White small midge on a strawberry: why does it appear and how to fight it?

The appearance of white midges on strawberries is evidence that the plant is attacked by the whitefly. This is a very dangerous garden pest that draws out all the vital sap for the plant. As a result, planting massively ill, and the harvest is sharply reduced. It can also lead to the death of the culture.

The whitefly can cause irreparable harm to the owners of summer cottages. Despite its size (the length of the insect does not exceed 1 millimeter), it settles in colonies, so it is clearly visible even with the naked eye. The whitefly winters in grassy remnants that have not been removed since the fall, and from the first warm days it wakes up and immediately moves to young shoots and leaves of plants, therefore the strawberry becomes an ideal haven for it.

It should be noted that The greatest harm to plants is caused not by adult insects, but by their larvae, which live on the lower side of leaf plates. They feed on plant sap and delicate green cloth, so immediately after they appear, small holes appear on the leaves.

The appearance of the whitefly scientists associated with global warming. If in previous years only the inhabitants of the southern regions encountered such a pest, nowadays the colonies of these parasites have appeared in Central Russia, where the climate is temperate and frequent frosts. This pest not only significantly expanded its range, but also improved its wintering abilities - some individuals learned to spend the cold season even in open areas.

If we talk about the characteristic features of the insect, then it should be noted that outwardly it looks like a miniature mole. A fly lays eggs on the back side of the leaves - 15-25 pieces in one go, and the clutch leaves about 150-200 eggs of light gray color. Over time, small gray-green larvae with antennae and 6 paws are born. They immediately begin to look for a source of food for themselves, and having found it, they begin to form a “false cocoon”, from which an adult individual with white wings soon hatch.

By the way, in addition to the strawberry whitefly, cabbage and honeysuckle individuals sometimes attack strawberries, which are also capable of causing irreparable harm to the plant.

Both adult representatives of this type of pests and their larvae are very voracious. Feeding on the vital sap of the plant, the insect is not able to assimilate them in full, so it begins to highlight a special secret of the light white shade, which visually looks like dew, but is considered the ideal environment for the settlement and reproduction of the dangerous black fungus - people also call it the mob.

Mobile has the ability to completely clog the holes of the green parts of the plant. As a result, the process of photosynthesis stops, the seedling quickly withers and, after a short time, completely dies. In addition, the whitefly is considered to be the carrier of many dangerous viral infections of the horticultural crop, for which there is no cure.

Many believe that the fly can only be found in open areas, but this is a common misconception. You can also meet such an unpleasant insect in greenhouses, moreover, it is in the greenhouses for this moth that truly ideal conditions are created - high humidity and constant heat. The whitefly can get into the greenhouse with the ground or through ventilation openings.

To determine the defeat of the whitefly is quite simple - if you shake a strawberry bush, then microscopic midges immediately start flying away from him.In addition, on the reverse side of the leaf in huge quantities appear small eggs of various shades: yellowish, gray and light green. Another sign of whitefly settlement is the appearance of white scurf on the leaf plates - this is the so-called sticky secret, which is excreted by insects during their livelihoods.

With the defeat of the plant quickly begins to languish, fall behind in growth and soon die. If you tighten with the spraying of the culture, you can in the shortest possible time to lose the entire plantation entirely.

Many gardeners set glue traps to kill flies. This is a very simple way of dealing with insects, but by no means the most effective. The fact is that the main danger of a pest is related to its speed of egg laying. During its short life cycle (not exceeding a month), the insect has time to lay up to 250 eggs, of which already after 6-7 days the larvae appear. Moreover, if in the conditions of open ground reproduction takes place only in summer, then in greenhouses it can continue year-round.

That is why the glue trap can not completely get rid of the insect, and each "missed" individual in the near future will give a couple of hundred new ones. As a result, other protection options - chemical and biological - will be most effective. In addition, great results are different folk methods of dealing with whitefly.

Let us dwell on each method.

The complexity of working with whitefly lies in the fact that this insect is characterized by resistance to most species of insecticides, therefore not every preparation is suitable for getting rid of the misfortune.

Good performance has the tool "Actellic", which operates in a contact way, that is, when spraying. However, it does not get inside the green parts and fruits, so for the plant itself is not harmful. However, most often use drugs that cause the death of an insect through the digestive system. The best option will be the following drugs:

• Aktara - a very effective drug that helps to destroy more than 100 species of garden pests;
• "Rovikurt" - oily liquid, which is used for mass destruction of the berry plantation;
• Pegasus and Kondifor - Not bad substances that can get rid of the whitefly in the early stages of its detection.

When using such insecticides, it is necessary to strictly observe the dosage. Otherwise, there is a risk of infection of the fruit or death of the plant. Keep in mind that the whiteflies very quickly get used to and adapt to chemical protection drugs, so the means for processing should be constantly changed, not allowing the insect to develop immunity. Do not use these drugs too often, because all toxins have a peculiarity of accumulating in the soil; this can simply destroy the root system.

The safest methods of fighting the flies are recognized as biological preparations that involve the use of natural enemies of the strawberry pest. Very popular is the use of the composition "Vertifilin-F", which is a special fungus that affects the internal organs of the whitefly and their larvae.

In addition, you can use macrophyte bugs and enkarzii, which feed on the whitefly, but do not destroy the main plant, on which the pest parasitizes. Such predators can be found in any biological laboratory.

For decades, people have been accumulating their own base of effective methods for dealing with whitefly. It is noted that folk methods are sometimes not inferior in chemical efficiency to efficacy, but at the same time they are completely safe for the plant and much more environmentally friendly for humans.

The most commonly used infusion of garlic and a solution of soap. A good result shows the infusion of tobacco leaves. To prepare it, half a bucket of water is mixed with 400-500 grams of dry raw material and left for a day for infusion. Then filter and spray leaf blades of strawberries every 2 days until the midges disappear.

Experienced gardeners note that one of the most benign options is to use lemon peels, more precisely, decoction of them. To do this, peel 20-25 lemons boil in 4 liters of water for an hour on low heat, cool and sprinkle strawberries every 3 days.

By the way, there is another interesting trick that gardeners often use - the included light near the landings. Blackflies fly around her, get burned and die. However, these measures are effective only against adults. In the fight against the larvae that cause major damage to the culture, they are powerless.

As you know, the best defense is an attack, so in order to avoid acquaintance with such unpleasant pests, it is better to prepare in advance and take a number of preventive measures.

It is best to plant onions or garlic in between the rows - their sharp and unpleasant smell scares off pests. If you want to make the plantation more aesthetic, then you can sow it with marigolds or nasturtium, insect pests also do not like the scent of these flowers. Wood ash has a similar effect, so you can scare off pests by scattering it near strawberry bushes.

Once a month it is recommended to do hot douche for plants. To do this, they are watered from the watering can with water heated to 80 degrees.

How to treat strawberries for diseases and get rid of pests, see the next video.