The smallest and most dangerous gardening pest is aphid. This miniature creature can very quickly capture the entire territory and significantly spoil the crop. That is why it causes a lot of trouble to gardeners and causes great damage to young plants, in addition, aphids affect indoor plants. Plants affected by this insect grow slowly, wither, can completely die. That is why you should always have on hand preparations for aphids.
The appearance of aphids
Any disease is easier to prevent than to treat, so you need to regularly inspect your garden. The first sign of the appearance of aphids is the curl of the leaves. If you find several insects, then expect a quick increase in the colony and the death of the plant. Therefore, do not waste time and immediately use aphid preparations. Usually, wherever it is, black garden ants begin to appear. No, they do not eat aphids; on the contrary, they feed on its sweet secretions. That is why aphid preparations are often combined and act simultaneously on ants.
Ways to fight aphids
There are several options for dealing with this scourge. Chemicals against aphids are considered the most effective, but they are not always safe for the human body. Therefore, if insects are still few, you can use the mechanical method of their destruction. Aphids can be collected, crushed or washed away with a stream of water. In addition, biological methods of control, that is, natural aphid enemies, can be used. Finally, there are a huge number of folk recipes that can and should be used, since they are inexpensive and very effective.
Plants and insects as natural enemies of aphids
The very first rule: do not kill the ladybugs. This insect perfectly fights pests. If you had a walk in the meadow where these slow bugs meet, carefully collect them and bring them to your garden plot. But with a large number of pests, they alone will not be able to cope, so plants that repel aphids are planted to help them. Onions, garlic and a pharmaceutical camomile are planted next to fruit beds. These plants repel aphids. But if you noticed a large colony of insects sucking juices from your plants in the garden, then it's time to take more decisive action.
Fruit trees
Very often they are affected by aphids. Insects breed very quickly - within a few days the whole tree will be captured by a huge colony. In this case, it is not possible to collect or wash away all harmful insects; a safe preparation for aphids on trees is needed. One of these is Tanrek. The main advantage of using this tool is the persistence of action. It is not washed off by rain or water, but it is quite safe and does not affect the edible quality of the fruit. The effect of the drug is completely independent of the ambient temperature, that is, it does not evaporate even at the highest positive temperatures. It is enough to make one treatment per season, and the aphid preparation on the trees will last until late fall, reliably protecting your garden from pests. Processing is worth during the growing season.
Biological aphids
If the harvesting period has already begun, and a large number of aphids have attacked your garden, then you need to find an effective and completely safe means to destroy the pests. Today there are modern biological insecticides that are as safe as possible. They are made on the basis of the vital products of soil organisms, and therefore they do not harm plants. You can collect fruits already starting from the next day after processing. One of these can be considered the drug Fitoverm. The maximum effect of the use of the drug is visible within a week, unless it was washed off with water or rain. In addition, there are completely safe for humans oil emulsions, for example "30 plus". This is a modern aphid medicine. Instructions for use indicate its highest efficiency when used on a variety of garden plants.
From the depths of centuries
For many generations, mankind has dispensed with industrial preparations and has learned to fight harmful insects. Given this experience, it is possible to prepare effective mixtures for pest control at home. These tools have several advantages. They are always at hand, you don’t have to spend money on their purchase, and they will not harm your body. Folk remedies for aphids are presented in a huge assortment, today we will consider only the most effective ones that are used from year to year in almost every garden plot.
Recipes for your garden
Flowers like marigolds do not like aphids very much. Therefore, when the flower bed fades, be sure to collect dry plants and harvest them for the future. For spraying, prepare a tincture, for which half a bucket of dry plants need to be poured with 10 liters of hot water and infused for two days. After this, the infusion is filtered and 40 g of laundry soap is added. It is better to process plants with this agent 2-3 times with an interval of 3-4 days. By the way, to combat aphids, a solution of laundry soap is also suitable. To do this, dissolve 200 g of it in a bucket of water.
Do not forget to collect potato tops. Considering folk remedies for aphids, it should be noted as one of the most effective. You will need a kilogram of dry or fresh tops, which must be poured with 10 liters of warm water and left for 4 hours. Now the infusion should be filtered and add 40 g of laundry soap. Soap is not an active element in this solution. It is necessary only for the solution to adhere to the leaves. Processing is carried out in the evening, and in the morning 90% of aphids die.
A yarrow is a very effective plant for controlling aphids. You will need one kilogram of dry powder made from plants. They are poured with boiling water and insisted for 36-48 hours, after which they are filtered. You can prepare a decoction, for this the same amount of yarrow is boiled for 30 minutes, filtered, added to 10 liters and 40 g of soap are added to the decoction. It is not recommended to store the broth for a long time, it is best to use it immediately after cooling.
Save the flower garden
We often treat fruit trees with insecticides in early summer, but the rose garden remains unattended until we notice how the plants twist the leaves and lower their lush heads. What effective remedies for aphids on roses will solve this problem? They are not so few, but we will start as usual with the safest. We have already talked about beneficial insects that feed on aphids, these are ladybugs and many others. They are attracted to the smell of plants such as caraway and dill, daisy and violet. These plants are planted on a site next to roses. In addition, roses can be protected if planted in the flower garden are very attractive to aphids, nasturtium and cosmea, poppy, mallow. They will serve as a natural trap for insects, where they can be neutralized. If all these methods were not effective enough, then you need to purchase drugs such as Inta-Vir, Shar Pei, Karbofos. Since roses are not fruit plants, processing can be done at any time. Preparations for aphids on roses can be alternated so as not to become addictive in pests.
Fruit bush
Probably everyone knows that aphids are very fond of currants and gooseberries. Attacking a delicate bush, it can ruin the crop or cause the death of branches. But today there are effective drugs for aphids on currants. First of all, it is Fitoverm, a safe and inexpensive product that can be used even during fruiting. True, the effect is enough for a short time, treatment should be repeated about once every 2-3 weeks. So if you didn’t do the chemical treatment during the growing season, you will have to spend more time caring for the garden.
There are natural, natural remedies for aphids on currants. This is a tar soap familiar to all , with a solution of which the branches are washed. The garlic infusion, with which the plant is sprayed, also helps.
Chemicals against aphids
There are a great many of them on sale today, you can choose the one that best suits your requirements. There are two large groups. These are contact insecticides, that is, in order to act, the drug must be in contact with the insect, and systemic. The second type of drug penetrates the tissues of the plant and affects the pest when it tries to feast on them. The first group of insecticides is used for a one-time pest control, as it is washed off from the surface of the leaves. These are Envidor, Inta-Vir, Iskra and many others. They are treated once with systemic drugs , they are constantly in the tissues of plants, that is, whenever a pest arrives, it will die. This means "Commander" and "Marshal", "Calypso" and others.