidal plants to control pests. Infusions and decoctions of these plants, which protect against pests, pose virtually no danger to humans, as well as to birds, hedgehogs, etc. They relatively quickly lose their toxic properties and do not accumulate in soil and plants.
Collect wild and cultivated insecticidal plants in dry, clear weather and dry in the shade. Subsequently stored in a dark, well-ventilated area. You can prepare decoctions and infusions directly after collecting plants.
After infusion or boiling, the liquid is filtered through a double layer of gauze or burlap. If the concentrated broth is poured hot and sealed tightly, it can be stored in a cool room for up to 2 months. Before use, the decoction is diluted to the required concentration.
When treating plants with infusions and decoctions against pests in the garden, insects die within 3 days. After 4-6 days, the treatment must be repeated to consolidate the result.
For preventive purposes, many gardeners plant insecticidal plants (calendula, garlic, onions) in separate groups in their plots.
When planting, it is necessary to maintain the optimal distance between plants. Extinguished plantings are more often affected by viral and fungal diseases, and pests multiply more strongly there. Planting depth also matters. Small planting of bulbs is unacceptable, as this leads to overheating. In the spring, when mass shoots appear, all diseased and ungerminated specimens are removed. During the growing season, plants affected by nematodes and viral diseases are discarded and destroyed. If necessary, the soil is treated with insecticides.
TaggedEvery gardener knows that to obtain a good harvest of vegetables or fruits, it is important not only the quality of planting material, soil properties, correct watering regime, but also pest control. Various insects, rodents, and weeds can cause a lot of trouble and “negate” all attempts to get a good harvest.
To prevent pests from causing problems, it is necessary to warn them in time. The fight against insects that pester annual and perennial plants, as well as weeds, must be systematic. You can’t just treat your garden with a “killer” dose of pesticides and then calm down. In this case, you can cause more damage to the plants than before treatment. Pest control is a whole system, each stage of which must be completed on time. Next, we will look at how to properly deal with harmful insects, which most often destroy the harvest of vegetables and fruits.
As we have already said, the most important thing in pest control is to prevent the problem. It is necessary to inspect the leaves of trees and shrubs, as well as the surface of the tree bark at least once a week, for the presence of harmful insects. Inexperienced gardeners pay attention to the problem only when it has already come out, for example, when the leaves eaten by caterpillars begin to turn yellow. In this case, it is too late to make any efforts and the plant may die.
There is a certain procedure for seasonal pest control to prevent their harmful effects on plants in the garden:
- Immediately after the snow cover melts, the garden must be cleared of rotting fruits, leaves and plant debris left behind in the spring. It is better, of course, to do this in late autumn, so that in the spring the amount of unnecessary material in the garden is minimal. The fact is that the remains of rotting vegetation and leaves are an ideal place for the development of harmful insects and microorganisms that can cause disease.
- After the buds on the trees swell, it’s time to fight the weevil. These small bugs, which are very fond of the bark and leaves of trees, overwinter on the surface of fallen leaves, and it is important that they do not get into the tree crown again in the spring. To do this, place traps with glue at the foot of the trunk.
- May is the right time to treat plants against powdery mildew.
- To prevent the appearance of scab, which can be caused by fallen leaves in autumn, trees are treated in the spring with fungicide-based solutions.
- To ensure that the tree does not suffer from the activity of silkworms, apple moths, hawthorn or leaf rollers, it must be treated before the buds appear.
Biological methods of pest control
The popularity of such methods lies in the relatively low cost of work and less harmful effects on plants from chemical elements. Also, due to its safety for the soil, plants and their fruits, treatment with biological preparations and decoctions can be carried out even during the ripening of the crop. At the same time, the high rate of decay of biological drugs is the key to their safety.
Conventionally, such methods can be divided into several approaches:
- Spraying with biologically active substances and plant decoctions.
- Attracting insects and animals to the garden for pest control.
- Installing barriers and traps to prevent pests from reaching plants.
To increase the effectiveness of the fight against insects and other types of pests of fields and gardens, you need to remember about soil care. Timely application of fertilizers, additives, and constant mulching of the soil will reduce the likelihood of the development of harmful microorganisms or insects. It is also necessary to remember to disinfect garden tools so that they do not spread pests throughout the garden.
Decoctions are mainly prepared from the following components:
- Calendula.
- Chamomile.
- Celandine.
- Needles.
