Aphids are small insects (up to ten millimeters in size) that, settling on plants and trees, bite leaves or shoots with their proboscis, and then feed on the juice they contain. After such an attack, the plant weakens very much, becomes susceptible to various diseases. The harm from aphids is aggravated by the fact that the sweetish juice secreted by them is extremely attractive to ants. How to deal with aphids on fruit trees? The answer to this question will be discussed in the article.
Aphids on fruit trees
What is the danger of aphids for fruit trees: signs of damage
When a fruit tree is overpowered by aphids, its leaves begin to curl, which in turn negatively affects the shoots and the future laying of flower buds. The fact is that the processes of photosynthesis in such branches are disrupted, as a result of which the plant ceases to receive normal nutrition.
Interesting! The leaves take on this shape because the aphids inject a special substance into them. Because of this, they twist and form a kind of house, thereby it (aphids), as it were, protects itself from other insect pests that may be nearby.
As a rule, aphids appear first of all on young shoots, from which it is easiest to extract juice, the small pest usually does not sit on the old ones.
As you know, ants are considered the orderlies of the forest, while they are real pests of the garden and vegetable garden. It is they who, as a rule, transfer aphids to fruit trees, and then protect them, as they like to feed on its carbohydrate secretions - sweet honeydew.
A capacious quote and an indicative thing! "Aphids are an ant cow."
Advice! Therefore, if you decide to fight aphids, at the same time you need apply measures to rid the garden and vegetable garden of antswhich are described in detail in this article.
Video: aphids on the drain - characteristic signs of damage
Important! Aphids, as a rule, are species-specific, that is, there are apple-cereal aphids, apple-plantain, peach, plum, cherry, pear, and so on. But the ways to deal with it are the same.
Spraying and treating trees in spring from pests and diseases
When to spray trees? For the purpose of prevention, it is recommended to carry out the procedure in early spring before the buds begin to bloom. If infected plants are found, it is worth spraying as soon as possible.
Important! In the process of preparing the solution, it is important to adhere to the proportions recommended by the manufacturer.
Terms and rules for processing
If you plan to process the orchard with folk remedies, then the procedure can be carried out:
- during the period when the buds began to bloom;
- during flowering;
- at the moment when the ovary is formed.
It is important that the insecticide is applied to the aphid colony. If the leaf plates are strongly twisted, then it is advisable to rinse the upper parts of the branches with a solution.
According to the rules for processing the garden, it is required:
- perform activities in the morning or evening;
- process trees only on days when there is no wind and nothing portends rainfall;
- keep the sprayer at a distance of 65-75 cm from the sheet plates;
- process the entire crown.
Decis
Aphid trapping belt on trees
It is not necessary to fight aphids only by spraying; there is a fairly simple, but very effective way to protect fruit trees from aphids.
Even in early spring, put on a trapping belt on the trunk and you will forget about aphids for the whole season: ants (the main carriers of aphids) simply cannot climb a tree.
Such a hunting belt can be bought ready-made or made by yourself, with your own hands.
By the way! Many gardeners use regular fly sticky tape to wrap around the tree.
What you need if you want to make it yourself:
- a small (2-3 cm wide) rubber strip as long as the diameter of a tree trunk;
- another thinner elastic band to secure the main one;
- ant ant gel (for example, Adamant, Proshka Brownie, Taracid, etc.)
Step-by-step instructions for creating a trapping belt from ants:
- Take 2 rubber bands and tightly fasten the wide one with the narrow one on the trunk so that the ants cannot crawl under the rubber band and climb further along the trunk.
- Coat the belt with a special gel, wearing gloves.
Video: how to make a do-it-yourself aphid trapping belt on fruit trees
A belt made of fluffy padding polyester... Not a single ant will pass such an obstacle.
Video: padding polyester trapping belt - protection of fruit from ants and aphids
With the help of special glue from rodents and pests, you can also create an obstacle, similar to a trapping belt, on the trunk of a fruit tree.
In this case, you can pre-wrap the barrel with masking tape or the same rubber band.
The glue itself lasts about 1.5 months, and it does not lose its properties even after rain (it does not wash off), although it is better to renew it a couple of times over the summer (after all, insects and other debris constantly adhere to it).
Important! All work with the glue for the trapping belt is recommended to be carried out with gloves, since the substance is very sticky and it is inconvenient to wash it.
Video: how to get rid of aphids on a drain using insect and rodent glue
Interesting! Ants are very cunning insects. They can easily crawl along the backs of stuck brothers, therefore, to play it safe, after a certain distance, it is better to make another belt or sticky obstacle.
Effective chemicals
Insecticides against aphids - "heavy artillery". If possible, try to do without them. When working with any chemicals, carefully follow the instructions, do not forget about personal protective equipment:
- Aktara. Effective against aphids, scale insects, whiteflies. Half an hour after treatment, the aphid loses its ability to eat, dies of hunger. The trees are sprayed twice with an interval of 7 days. The drug is dangerous for bees.
