Currant is a rather unpretentious horticultural crop that bears fruit in tasty and healthy fruits.
Caring for it is not difficult and uncomplicated, although sometimes it is associated with troubles and afflictions in the form of aphids on currants. How to treat the shrub to save it from pests? Is it possible to take preventive measures to prevent their occurrence?
Before we learn effective ways to treat aphids on currants, let's find answers to such important significant questions: what does aphids look like and why does it appear on currants? What are the types of pests and how to recognize that the bush is affected by them? Let's find out.
What is aphid
Aphid is a small insect pest, the size of which does not exceed several millimeters. The shape and body color of a plant parasite depends on its varieties. Usually there is a rounded or oblong aphid, with small red or black eyes and a small antennae located on the head and functioning instead of the organs of touch and hearing.
The body of insects is soft and uneven, without protective layers, covered with small growths and fluff.
Pests are divided into two types:
- Gall leaf aphid.
- Gooseberry fruit aphid.
Pest hazard
Since the presence of parasites on plants is very dangerous, many responsible gardeners are thinking about how to treat aphids on currants so that it disappears.
This is important to do as early as possible, since insects are able to multiply at lightning speed and quickly harm the bush. How does this happen?
Each aphid is equipped with a mouth proboscis, which pierces young greens or delicate shoots to suck out the juice of shrubs. This happens throughout the warm season, from spring to autumn.
In April, larvae appear from insect eggs located next to the currant buds, which begin to actively damage the bush. In the summer, a huge family of parasites consists of only females that can breed several times in a row and which completely cling to the branches of currant.
When there is not enough food, aphids form wings, and it flies from the bush of currant to nearby weeds. However, in the fall, the malicious family will return to their “father’s home” anyway to begin to lay their eggs. At this time, males appear who fertilize the females for further procreation.
It is very important to know how to treat currants from aphids and ants, as these parasites can cause irreparable harm to your plants.
Sucking life juices from the stems, a colony of pests inhibits the shrub so that it is not able to develop normally. Currant leaves begin to deform, the plant withers and dries, ceases to bear fruit and, in the end, dies.
How can one detect damage to the bush in the early stages and help the diseased plant?
Signs of Pests
First of all, it is necessary to regularly and carefully examine the currant bushes: the aphid always hides on the inner (lower) side of the leaves.
What other signs should I look for before starting a rescue operation? Here is some of them:
- the growth of seedlings stopped unreasonably;
- branches are bent and deformed;
- the shape of the leaves is twisted and distorted;
- from the outside, the leaves swell, red or yellow spots form;
- in large numbers, dried shoots prevail.
What are the reasons for the appearance of aphids on currants (what to process and how to save the bush we will learn a little lower)?
Reasons for the appearance
To find out what preventive measures need to be taken to prevent the appearance of aphids, it is important to find out the causes of its occurrence. They may consist of the following conditions:
- lack of necessary precautionary treatment of the bush before the winter period;
- the presence in the soil of a huge number of ants that can protect and carry pests from nearby plants;
- the presence of dried and dead shoots, which must be removed on time and which can be a convenient shelter for aphids during wintering;
- the existence of a huge number of weeds around and inside the currant seedlings.
So, the reasons for the appearance of parasites have been identified, garden shrubs examined and a disappointing sentence pronounced: aphids eat currants. How to process the bush? Let's find out.
Universal methods
Universal Pest Management Methods - This is a list of general rules for killing parasites suitable for a variety of applications. Here are some principles that you can apply even for prevention:
- loosening of soil near shrubs, destruction of dry and dead shoots;
- elimination of weeds around currant seedlings;
- own removal of pests from the affected foliage (manually or with a water stream);
- attracting insects that feed on aphids and other pests to the garden (you can plant marigolds, tansy and yarrow in the immediate vicinity of currants);
- processing shrubs with home-made solutions or pesticidal preparations.
Now let's discuss these methods in more detail.
Boiling water to help
In most cases, the currant bush should be taken care of in early spring, before flowering buds appear.
How to treat currants from aphids in the spring? First of all, you can think about scalding the bush with boiling water. However, this must be done even when the kidneys are not swollen.
Where to start? It is necessary to heat a lot of boiling water (several buckets or barrels), pour water into an iron watering can and start watering.