- Onion peel.
- Garlic and other plants.
Plants or their flowers are collected in dry weather and dried. Then they are brewed in boiling water, filtered and left to cool. Next, the decoction is diluted with water and garden crops are sprayed. If necessary, the procedure must be repeated after a week. It is worth noting that, despite the relative safety of biological sprayers, you also need to work with them carefully, just like with chemical ones. Particular attention should be paid to the consistency of the decoction. After all, if you overdo it, you can create a lot of problems. In addition, you should not spray healthy plants; limit yourself to only those that are sick. It is also worth remembering about pollinators, which significantly increase crop yields. Therefore, spraying work must be carried out either early in the morning or late in the evening. To make the activities more successful, it is necessary to determine which insect pests of fields and gardens caused plant diseases.
Recently, preparations that contain pheromones that attract a certain type of insect or bird to control pests have become very popular. For example, chalcids or ichneumon wasps are excellent for controlling caterpillars, and ladybugs are excellent at killing aphids, mites or whiteflies. To combat aphids, lacewings are also attracted, which are very fond of the smell of aster and yarrow. The praying mantis is very useful in terms of pest control.
Among the birds, the true friends of the gardener are woodpeckers, orioles, and sparrows. To attract them, birdhouses are installed in trees and feeders are built. To protect young plants from flying insects, special fabric covers are used.
Chemical methods of pest control
Chemical methods of controlling harmful insects mean introducing into the soil or spraying plants with special chemicals that have a destructive effect on pests.
As for the use of chemistry in the fight against diseases and pests in the garden, opinions are divided in two. Opponents of such methods argue that eating vegetables or fruits treated with special preparations is dangerous and the crop itself must resist pests. Advocates of chemical processing think the opposite. They believe that without it, plants are more likely to die, not to mention a good harvest, and control agents do not have a negative effect on the human body.
Biological scientists and agricultural technicians believe that it is almost impossible to grow crops without chemical and biological control methods, however, one must adhere to the rules for their use. It is impossible to flood an unkempt garden with pesticides and hope for excellent results. Plant care work must be comprehensive and timely.
Chemicals that act to control pests and weeds are called pesticides. They are divided into several main groups:
- Insecticides-acaricides. These chemicals are used against mites and insects that harm the garden. As a rule, they kill insect eggs and also have a detrimental effect on adult insects.
- Fungicides are chemicals whose purpose is to fight fungi and harmful bacteria.
- Herbicides. Such drugs are used to control weeds.
These funds are used in several ways:
- Spraying. The most commonly used method of applying pesticides to a personal plot. It allows you to evenly distribute the drug on the crown of the plant or the soil surface. This operation is carried out using mechanical or electric sprayers.
- Pollination. Used for large plantings of crops on an industrial scale.
- Adding granules or powders containing a substance to the soil. More often used to control pests in the soil of the garden, such as mole crickets, field mice or moles.
- Poisoning the bait. In this case, poison is added to the bait with a substance that attracts the pest. Mice are often fought in this way by adding several poisoned grains to cereals.
Garden pest control
Aphid. Aphids are small insects that feed on the sap of plant leaves, causing irreparable damage to them. In addition, the insect can be a carrier of harmful diseases. The most important enemy of aphids is ladybugs, which successfully destroy them. That is why you need to treat them carefully and try not to scare them away. Chemical treatment against aphids is carried out 3 times a season. The first time - when warm weather sets in, the second - 2 weeks after the first, and the third - after the end of flowering of the plant. Under no circumstances should treatment be carried out while the plant is flowering. They successfully fight aphids by planting a special variety of chamomile, Pyrethrum, next to vegetable crops.
sawyer. A small insect is a garden pest that feeds on berries and leaves of almost all plants. The “work” of the sawyer can be observed firsthand in the cherry berries, which develop flaccid fruit pulp and mucus on the pit. The sawyer can cause not only the death of the crop, but also the plant. The fight against it consists of spraying the tree with special insecticides.
Earth ants. These are insects that cause significant damage to plant roots. The fight against earth ants, garden pests, involves treating the area where they accumulate with special preparations.
Moth. The most common type of caterpillar that eats both herbaceous and fruit crops. You can fight them using special traps and spraying with chemicals. If their number is not too large, you can rely on birds and not carry out processing. As a rule, this works. Preventing the appearance of caterpillars in the garden involves timely removal of fallen leaves, in which the pupae like to overwinter.
