With the onset of summer, gardeners daily number of cases only grows. Moreover, not planting and watering organization come to the fore at all, protection from pests and plant diseases is much more important . Miss time, do not pay attention to alarming signs - and you can assume that all the hard work was in vain, and you were left without a crop. I must say that modern gardeners and gardeners are offered a huge arsenal of all kinds of means to avoid such an outcome. Protection from pests and plant diseases is the key to an excellent harvest, which is why, on the eve of the new summer season, this information will be useful to absolutely everyone.
Classification of modern methods of struggle for garden health
Without this, it will be really difficult to understand. Modern agricultural science has studied and developed a huge number of methods to combat various ailments that threaten to defeat your garden. Very conditionally, they can be divided into four large groups. Protection from pests and diseases of the garden can be agrotechnical, and it is precisely the methods from this group that receive a lot of attention today. In second place is the biological, then the mechanical way of pest control, and finally the chemical.
It should be noted that in the garden and in the field it is perfectly acceptable to use a combination of the most different methods of struggle and plant protection. Moreover, it is this approach that guarantees the safety of your harvest. But each of the methods separately may not give a full effect.
There is always an alternative
What methods do you think will be the best protection against pests and plant diseases? Of course, many believe that the use of pesticides will provide the best effect. However, in Europe, the area of land increases annually, the cultivation of which occurs using biological methods, where the use of chemicals is completely eliminated. That is, people already well understood that all the “chemistry” in one form or another gets to our table in grown vegetables and fruits. Of course, protection from pests and plant diseases is very important, but aren't we paying too high a price for this? That is why, year after year, the area of ecological farming is growing. Europeans have introduced strict control over the content of pesticides in vegetables and fruits, and the demand for products grown without their use is only growing.
Preventive actions
The better the presowing work is done, the less problems you will have throughout the summer. Biological protection of plants from pests and diseases requires careful digging of the soil in autumn and spring, as well as the attraction of predatory insects that can protect crops from pests. This also includes planting of garden plants according to special schemes. Some crops repel pests, others enrich the soil with substances important for third plants.
Long-term studies have shown that cocks, lacewings and ladybugs can destroy about 50% of aphids in crops. Therefore, the gardener has a direct benefit from attracting these insects to his plot. For this, special multi-tiered houses of reed, peat and wood are being constructed. Around are wild flowering plants, which are especially loved by these insects.
Agrotechnical methods of plant protection against pests and diseases
These are very simple and effective methods that do not require additional costs. They are economical and environmentally friendly. Any gardener knows about them and partially uses them on his site. It was experimentally established that the best agrotechnical measure would be the cultivation of plant varieties resistant to pests and diseases. This also includes an effective crop rotation and a special soil cultivation system , observing the optimal timing of sowing and harvesting, fertilizing and, of course, high-quality weeding.
Choose varieties
Integrated plant protection from pests and diseases suggests that in order to achieve a good result you need to apply a whole range of measures at your site. However, too much depends on the selected variety to avoid this issue. First of all, of course, he is interested in the resistance of the variety to diseases and insect infestations. These indicators depend on the anatomical, physiological and biological characteristics of each of them. Varieties also have different resistance to damage by insects. That is, with an equal degree of damage in some, the yield decreases, while in others this is almost imperceptible. Moreover, zoned varieties are always more durable, so it is recommended that they be used on your site.
Crop rotation
Another effective agricultural technique that will significantly increase the yield. Changing crops grown in a given area of soil is a way to increase its fertility, as well as an important technique for controlling the number of pests and preventing various diseases. If from year to year the same crop is planted on the same bed, then pests, fungi and viruses gradually accumulate in it until their number reaches a critical mass. Now the plants will die simply in the bud, forcing the gardener to take action.
Fertilizer application
Plant protection products against pests and diseases are presented on the market in a wide range. However, one must begin with the fact that healthy soil is able to take care of itself. And in order to maintain it in good condition, it is very important to regularly fertilize, dig and weed carefully. The use of organic and mineral fertilizers in the processing of the garden from diseases contributes to the formation of seedlings that are more resistant to damage. On well-fertilized soils, seedlings are obtained in amicable fashion, plants develop rapidly, and there is a mismatch between the development of pests and the crops themselves. As a result, pests die or simply cannot do any tangible harm.
Many gardeners know from their own experience that feeding phosphorus fertilizers during laying eggs with insects significantly reduces the number of pests, for example superphosphate works effectively against slugs. Thoroughly digging the soil in the fall and spring is an excellent protection against pests, diseases and weeds. In this case, the pupae and insects appear on the surface and die, as do the roots of the weeds.
Garden pests. Learning to defend ourselves
To protect your garden or large industrial field from disease and pests, you need to carefully weigh the needs of the chosen culture and study its main enemies. This will already give a certain scheme of actions, which can become very effective. The very first technique is to sow the crop at the optimum time. This will allow to obtain high-quality seedlings resistant to various diseases and damage by pests. For example, early sowing of radish makes it possible to protect the crop from onion flies.