This is not an easy matter. Because scalding currants should start from the upper branches, and for this it will be necessary to stand on a chair or bench. In addition, it is important to remember that a lot of boiling water will be needed, since an average of eight to ten liters of water can be spent on one bush.
But the effect is worth it. Processing with boiling water will help to kill not only aphids, but also a kidney tick and other unpleasant pests.
Fumigation
And how to treat currants from gall aphids? Fumigate the garden. The essence of this method is that the affected shrubs are exposed to caustic, thick smoke, which is formed due to the burning of various substances. Thanks to this, all unsolicited pests die.
Fumigation can be carried out using rubber, tobacco or mushroom. In the first case, lightened rubber is placed in an unnecessary non-flammable container and placed under each bush. For tobacco or mushroom use beekeeping smoker.
It would seem that fumigation is a fairly simple and easy method, but it is important to remember some nuances:
- The process must be carried out in the evening when there is no wind.
- For fumigation should be allocated at least three hours.
- If a mushroom is taken as the main burnt substance, then it should be a large, well-ripened raincoat.
The effect of fumigation is quick and almost one hundred percent. However, it should be remembered that combustion products act not only on parasites. They can have a negative effect on the human body.
In addition, the slow decay method is applicable only in early spring. But what if you discovered pests much later? How to treat currants from aphids after flowering?
Pesticide spraying
There are several dozen types of synthetic drugs that can destroy huge colonies of harmful insects. When using these substances, several rules should be observed:
- It is necessary to apply the funds in several stages: before the buds appear, during flowering, immediately after flowering and after the harvest.
- Pesticides should be used in especially neglected cases: when too many aphid settlements are found on bushes, when other methods do not work, and when pests reappear.
What specific insecticides can be used to treat currant aphids? The more you learn about the intended remedy, the better. Before you buy a particular pesticide, it is important to collect objective reviews about it, as well as carefully study the instructions for use.
The most commonly used agents are Karbofos, Akarin, Actellik, Biotlin, Tanrek, Aktara, Decis Profi, and others. Some of them can be used to treat aphids on currants in June. The more carefully you read the instructions regarding this issue, the better. Since not all drugs can be used during the fruiting period or immediately before picking berries.
Although each insecticide should be bred according to the instructions attached to it, there are general rules for spraying currants with poisonous solutions.
How to handle shrubs
Here are some specific tips for different types of spraying:
- Dip each sprig of currant into a bucket of diluted solution.
- Spray each shoot from the sprayer (and even the soil under the bush).
- It is important to predict weather conditions (so that there is no wind and rain in the near future).
- Use protective equipment in the process of processing: mask and gloves.
In addition to pesticides, there are other effective remedies that can be used to treat black currants from aphids. How are they different from chemicals? First of all, those that are safer for human health.
Folk methods of struggle
Before treating currants from aphids with folk remedies, it is important to determine what substance you want to control pests with. As practice shows, it is not necessary to choose only one method. To find out which remedy is most effective, you can alternate infusions prepared from different components.
Garlic infusion . Grind two large heads of garlic in a meat grinder, stir in a bucket of warm water and let it brew for a day. By strained infusion, treat the affected shrubs daily for two to three weeks.
Citrus infusion . Finely chopped frozen peel from 1 orange and pour 1 liter of boiling water. After cooling, add two drops of liquid soap.
The infusion is celandine . Grind four kilograms of fresh grass, pour a bucket of water and insist for a day.
Infusion of ash and wormwood . Pour half a kilogram of finely chopped grass with five liters of water, add a glass of wood ash and fifty grams of laundry soap. Let it brew for five hours. After this, stir the resulting infusion with water (in a ratio of 1: 2) and process the currant.
N astoy of hot pepper . Finely chop one kilogram of fresh red vegetable, add ten liters of water and simmer for one hour. Then put in a warm room for several days. After this, strain the infusion and mix with water (one glass of infusion per ten liters of liquid). If desired, grated laundry soap can be added to the finished solution.
Forecast
As you can see, parasitic aphids on currants are a fairly common and harmful phenomenon. It reduces yield, destroys shrubs and causes other inconvenience to both gardeners and plants. Therefore, the fight against harmful insects should begin quickly and immediately, using all available methods and means.
In addition, regular preventive measures, which are mentioned in this article, will be an important way to eliminate aphids. Then no pests can affect the health and fruiting of your currant.