Drosophila. Small flies that breed in crop residues that have not been harvested from the field. They love the juice of fruit and vegetable plants. To prevent their appearance on the site, it is necessary to promptly get rid of crop residues, rotten branches, and foliage. In addition to damaging plants, these insects are carriers of rot, which can cause plant death. When fruit flies appear in the garden, it is necessary to urgently spray with special preparations.
Snails. Snails destroy cabbage, radish, and radish plants, as well as grape leaves. They are combated by treating the area with lime mixtures or solutions containing ground pepper and tobacco dust. By the way, such solutions reduce the acidity of the soil, preventing the appearance of rot.
Garden pests: photos
Protecting your garden from pests: video
Garden and vegetable garden pests attack crops and plantings from early spring to late autumn. They fight insect infestations using folk and chemical means.
What insects are considered pests of gardens and vegetable gardens?
Insects are malicious pests that attack leaves, stems, flowers and tubers of plants. They reduce the amount of harvest and interfere with the growth and development of fruits.
Source: Depositphotos
The larvae of the Colorado potato beetle are malicious pests of the garden and vegetable garden.
Common pests:
- Common aphid. The insect sucks the juice from young shoots, injecting a poisonous secretion into them. Aphids carry viruses and infections that have a detrimental effect on fruit trees.
- Whitefly. The insect affects plantings of pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini. Females lay eggs on the inside of the leaf. After 14 days, green larvae appear, which suck the juice from the leaf blade and contaminate its surface with excrement. A fungal infection develops on a weakened plant, which leads to the death of the crop.
- Flea. The insect settles in beds with cabbage, turnips, radishes and radishes. The body of the flea beetle is 1–2 mm in length, with developed jaws, with which it gnaws holes in the leaf blades. The insect carries fungal diseases.
- Colorado beetle. The pest affects potatoes, eggplants and peppers. The bright orange body of adults reaches 2–3 cm in length. The female beetle lays eggs on the inside of the leaf. After 6–9 days, larvae appear and eat the leaves of the crops.
- Exclamation scoop. At the base of the insect's wings there is a wedge-shaped gray spot. Females lay eggs, from which larvae emerge a week later. They gnaw the stems and buds of plants, make moves in the roots and root crops.
- Medvedka. An earthen pest that feeds on the roots of agricultural crops. A brown insect up to 7 cm long with developed jaws and membranous wings. Pests settle in fertile fields with wet peat soils.
Insects attack seedlings, young leaves and shoots, ripened tubers and rhizomes.
Pest Control
Get rid of insects using folk and chemical means:
- Wipe the affected areas of the plant with a decoction of yarrow, celandine or tobacco. This will scare off the adults and destroy the egg clutches.
- The preparations “Aktofit”, “Gaupsin”, “Coloradotsit” kill adult insects and larvae. The products are toxic; treat plants with gloves and closed clothing.
- In mid-March and late October, the soil is loosened and dug up. Pests remain on the surface and die when exposed to frost.
- Insects are collected by hand and destroyed. Affected plants are sprayed with infusion of tansy or hot pepper.
In autumn, vines and leaves of vegetable crops are removed from the garden and burned. This prevents pests from breeding.
Insects quickly spread throughout the garden, causing damage to the crop. Timely control of them will rid the area of pests forever.
Gardeners and gardeners constantly make efforts to grow a high yield. But their efforts may be hindered by several factors. One of them is insect pests. How to get rid of them or minimize the results of their activities?
, . In appearance, these are small, inconspicuous butterflies with gray-brown wings. The female lays eggs on the leaves and fruits of plants. The larva, as it develops, eats away at the middle of the fruit, leaving the products of its vital activity there. The fruit falls to the ground along with the larva, which leaves it and climbs up the trunk to another. During its life cycle, the larva can spoil about 5 fruits. Since there are many larvae, sometimes the entire crop falls off.
A similar mechanism of action and methods of combating sawflies. They differ for each species (plum, currant, grape), but have one characteristic feature - a long proboscis.
Aphids are small insects, about 1 mm in length. In Europe alone there are about 1 thousand species of this pest. Some adult individuals have wings, with the help of which they fly to other plants. Eggs begin to be laid in autumn. Then the young larvae, going through all stages of development, turn into adult insects with wings and fly to other branches or trees.
