Aphids on cherries: how to deal with drugs and folk remedies

With the appearance of juicy foliage on the sweet cherry, the summer resident is faced with pests and diseases. The most common insect pest on fruit crops is the aphid. She lives in colonies, feeds on plant sap from leaves, juicy young shoots. How to deal with aphids on cherries - this question interests every gardener, since many radical measures do not help.

Description of insects

The appearance of aphids can be detected by the black color of the shoots and leaves, which curl up heavily. The problem of damage to cherries, sweet cherries and other fruit trees lies precisely in the quantitative characteristics of the population. After all, they live on a tree by the thousands.

In addition, in the course of their life, pests produce a sweetish juice called span. The span attracts other insects. Usually, where aphids are found, ants are always present in the neighborhood, who are not averse to feasting on aphid milk.

From autumn, insects lay their eggs on the host plant, in this case it is a sweet cherry, and in the spring, with the advent of heat, larvae hatch and start eating buds, milky leaves, growing shoots. When the colonies eat everything, they begin to fly from one bush to another. It is important here to process all plantings in the garden at once. Otherwise, you will not be able to expel the enemy from your territory. Don't forget the ants, they are worth fighting too.

How dangerous aphids are

The insect is indifferent to fruits, but if it has already settled on sweet cherries, then goodbye foliage and young shoots. It completely de-energizes the green mass of the plant from the juice.The leaves begin to curl, the buds dry out and fall off. The surviving flowers develop poorly, the fruits grow clumsy, defective.

All these results of pest activity lead to a sharp decrease in the yield of berries. Aphids are especially dangerous for young bushes or newly planted seedlings. Trees affected by aphids become sick and weak. They do not tolerate wintering well, and some may freeze.

It's worth adding that weak cherries become more vulnerable to viral diseases. When insects are pests, the foliage is abundantly covered with a sticky sweet coating, which subsequently forms a crust. Thus, the plant receives a minimum amount of oxygen, and fungi of various etiologies settle on the foliage itself and the bark of the tree.

Causes of aphids on cherries

You are probably wondering why aphids appeared in the garden? And there may be several reasons:

1. Severe weed in the garden plot.
2. Presence of ants.
3. The cherry tree is greatly weakened.

In a garden overgrown with weeds, there is a lot of room for the development of pests and diseases. And aphids are among them. In autumn, eggs can be laid on weeds, if you do not get rid of it, then the parasite will attack in the spring. Winged individuals fly to fruit crops and begin to eat them en masse.

You must have heard the phrase that ants milk aphids? This is how it happens. In autumn, ants stock up on aphid eggs, hiding them in the thickness of the soil, and in spring they take them out. The aphid begins to develop and secrete a span, which the ant family feeds on. Here is such a symbiosis. In this case, all forces in the struggle must be directed to the destruction of ant colonies.

Signs of pests

Detecting and recognizing aphid sabotage is very easy:

• presence of twisted leaves;
• presence next to a cherry bush and an ant colony on it;
• current growth of shoots is thickly covered with aphids, which makes it look black;
• near the sweet cherry and in the garden there are clouds of flying aphids;
• leaves become sticky to the touch.

Distinguishing black aphids on cherry leaves from other harmful insects is quite simple. The insect has a plump, almost transparent body on thin legs. In front of the head there are two large eyes and a pair of antennae. Sometimes there is a green insect. Some individuals have wings.

How to deal with parasites

When aphids appear on cherries, the control measures for which we will cover below, do not panic. The disease is treated simply, but in several stages. An integrated approach is important here, that is, the use of several effective methods.

Mechanical method

The mechanical method will save cherries to a lesser extent. But if it is combined with spraying, the result will be positive. This method involves the removal of aphid-affected foci. Cut off non-lignified ends of shoots, leaves, inflorescences.

Important! You can’t cut off, as you can harm the cherry: violate the integrity of the bark, accidentally cut off the entire shoot or break it. It is also not recommended to crush the aphids, it is better to lower them into a container of water and cover with a lid.

