Aphids on cucumbers: how to fight, folk remedies for processing

There are many recipes for treating aphids from cucumbers. Pests settle on a vegetable crop in the middle of summer and can leave without a crop. Therefore, it is important to carry out preventive measures, and if a problem is detected, immediately begin the fight. All formulations are proven, effective and safe.

Brief information about the pest

Melon aphid on cucumbers is a common pest that infects leaves, stems, shoots and other parts of the plant. The wingless type of an adult is distinguished by a green-yellow color, the winged individuals are black or dark green in color.Also found on cucumbers are aphids of a white, almost transparent color.

Black aphid on cucumbers lives in colonies. Therefore, as pests spread, black dots on the leaves and stem of plants become well visible.

Insect size is very small, about 1-2mm. They live on cucumbers from below the leaves. At temperatures above +6 degrees, they begin to actively multiply. They feed on the juice of the leaves of watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, significantly weakening them. The poison that insects secrete is fatal to cucumbers. In addition, aphids are a carrier of various infections.

Twisted leaves appear on the affected cucumbers, spots can be found on them, ovaries and flowers begin to fall off. Cucumber plantings look lethargic, begin to turn yellow. At this stage, you can still save the crop. There are many ways of what to do if aphids are on cucumbers.

How to deal with aphids on cucumbers, recipes with herbal ingredients

The fight against aphids on cucumbers in a greenhouse or in an open area can be carried out using herbal infusions. If you intend to get rid of aphids with folk remedies, you need to prepare the compositions correctly, observing all the recommended proportions. This will avoid burns and deterioration of the plants.

• You can remove pests on cucumbers with the help of celandine. It will take 400 g of the plant to pour a liter of water and leave for 2 days to infuse. Then the decoction should be boiled for 30 minutes.
• Dry yarrow grass helps to remove aphids from cucumbers. The grass is poured with 2 liters of water and aged in a water bath for 40 minutes. Then leave for two days in a dark place to infuse.
• Regular spraying with dandelion infusion will help eradicate aphids on cucumbers. Roots and shoots that are poured with water will come in handy, they insist for a day and then filter.Spraying the plant, especially the back of the leaves, is recommended four times with an interval of one day.
• Helps to cope with aphids infusion of their tops of potatoes or tomatoes. For several hours, the greens are infused in hot water. Approximately 1 kg of tops is taken for 10 liters of water. The resulting infusion should be sprinkled with all the greens of cucumbers.
• Garlic infusion is strong against aphids. 500 g of peeled garlic cloves, a dry sprig of celandine are lowered into a glass jar and poured with warm water. Leave to infuse for 3-4 days. For spraying, you need to take 25 ml of the resulting infusion and dilute it in a bucket of water with a volume of 10 liters.

All these methods of fighting aphids in one procedure will not be able to destroy all insects. Only regular processing of the beds can lead to the desired results. Processing must be carried out before the appearance of the scorching sun.If the garden bed is watered in the middle of a hot day, the leaves turn yellow, curl and dry out.

How to deal with aphids on cucumbers with folk remedies

If aphids appeared during the fruiting period, then the use of chemicals is prohibited. Folk remedies prepared at home will help solve the problem. All the destructive components that are part of folk remedies are safe, inexpensive and can almost always be found in every home.

Recipes for folk remedies for aphids on cucumbers.

• From black aphids, spraying with a solution of vinegar helps. Dissolve 200 ml of table vinegar in 10 liters of cool water and the product is ready for use. Aphid vinegar can be used after three days.
• Often, aphids appear due to ants, so you need to get rid of these insects in a timely manner. Dry mustard will come to the rescue from aphids on cucumbers in the greenhouse, which is recommended to be scattered in the habitats of ants.A solution for spraying cucumbers also helps. Pour 100 g of dry mustard powder into 10 liters of water.
• If aphids appear on cucumbers in a greenhouse, a pepper-tobacco mixture will help. Finely chop 30 g of hot pepper, add 200 g of tobacco dust and pour water (10 l) for a day. Wood ash and soap shavings are added before use.
• Many common pest control methods involve the use of wood ash. Ash helps not only to cope with aphids, but also enriches the plant with nutrients. 200 g of wood ash are dissolved in 10 liters of water and 200 g of crushed laundry soap are added. You need to spray cucumbers three times with a frequency of five days.
• A proven and effective remedy for aphids on cucumbers is ammonia. In 10 liters of water, dilute 50 ml of alcohol and 25 g of soap. You can wipe the leaves with a solution or spray all the greens of cucumbers. Spray 1-2 times a week.
• Hydrogen peroxide helps to cope with pests in a greenhouse.Hydrogen peroxide is able to get rid of not only aphids, but also other pests, as well as many diseases. 50 g of sugar and 50 ml of hydrogen peroxide 3% are added to a liter of water. Processing is carried out no more than once a week.

If aphids appeared on cucumber seedlings, then hydrogen peroxide can also help in this case. Feedback from gardeners about this method is positive: “I processed cucumber beds every 10 days. It was possible not only to destroy insects, but also to enrich the plant with oxygen, nutrients and give them strength. I diluted 40 ml of H2O2 in a liter of water.”

How to deal with aphids on cucumbers, preventive measures

Prophylaxis should be carried out several times throughout the cucumber growing season. Proper and careful care of vegetable beds will help prevent the spread of pests.

• Be sure to weed the beds. Since aphids like to spend the winter on weeds, they should not be allowed to grow near the beds. It is better to burn the plucked tops or take them away from the beds.
• Inspection of plants will allow you to identify insects at an early stage, when you can still remove leaves with them.
• If vegetables are grown in greenhouse conditions, then the room should be regularly ventilated.
• It is important to organize the correct watering regime.
• Replacing the top layer of soil in the greenhouse, which is carried out every autumn after harvest, will help protect the beds from aphids.
• Cucumber varieties with high resistance to pests can be selected.
• Protection of cucumbers is provided by natural enemies of aphids - ladybug and lacewing. Therefore, you can catch these insects and bring them to your site. The method in a protected room will be especially helpful.
• It is useful to plant garlic, onions, mint, coriander, marigolds next to cucumbers. Pests don't like the smell of these plants.

It is recommended to start preventive measures against aphids on cucumbers already before planting seeds. Planting material is disinfected, soaked in special solutions that help resist diseases and pests.

Aphids on cucumbers, how can you fight in other ways

If aphid appeared, and folk remedies did not help, you can use biological preparations. Cucumbers can be safely eaten already 4-5 days after processing the plants. Effective preparations with a natural basis:

• Entobacterin helps to poison aphids. It is necessary to dissolve 10 g of powder in one liter of water, the resulting solution is poured into a spray container. You can harvest after a week.
• As a way to get rid of aphids, you can choose the biopreparation Tanrek. It is available as a water-soluble substance. Dissolve 5 ml of the drug in 10 liters of cold water. For better adhesion to cucumber leaves, it is useful to add crushed laundry soap. The protective composition has a shelf life of about a month, provided that there is no heavy rain.
• Arrow is available in bags of 50 g. One bag is diluted in 10 liters of water. Re-treatment of cucumbers must be carried out after two weeks. Can be used for preventive purposes. In this case, the processing is carried out once a month.

Other effective biological products for getting rid of aphids on cucumbers include Fitoverm, Aktofit, Spark. They can process vegetable beds in any growing season. They do not harm humans or bees.

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