Aphids are dangerous insects that attack young shoots of bushes, trees, and garden crops.
They especially love viburnum. The danger is posed by larvae, which accumulate in large quantities at the ends of young shoots and young leaves. By sucking the juice out of them, they cause the leaves to curl. They cannot provide nutrition to the stem, and it dries out. In addition, aphids carry a disease that causes the formation of gall growths on the leaves. They weaken the plant.
Common ants promote breeding on plants. They can even transport it to new territories, colonizing it there in order to then feed on the sweet honeydew secreted by aphids. Small birds (sparrows, tits, robins, linnets) can destroy aphids. They feed their chicks with them. Aphids are also destroyed by other insects: lacewings, ladybugs, and some types of wasps. But usually they are not enough to control aphids.
Lacewing larvae can be purchased at specialized institutions. They are released into the garden, and they themselves find aphids and destroy them. But chemical treatment with any type of insecticide cannot be used after this. After all, along with the pests, the poison will also destroy the introduced insects. You can fight aphids by washing them off with water under pressure, treating them with a solution of nicotinic acid (buy tablets at the pharmacy). 50 tablets are diluted in 10 liters of water, then a liter of solution is poured into a bucket of water. Water the roots of the plants with the solution. Prevention of aphids - removing weeds, thinning plant branches. The ends of young cherry branches affected by aphids can be cut off in the summer, after the crop has ripened, and burned along with the pests.
The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most dangerous pests of nightshades. Potatoes, fragrant tobacco, and wild nightshade suffer the most. There is information that sometimes the Colorado potato beetle can feed on the leaves of wolfberry. Its homeland is northern Mexico, from where it spread to North America, and at the end of the 19th century to Europe. At first, the outbreaks were quickly eliminated, but during the First World War it spread throughout France, from where it began to spread throughout Eurasia. Since 2000 it has reached the Primorsky Territory.
An adult Colorado potato beetle is an insect up to 12 mm long and up to 8 mm wide. Its distinctive feature is 5 black longitudinal stripes on each wing. The pronotum is orange with black spots.
In its development, like all insects, it goes through 4 stages.
The first, yellow eggs, does not threaten the plant in any way. They are laid on the underside of the leaf of female insects immediately after potato tops or tomato seedlings or eggplants are planted in the ground. After a couple of weeks, larvae emerge from the eggs. They begin to quickly feed on nightshade leaves, turning bright orange or pink in color and gaining mass. The color depends on carotene, which accumulates in the body of the larva without being digested. The head of the larva is black, the same points are located longitudinally along the back in two rows.
In its development, the larva goes through 4 stages, molting after each of them. In the first stage they feed on part of the leaf from below, in the second they eat the entire leaf, leaving veins. They then climb onto other stems or bushes in search of food. After 2 weeks, the larvae burrow into the ground to a depth of 10 cm. There they turn into a pupa and after a couple of weeks they can emerge as adults. A new cycle of reproduction and development begins. Depending on the climate, there can be up to three such cycles. The further north the region, the fewer generations will appear per year. An adult Colorado potato beetle or pupa overwinters in the ground. Not afraid of frost. It can enter diapause without dying if conditions are unfavorable for it.
The horde of larvae leaves virtually no chance for nightshades to survive. Therefore, you need to fight it regularly:
- The most reliable are plant treatments with insecticides. You can fight them by laying out traps and collecting adult beetles every day, and then larvae, if there are a couple of acres of potatoes on the plot. But unforeseen circumstances may prevent you from doing this for several days in a row. This time will be enough for the beetles and larvae to eat all the tops. The beetles are collected in a deep bowl with a strong solution of salt or kerosene. This is an extremely unpleasant task.
- A week before harvesting potatoes, it is recommended to cut off the tops. Young larvae may die without food. But this will happen only when there is no food nearby - tomatoes, eggplant. In this case, they will all migrate to them, destroying leaves, fruits, and stems. What is especially bad is that it is much more difficult to treat a tomato area with chemicals than to treat potato tops. After all, the fruits will fall directly under the influence of the poison.
- Instead of chemicals, it is better to use Fitoverm. This is a biological drug with enteric contact action. It belongs to the third class of danger. Fruits after treatment with the drug can be collected after 2 days. And the beetles will die in a week. If it rains during this time, the effect of using Fitoverm will be significantly reduced.
