Cucumber pests: types, control and treatment with photo

Every vegetable grower who grows cucumbers wants to harvest the maximum amount of the crop. Quite often, pests of cucumbers in the greenhouse or in the garden interfere with this. Therefore, before growing, it is necessary to study in advance the pests of cucumbers in the greenhouse and their treatment.

Spider mite

This insect most often appears on seedlings grown in greenhouses and hotbeds. However, sometimes spider mites can also be seen on cucumber bushes in the open field.

When this pest appears, cobwebs begin to appear on the surface of cucumber leaves. To make sure that the seedlings were attacked by a spider mite, it is recommended to carefully examine the underside of the leaves, as insects most often hide there.

Such mites reproduce very quickly, as their female can lay about two hundred eggs in one season. Literally a few weeks after the appearance, pests of cucumber seedlings suck out all the juice from the leaves, which leads to the slow death of cucumbers.

How to protect cucumbers from spider mites

Pests must be de alt with immediately after their appearance in order to save the seedlings from death. Greenhouse plants protect against this insect by two main methods:

• Regular watering. The tick does not like very moist soil and therefore it does not breed in conditions of high humidity.
• Planting plants. It is recommended to plant carrots, parsley or dill near cucumbers. They attract ladybugs that feed on spider mites.

Ticks are not covered with a protective cover and therefore it is recommended to treat cucumber seedlings with special caustic compounds that will clear cucumber seedlings from them. Means for processing are recommended to be created from components that are harmless to people. You can spray seedlings with these solutions:

• Soap and ground pepper liquid. To prepare the drug, the same amount of soap and ground pepper is added to 10 liters of water. Then 40 grams of ash and chopped onions are added to the mixture. Before watering the plants, it is necessary to strain the resulting liquid through cheesecloth.
• Remedy from capsicum. 80 grams of ground hot pepper is added to 5-7 liters of water. The mixture should be infused for at least a day, after which it will need to be watered twice a week by cucumber bushes.

Some gardeners do not use folk remedies and use chemicals instead. Such funds are recommended to be used only in the first 2-3 weeks after planting in the soil, before the formation of fruits.

Snails and slugs

Slugs and snails are quite common in the gardens of summer residents. During the day, they may not be noticed on cucumbers, as these pests prefer to crawl out at night or in cloudy weather. If a slug or snail appears on a plant, it eats cucumber leaves and even their fruits. At first they start with the lower leaves, but over time they move to the rest. If you do not protect the seedlings from slugs and snails in time, they will completely destroy the cucumber bushes.

How to protect cucumbers from slugs with snails

Some growers don't know what to do to get rid of these pests. There are several fairly effective ways to protect seedlings in a greenhouse and on the street:

• Copper tapes. To prevent snails from eating the leaves of cucumber seedlings, it is necessary to spread copper ribbons near the plants. During contact with such material, molluscs receive a small electric charge, from which they can die.
• Chemical preparations Thunderstorm or Meta. If the use of copper tapes did not help, then you will have to spray the cucumbers with special chemicals. Processing cucumbers from pests should be done very carefully. It is not recommended to use very concentrated mixtures and therefore, chemical preparations must be diluted with water before use. Manufacturers claim that the use of these drugs is absolutely harmless for people.

Thrips

Quite often the leaves on cucumbers are eaten by tobacco thrips.These white insects begin to multiply in the soil and eventually move to cucumber seedlings. Cucumbers with thrips on leaves will not be able to live long. This pest gnaws leaves and feeds on cucumber juice, which eventually leads to serious deformations of fruits and stems. Also, during cultivation, large light spots may appear on the leaves.

How to deal with thrips

Thrips are very resistant insects and therefore the fight against them can drag on for a long time. Cucumber pest control technology can be carried out using the following means:

• Adhesive tape. You can protect cucumbers from pests in the greenhouse with adhesive tape. Adults often fly and therefore there is a possibility that they will fall into such a trap.
• Water. Regular watering is excellent for thrips. Such pests of cucumber seedlings do not like high humidity and therefore it is recommended to periodically water the plant leaves with a hose.
• Fitoverm. When the above methods of struggle do not help, cucumber bushes are treated with Fitoverm. Use this product only in the evening at temperatures above 20 degrees.