Seeding patterns and rates are also important. In a certain area should be located the optimal number of plants. This will ensure their normal growth and development, and therefore, resistance to disease. The role of the seed placement depth also plays a role.
However, this is far from all you need to know. Why is it so important to get rid of all the weeds that appear on the garden plot? Because it is weed grass that is a favorite gathering place for a wide variety of organisms. Here they successfully reproduce and attack cultivated plants around. Weeds feed on earthen fleas and aphids, spider mites and other insects, not to mention that weeds are the habitat of numerous bacteria.
Disease control
Ways to protect plants from pests and diseases can be painted indefinitely. However, first of all, it should be noted that those that can be used on any site are affordable for everyone and effective. These are physical measures to combat bacteria, viruses and pests. These methods are based primarily on the use of high and low temperatures and changes in humidity.
The soil is shed with boiling water and frozen, covered with a film and warmed up under sunlight or using special heaters. If you warm the greenhouse with the help of heating elements in the early spring, then pests from the whole area will gather there. All that remains is to turn off the heaters and open the greenhouse at night so that they all die from a change in temperature.
For a small garden plot, a mechanical method of controlling insects is very effective. These are all kinds of traps, glue and rag rings, water bottles, the neck of which is smeared with syrup, and other devices. Mechanical methods include the destruction of pests by shaking, manual assembly, the destruction of winter nests, that is, everything that we do in the summer on our site.
Biological methods of combating plant diseases
Pests - this is an obvious nuisance, you understand the causes of what is happening and notice the consequences. In the case of diseases (bacterial, fungal, viral), a diagnosis is not always obtained quickly. And this is true not only for a huge field. Protecting indoor plants from pests and diseases also requires a lot of attention, knowledge and skills, because sometimes it is enough to miss just one day, and it will be impossible to save the plant.
It seems that it’s not worth considering for a long time: we take one bag from the fungal diseases in the store, the second from the viral ones, plus we spray it with an insecticide and we can sleep peacefully. However, keep in mind that part of this "chemistry" will still get to your table with the fruits. Therefore, it is better to try to avoid the disease using other methods, leaving the above in the end.
Biological methods of pest control are based on the use of living organisms and their metabolic products. You can use parasitic and predatory insects, they are specially bred for these purposes. Today, biological weapons are gaining the greatest popularity . These are bacteria, fungi and viruses, which are pathogens of insect diseases. However, it should be noted that using such methods, the most effective is the protection of ornamental plants from pests and diseases, that is, those that are grown in closed ground. They are suitable for greenhouses and greenhouses, but in the fields they must be combined with other methods of protection. Today, special microbiological preparations are being developed to combat specific pests, but so far their choice is limited (Lepidocide, Nemabakt, Planriz).
"Heavy artillery": "chemistry" in our garden
Despite numerous condemnations, this method still remains the most effective and universal. We stock up on several bottles of drugs (Agrokiller, Betarus, Ditoks, Pikus, Enlil, Tsiraks, etc.), plant and process the garden at the right time. That's all, it remains only to enjoy the harvest. To date, the choice of such funds is very large, they all have a common name - pesticides. This group also includes insecticides, that is, means to combat parasitic insects. For the most part, they are universal, that is, they are able to suppress the development and reproduction of any pest that feasts on the plant. They are divided into several groups. These are contact and intestinal insecticides, fumigant. The treatment with these drugs is carried out both for prevention and to combat the problem.
Chemical protection of plants from pests and diseases works great for fungal and viral diseases, which are often the cause of the largest crop losses. For this, insecticides are used, each of which acts on the causative agents of a particular disease. Keep in mind that these drugs must be used in advance. Their effectiveness drops dramatically if you are trying to save already diseased plants.
Fungicides are designed for seed treatment in order to protect future plants from a number of diseases. Acaricides work against garden ticks, this group of insects is often resistant to other drugs. If your garden is often raided by rodents, then in addition to processing the trunks with lime and laying traps, you can use special rodenticides. This is a chemical fight against mice and moles (Goliath, Phentolacin). Bactericides work well against bacterial diseases of the garden. Finally, in order to protect the garden from feathered "robbers", special avicides were invented ("Averfos", etc.).
Of course, one needs to be careful with "chemistry", but science does not stand still and is developing ever new ways to protect garden plants from diseases, weeds and pests, which would cause minimal harm to human health. Modern pesticides have a very low percentage of toxicity. When used in due time and in the quantities recommended in the instructions, less harm is inflicted on the body than, for example, from caffeine. However, this does not mean that all other methods of protecting the garden (agricultural, biological) do not have the right to life. Only their optimal combination will give an excellent result.
To summarize
Among the variety of options presented above, each of you will be able to find the one that is best suited to solve the problems facing it. One has a home greenhouse, the other has a rose garden. Someone cultivates vegetables for their family on the garden plot, while someone cultivates grain on an industrial scale. In any case, the plant is always under threat of pests or the development of diseases that threaten the complete destruction of the crop. Therefore, competent protection of plants from pests, diseases and weeds is the main task of every gardener.