- For pre-planting treatment of tubers, a long-acting insecticide is used, for example, “Prestige”. It also contains a growth stimulator. But the drug itself is very dangerous to health; working with it requires compliance with all rules for working with pesticides. Subsequent stages of care after treatment are performed mechanically, not manually.
- You can save tomatoes and eggplants for the longest possible period by dipping the roots of the seedlings into the Aktara solution for 2 hours. A package of the drug (2 g) is dissolved in 2 liters of water. Beetles, having feasted on the leaves of such plants, quickly die. The effectiveness of the method can be evidenced by insect corpses covering the surface of the earth around the plants. The leaves have time to grow, so the beetles will not cause much harm to the plant. A serious attack can begin already in the fall if the number of generations reaches three.
Prevention measures - do not plant nightshades for several years in a row in one area. Then the adult beetles will need some time in the spring to fly to a new area. But this will not save you from defeat, since the Colorado potato beetle can fly over long distances at a speed of 8 km per hour. By the way, bugs that your neighbors don't fight can quickly become your bugs.
- This is the larva of a click beetle. In appearance, they look like pieces of copper wire about 2 cm long. Most often they live on acidic soils, which can be recognized by the presence of wheatgrass in the area. The wireworm does not cause as much harm as the Colorado potato beetle. It can gnaw through potatoes and other grown root vegetables, leaving holes in them. After this they become unsuitable for storage. It gnaws the roots of young plants and other plants grown from seeds. This may lead to their death.
Legumes are good at repelling wireworms - sowing soybeans, peas, beans, and lentils on an area will help to significantly reduce their number in this area.
Preventive measures - liming the soil. Add dolomite flour or slaked lime. The wheatgrass will leave the area, and with it the wireworm. Liming should be carried out every 3-7 years. If there are a lot of wireworms in the area, you can catch them with bait - pieces of old root vegetables. They bury them in the ground and mark these places.
You can tie the pieces to a fishing line. Every few days, baits are pulled out and pests are removed. Repeat the procedure until harvest. Before sowing seeds in the holes, you can pour or spill them with potassium permanganate. 5 g of potassium permanganate per bucket of water is enough.
The larvae of the cabbage white butterfly can destroy beds of cabbage or other cruciferous vegetables. Butterflies are distinguished by white wings with black veins. The edges of the wings are black. There are 2 black dots on the front wings. Wingspan up to 6 cm.
Soon after they begin to dance in circles in the garden or meadow, you should expect the appearance of larvae. It is difficult to notice the laying of eggs; they are small and do not particularly stand out in color on the cabbage leaf. The length of one egg is slightly more than 1 mm.
Caterpillars with 16 legs are yellow-green in color, grow up to 3.5 cm, passing through 5 stages.
Their body is covered with small hairs. Individuals of the fifth stage have alternating yellow and green stripes along the back with a large number of black warts of varying sizes. Caterpillars do not tolerate high temperatures (above 26°C) and dry air.
To scare away butterflies, it is recommended:
- Hang eggshell halves around the area. The butterflies, thinking that this is a “competitor,” fly further.
- When using chemical and biological insecticides, you need to add an adhesive to them. After all, cabbage leaves are very slippery, and drops of the substance often cannot cling to them, rolling down to the ground.
- An effective method of combating belan is using trichogramma.
- To combat caterpillars, decoctions of tansy, yarrow, etc. are used.
- This is also an insect, but a large one. It reaches 8 cm in length. Externally, the mole cricket looks a little like a crayfish, but its forelimbs are much smaller. There are wings, but very weak. Brown color. Lives in the ground, forming branched communications in the soil. It gnaws the roots of plants to ensure maximum temperature for the offspring, which emerge from light brown, egg-like eggs.
Mole crickets overwinter in places where manure or humus accumulates; therefore, when adding it to the soil in the spring, you need to make sure that pests do not get there.
You can fight mole crickets by scattering special bait before plowing. After tunnels have appeared in the garden and the plants above them have begun to die, you can tear up the ground around, destroy the nests with eggs, and pour water into the tunnels (there are two of them near the nest) with the addition of a substance with an unpleasant odor.
After being on duty for 15-20 minutes, you can wait for the mole cricket to appear, which needs to be destroyed with a sharp shovel. It has been noticed that mole crickets do not live in areas where moles are found. But the moles themselves bring a lot of trouble. Therefore, it is hardly worth bringing them to the site to fight mole crickets.
More information can be found in the video:
