How to get rid of aphids on trees (apple, plum, cherry): the best spraying products (including folk)
Many gardeners are often faced with the fact that fruit trees (apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, sweet cherry) leaves curl, which is why the upper shoots cannot grow and develop normally, and then, as a result, the overall yield also decreases. This means that aphids, a microscopically small, seemingly touchingly defenseless pest that feeds on plant sap, "worked" here.
How to get rid of aphids on apple trees and other fruit trees will be discussed in our article.
Content
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, the plant stops receiving 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 she (the aphid), as it were, protects itself from other pests that may be nearby.
As a rule, aphids appear first of all on young shoots, from which it is easiest to extract juice, small pests usually do not sit on 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 garden of antswhich are detailed 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.
How to treat fruit trees from aphids: chemical, biological and folk remedies for pest control
When you spray a tree, it is imperative to try get inside the curled leaves, where, in fact, is the aphid. Therefore, the treatment is recommended to be carried out with gloves, with which you will unfold the infected leaves during the spraying process.
Concerning optimal timing of processing fruit trees from aphids, then it's best to have time to do it before bud break or after that, since during flowering you can harm insects - pollinators (bees, bumblebees). Of course, you may need to spray and in summer (during the growing season of fruit ripening)... You can also continue the fight against aphids. in the fall, after harvest.
Chemicals
If you decide to treat fruit trees from aphids using chemistry, then it is better to use enteric-contact chemicals, preferably systemic ones, which penetrate into the plant and concentrate at the points of growth, in other words, at the tops of the shoots, where the aphids sit.
Please note! The life and development cycle of aphids is about 3 weeks. New offspring can easily adapt to the chemical, therefore it is not recommended to use the same drug, i.e. use products with different active ingredients.
These systemic chemicals against aphids and other harmful insects include (in brackets the active ingredient, the route of entry, and the chemical class of the agent are indicated):
Important! Before using any of the drugs, be sure to read its instructions to make correct concentration of working solution.
- Aktara (Thiamethoxam (Aktara), a systemic intestinal insecticide, neonicotinoid class).
- Biotlin (Imidacloprid, systemic insecticide of intestinal action, class of neonicotinoids);
- Tanrek (Imidacloprid, systemic insecticide of intestinal action, class of neonicotinoids);
- Confidor Extra (Imidacloprid, a systemic insecticide of intestinal action, of the neonicotinoid class).
- Voliam Flexi (Thiamethoxam (Aktara) and Chloranthraniliprol, systemic insecticide of intestinal action, class of neonicotinoids + other substances);
- Engio Forte (Thiamethoxam and lambda-cyhalothrin, systemic insecticide of intestinal action, class of neonicotinoids + pyrethroids).
There are also non-systemic chemical insecticides:
- Aliot (Malathion (Karbofos), enteric, class Organophosphorus compounds (FOS);
- Neofral (Alpha-cypermethrin, enteric, pyrethroid class);
- Kinmix (Beta-cypermethrin, enteric, Pyrethroid class);
- Decis Profi (Deltamethrin, enteric, pyrethroid class).
By the way! From wintering stages of pests the drug has proven itself well 30 Plus (Vaseline oil, contact action, mineral oil class) and Prophylactin (Vaseline oil and Malathion (Karbofos), intestinal action, class mineral oils + organophosphorus compounds (FOS).
The first spraying with an insecticide is recommended in early spring, before the buds bloom.
Biological preparations
Despite the fact that biological drugs are usually contact, their action does not cause any problems (they are harmless) and the waiting period for some of them can be reduced up to 2-5 days.
The following biological insecticides against aphids and other insects have long gained popularity among summer residents (the active ingredient, the method of entry, and also the chemical class of the agent are indicated in brackets):
- Fitoverm (Aversectin C, enteric contact insecticide, class Avermectins + biological pesticides);
- Aktofit (Aversectin C, enteric contact insecticide, class Avermectins + biological pesticides);;
Fitoverm, Aktofit = complete analogs, with the same active ingredient.
- Spark BIO (Avertin N, enteric insecticide, class Avermectins + biological pesticides);
- Bitoxibacillin (Bacillus thuringiensis var. Thuringiensis, intestinal pesticide, bacterial insecticide + biological pesticide class);
- Tobacco dust (Nicotine, intestinal action, class plant insecticides).
Video: how to deal with aphids on an apple tree
Folk remedies against aphids
Ammonia
Perhaps the most popular and truly folk remedy for fighting aphids on an apple tree is ammonia.
To prepare a spray solution, you will need to mix:
- 10% ammonia 100 ml;
- grated laundry soap (for better adhesion to the leaves);
- 1 bucket of water (10 l);
The cooking process itself is as follows: rub the laundry soap on a grater, then dissolve in a small amount of hot water, pour it into a common container and add ammonia. Carry out the treatment, and after a week repeat it again.
Usually,the smell of ammonia will disappear in about a week, therefore, if the aphid is constantly return, the processing will have to be repeated over and over again.
Note! This solution can be sprayed when the fruits or berries are almost ripe. In addition, ammonia is an excellent nitrogen fertilizer for plants.
Video: how to get rid of aphids on an apple tree using ammonia solution
Naturally, not only an apple tree, but also any fruit trees, and shrubs (currants and gooseberries), vegetables (cucumbers) can be sprayed with ammonia from aphids. For example, the same cherries or cherries that the summer resident does in the next video, having prepared a less concentrated solution, namely, taking 40 ml of ammonia per 10 liters of water, as well as 2-3 tablespoons of liquid laundry soap.
Video: ammonia is a super remedy for aphids on trees
Laundry soap
To combat aphids, you can simply use a solution of laundry soap, although, according to gardeners, tar soap, which has a sharper smell, helps better.
Infusions and decoctions of caustic and odorous herbs
Aphids from your trees will help ward off decoctions and infusions from wild grasses and flowers, namely those that have a very pungent odor. For example, it can be yarrow, wormwood, St. John's wort.
Advice! Generally you can cook the same infusions and decoctions that will help get rid of aphids, currants and gooseberriesdescribedin this article.
Aphid trapping belt on trees
It is not necessary to deal with 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 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.
Using 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 trap 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 with glue from insects and rodents
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 barrier.
Natural (biological) enemies of aphids
You can help in the fight against aphidsladybugwho 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.
Mechanical ways to combat 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 on 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 settled on your site and captures 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)