Worms

Worms are another common problem when growing cucumbers. They affect the performance of the root system, as they can begin to gnaw on the root of cucumbers. If you do not get rid of the worms on the roots in time, the plant will die.

How to protect cucumbers from worms

To protect the roots from worms, several of the most effective means to combat them are used:

• Seeds of Baosia bottled. With the help of flour made from the seeds of this Malay plant, you can quickly get rid of pests in the soil.These seeds contain a substance called maurine. When feeding, it is it that affects the worms after it enters their body. When feeding plants with flour, no more than 200 grams of flour should be spent per square meter of land.
• Copper vitriol. To protect cucumbers from worms, spray the area with copper sulfate. It is not recommended to use it dry, so it should be mixed with water.
• Derris. Very effective drug, often used for pest control. Before using it, you need to prepare a working solution. To do this, 20 grams of the product is mixed with 5 liters of water and infused for about 40 minutes. Treat the area with Derris twice a month.

Whitefly

Many gardeners complain that the grown cucumbers suffer from the whitefly. This small insect is very reminiscent of butterflies. Whitefly caterpillars and adults are quite small - 2-3 mm in length, and therefore it is quite difficult to notice them on cucumber bushes.

Most of their lives, whiteflies are busy eating leaves, which eventually begin to dry out.

The main sign of the presence of pests on seedlings is a weak plaque located on the lower half of the leaves. In the affected areas of the leaves, a fungus begins to develop, due to which the seedlings can become infected with a particular disease. A few days later, signs appear from above. A huge number of small holes appear on the top sheet plate.

The insect is often found in greenhouses, as it breeds only in warm conditions with high humidity. In the open field, the whitefly is also found, but much less frequently.

How to process cucumbers to remove whiteflies

It is very difficult to save cucumber bushes from this insect.If she attacked only a few bushes, then it is easier to just get rid of the infected plants so that the insect does not have time to spread to neighboring seedlings. However, with a larger distribution, this option is not suitable. In this case, you can use:

• Sticky tapes. Fly traps are perfect for this. They are hung throughout the greenhouse above each row of cucumbers.
• Planting plants. For example, some gardeners plant beaveria mushrooms near cucumbers to protect them from whiteflies.
• Spraying. You can regularly spray cucumber bushes with water from a hose. At the same time, the pressure should be powerful enough to wash away all insects from the leaves.

Knot nematode

The gall nematode is the most dangerous pest that can be encountered while growing cucumbers.Many are interested in what damage this pest causes to the plant. The nematode is quickly introduced into the root system of cucumbers and violates its integrity. It can also worsen the absorption capacity of the roots by 2-3 times. Over time, cucumber bushes stop growing and gradually die.

Pest control methods

Many experts advise to immediately get rid of infected cucumbers when a nematode appears, until the pest begins to spread to other crops on the site. However, not everyone wants to lose the cucumber crop and therefore try to cure the bushes. In this case, we fight the nematode using the following methods:

• Heat treatment. Thermally treated bushes can be saved from the nematode. It is recommended to carry out this procedure during transplanting seedlings or when cucumber bushes are at rest.To do this, the roots of seedlings must be soaked in warm water for 20-40 minutes. After the procedure, the cucumbers should be immediately placed in a container of cold water so that it cools down quickly.
• Chemicals. Chemicals are used if heat treatment has not cured the seedlings. Many do not know which chemicals are best used in treatment. To do this, it is better to use Aktofit or Fitoverm, produced in powder form. During use, these funds are scattered on the ground and mixed with the soil. Some dilute them with water and spray the plants with the resulting liquid. In greenhouses, chemicals must be used very carefully. After applying them, it is recommended to ventilate the room for several hours.

Conclusion

Cucumber pests are faced by almost everyone who grows them. To get rid of them, you need to understand who eats the plant and how to save cucumber bushes from pests.

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