Shield on an apple tree: how to fight folk and biological means

When growing apples, many are faced with dangerous pests that can adversely affect the growth of trees and their fruiting. Often gardeners have to remove scale insects on an apple tree. This insect is difficult to spot, as it is well camouflaged. They fight such a pest with various folk remedies and preparations. However, before using one or another method of struggle, you should become more familiar with the characteristic features of the pest.

What is a scale insect and its types

The pest got its name due to the fact that it has a special shield for protection. It consists of the remains of larvae, which are securely glued together. Outwardly, the protective coating of scale insects resembles dark tree bark.

Among the features of insects, their small size is about 4-5 mm in length. They feed on juice, which is found in apple fruits and leaves of trees. That is why many people recommend getting rid of scale insects immediately. If this is not done in time, then the ovaries, ripened apples and leaves will begin to darken and rot.

Signs that indicate the presence of insects include:

cracking of the bark, which is accompanied by falling branches;
yellowing and curling of leaves;
slowing the growth of trees, due to which they can dry out.

There are several varieties of scale insects that can appear on apple trees:

California. Appears not only on apple trees, but also on many other fruit trees. When plants are damaged, black dots with light spots appear on the leaves.
Comma. Apple comma-shaped insects are easy to detect, as they are painted white. They have an oblong shape and grow up to 3-4 cm. Such insects can easily tolerate a drop in temperature to 25-35 degrees below zero.
False shield. The pest infects apple trees, gooseberries, currants, bird cherry, raspberries. Individuals differ from other varieties by a flat yellowish shield.

Reproduction of scale insects

For reproduction, females have to leave small oval larvae on the leaves. At one time they lay at least a hundred individuals. After 1-2 weeks, the larvae grow up and gradually spread to other tree branches. Young individuals feed on tree sap, which they extract with the help of a special proboscis. It is gradually introduced into the surface of the leaves, after which the scale insects suck in the juice.

When the temperature drops outside, a dense shield appears on the surface of the insects, which protects them from the effects of the external environment.By winter, all young larvae become adults. In the second half of March, when the movement of juice begins in the trees, scale insects become more active. New larvae are distributed throughout all parts of plants, stick to the surface of the leaves and begin to feed.

If the scale insect is not eliminated in time, it will constantly multiply, and the individuals will completely cover the apple trees. This will damage the trunk and cause the trees to die.

Methods of struggle

It is not easy to get rid of scale insects on an apple tree, as it is covered with a strong shell that can protect individuals even from exposure to chemicals. Therefore, some gardeners prefer to manually clean the surface of the bark and leaves from insects. With most fruit trees, they are removed with a scraper or an iron brush. If the branch is seriously damaged, then you will have to cut it off and burn it along with the scale insect and its delayed larvae.

In young plants, insects are removed not only by mechanical means. In addition, the trees are treated with a soap solution that can destroy the larvae.

Before you start fighting with the scale insect, you should familiarize yourself with a few rules:

First the trees are treated with non-toxic solutions;
plants are sprayed 1-2 times a week;
To improve the effectiveness of the funds used, they are used in turn.

Folk remedies

Some try to eliminate pests on apples with special folk remedies. There are several effective remedies that will help cure the trees:

Soap solution. To prepare this mixture, 5-7 liters of water are mixed with three heads of chopped garlic and laundry soap. Plants are sprayed with the prepared solution five times a week until all parasites are dead.
Onion remedy. To create an onion tincture against scale insects, you will have to grate one onion on a fine grater, stir in a liter of water and leave for 5-6 hours. After that, the liquid is filtered and used to spray apple trees.
Bitter pepper. When creating a solution, 100 grams of pepper are added to 2-3 liters of hot water, after which the mixture is infused for 20-30 hours. Then 20 grams of laundry soap is added to the filtered tincture.

Non-chemical control agents

Biological control methods are often used to eliminate apple scale insects, which include:

was, which are released on the branches of apple trees to start eating dangerous pests;
a mixture of liquid soap, which should be treated daily on the surface of leaves and twigs;
neem horticultural oil that kills not only scale insects, but also other insects.

The above methods of control are considered the safest, since they are not capable of harming plants.

Conclusion

Scale insects are considered dangerous pests that infect apple trees and lead to their death. Before eliminating insects, you need to familiarize yourself with effective methods and methods of control that will help protect apple trees.