- Commander. Insecticide against aphids, Colorado potato beetle, thrips, whitefly. Destroys larvae and adults. The effectiveness of the treatment does not depend on whether it is hot outside or it is raining. Spraying is carried out three times, after 10-12 days.
- Confidor-Maxi. The drug "penetrates" into the tissues and cells of trees - they become poisonous to insects, but the harvest does not suffer in any way. Begins to act 2 hours after treatment, 3-4 sprays are carried out with an interval of 15-20 days.
- Arrow. A preparation of biological origin, safe for the ecosystem, treatments can be carried out shortly before harvest and during fruiting. The product is "absorbed" by the tissues, the aphid dies two days after treatment. They are carried out every 2-3 weeks.
- Trichopolus. It paralyzes the nervous system of aphids, is completely harmless to humans, pets, and the environment. The effect lasts until the first rain, then the treatment must be repeated. The number of sprays during the season is not limited.
- Shar Pei. After treatment, aphids die from respiratory paralysis within 3–7 days. No more than 4 treatments are carried out per season.
Aktara - one of the drugs that are safe for humans and pets and harmful to bees
Video: a review of the drug Aktara
Natural (biological) enemies of aphids
You can help in the fight against aphids ladybugwho loves to eat her for breakfast, including her larvae.
Interesting to know! Also prefer aphids lacewings, ground beetles, hoverflies, predatory bugs, wasps, sparrows, bloodworms, warblers, tits and other flying insects and birds.
How to reduce the risk of plant infestation with parasitic insects
It is much more effective to prevent insect infestations than to restore the health of infected plants. To reduce the risk of infection with parasites, it is recommended:
- every autumn to remove the exfoliated parts of the bark from the trees. It is under them that the aphid seeks to hide for the winter. After cleaning the stem part, the lower area of the plant is whitewashed for the purpose of disinfection;
- weed the weed that grows near the fruit crop in a timely manner, and eliminate the root growth;
- systematically carry out preventive treatments;
- to destroy the colonies of ants on the stem of the plant.
Mechanical methods of dealing with aphids
Of course, you can try to knock down, or rather wash off the aphids with a powerful jet of water. But you will not destroy all the aphids in the trees in this way: a little later it will return again.
Moreover, it is possible without much harm to the tree pinch off or cut off all the tops with twisted leaves, and then burn all infected branches... However, such a measure may only make sense if you have a very small, so to speak, fragmented parasite infestation.
Aphids have settled on your site and are capturing more and more territories? Do not be discouraged and give up. There are many effective ways to combat it. Use them regularly and the attack will surely recede.
Video: folk ways to get rid of aphids on fruit trees (pear, plum, apple)
Using folk remedies
Folk remedies can also be used to treat aphids from trees. In terms of effectiveness, they are inferior to traditional professional drugs, but with a certain amount of perseverance and patience, it is quite possible to get a positive result, especially since they can be used an unlimited number of times - 2 - 3 times a week and more often. Here are the most popular recipes, tested by time and past generations of gardeners:
- infusion of garlic or onion. If you decide to use garlic, then chop a few cloves, pour 1 liter of water and leave for 24 hours. After that, it remains only to filter it, pour in 2 tsp. vegetable oil and 1 tsp. green soap. You can replace it with household shavings. Use to protect fruit and other trees;
- kerosene. Half tsp. this product should be diluted in 10 liters of water, add a little laundry soap and use for spraying;
- tar. To prepare a healing solution, grate half a bar of laundry soap or use 50 ml of liquid tar soap instead. Dissolve 10 ml of birch tar in it. Mix thoroughly and leave for 1 hour. After diluting the composition in a 10-liter bucket of water and use for treating trees and bushes;
- iodine and milk whey. These two ingredients will also help with infestations by black aphids and other pests. To prepare a medicinal solution, dilute 1 liter of whey and 1 tsp in a 10-liter bucket of water. iodine. Stir and use as directed.
Wage a merciless fight not only against aphids, but also ants. Look for their habitat on the site and fill it with boiling water. It's good if you manage to attract red ants to your garden. They are waging a war with their black brethren, and this is only to your advantage. Decorate your garden with all kinds of flowers - petunia, mallow, begonia, cleoma, nasturtium. They will attract the attention of the aphids and make them distract from the fruit crops.
Just do not forget, with the arrival of autumn, to clear your garden of all plantings with which the aphid has come into contact in one way or another. Collect and destroy them, burn them, or take them outside the site, not allowing the clutches of aphids to winter in your garden. In the spring, new insects will hatch from them and you will have to start the war with them anew.
But for ladybirds, you can provide a place for wintering, leaving bunches of dry grass, for example, corn tops in the corner of the garden. You can go even further and build a real house by twisting a tube out of cardboard and filling it with grass or other materials at hand. Scatter such tubes around the garden among dry leaves, and ladybugs will not want to leave their homes.
Some do it even easier - they buy packaging with live beetles in a specialty store and release them free in their garden. All these measures will help you get rid of uninvited guests and preserve your harvest. Did you like the article? Hurry to share it with your friends on social networks!
Oksana Shavyrina