Biological

Some gardeners do not practice the manual method and the processing of cherries with chemistry, as chemical elements penetrate into the cherries, and manual picking can damage branches and leaves. The biological method is to attract birds or insects to the garden that destroy pests. This method of struggle is absolutely safe, both for cherries and for humans.

Proceed to destruction should be at the moment when the aphid breeds as much as possible. To do this, they buy insects in specialized stores that eat the pest and release them into the garden. These "beneficial" insects include:

• wasps;
• flies hoverflies;
• ladybugs and their larvae;
• lacewings.

Birds can act as an alternative to beneficial insects. They are specially attracted to the garden, placing all kinds of feeders, houses. These can be simple sparrows and tits, robins and kinglets, like small birds that feed on insects.

This should also include the cultivation of some fungi that produce bacteria that infect aphids, after which the insect dies. These bacteria are called avermectins. In addition to adult specimens, they actively eat aphid eggs. Nemabakt is such a means of struggle.

Technological method

This method involves planting plants that have a negative effect on pests. Usually these are strongly smelling herbs and flowers. Under the cherry can be placed:

• onion or garlic;
• fennel;
• fragrant or spicy herbs;
• tagetes (marigold), Dalmatian chamomile, feverfew.

These plants are carriers of pyrethrins - substances that repel insects.

Chemical Methods

The use of chemicals from black aphids on cherries can have both pros and cons. Insecticides are very effective against aphids, but can accumulate in different parts of the cherry, including the fruit, making them unfit for consumption for some time.

Pesticides are usually used 20 days before flowering and 20 days before the main harvest. This technique is necessary to protect children from eating harmful berries, and bees that pollinate cherries.

What drugs are used to treat cherry bushes:

• Aktara;
• Actellik;
• Inta-vir;
• Bi-58;
• Spark;
• Aktofit;
• Confidor.

These general insecticides will help you get rid of not only aphids, but also other pests. It is recommended to carry out double processing of bushes, with a break of 10 days. The working fluid should be prepared according to the instructions and used in one go, using personal protective equipment.

Folk methods

Home remedies and folk recipes have been a success for a long time. Before you run to the store for expensive insecticides, you need to see how else you can help cherries. The most effective recipes are:

1. Solution of laundry soap and vegetable oil. The body of the aphid is enveloped in the components of the solution and prevents the flow of oxygen into the body, and the aphid breathes through the skin. To 2 cups of water, add 2 tablespoons of grated soap and 1 cup of oil.
2. Decoction of wood ash, which is used to irrigate foliage and shoots. Boil 1.5 cups of sifted ash in 2 liters of water. Boil for half an hour. Mix with cold water in a bucket to make 10 liters of slurry.
3. Infusion of herbs: tagetes, potato tops, tomato (leaf), yarrow. Grind, fill with water and insist 2-3 days. Processing is carried out twice, with a break of 10 days.
4. Mix 10 liters of water, 40 grams of ammonia and 2 tablespoons of tar soap. Processed in the spring, before the leaves bloom.
5. Infusion of garlic. Chop the garlic cloves (2-3 pieces), add 2 large tablespoons of vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of liquid soap. All ingredients are poured into ½ liter of water and infused for several days. Then filter and dilute - for 1.5 liters of water 2 tablespoons of the concentrate.

There are a lot of recipes. It can be sprayed with a decoction of onion peel, a solution of calcined s alt. Some folk preparations act as foliar top dressing of cherries.

Prevention of occurrence

To minimize or prevent aphids, it is important to take the following preventive measures:

1. Destruction of weeds, especially under cherry bushes, as they appear.
2. Timely processing of trees.
3. Feeding regularly to keep the tree he althy.
4. Destruction of anthills in the garden.

These measures are simple, but their timely implementation will save the fruit crop and prevent the problem from spreading to other fruit crops.

Aphids on cherries are a common phenomenon.But if you do not pay attention to it in time, the plants may die. In addition, aphids will spread to cherries, apples, pears and other cultivated trees and bushes. Follow the proposed measures to eliminate aphids on sweet cherries and get a big harvest of fruits and berries.

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