How to treat strawberries from pests and diseases during fruiting?

Delicious garden strawberries are loved not only by adults and children, but also by insects, which very often spoil the whole crop for gardeners. Unfortunately, the usual mechanical methods do not always help to get rid of pests once and for all, as a result of which it is necessary to resort to the use of various insecticides. Many gardeners are always worried about a serious question: what to do if pests have settled on an already fruiting strawberry?

This article will describe in more detail about this issue, the advice of experts on this issue and some other nuances of the cultivation of berry crops, which will help prevent the occurrence of pests and diseases on it.

Strawberries - this is such a culture, which can attack a variety of pests and diseases. And it can happen in any period. And during flowering, and during fruiting. Preventive treatment measures, of course, can minimize the formation of diseases on a strawberry, however, and they do not always help. Careful and regular care of strawberries (especially greenhouse), which includes mulching, weeding, timely watering, loosening the soil and some other procedures, can be an excellent protection for this crop.

Agrotechnical techniques can, as it were, enhance the “immunity” of strawberries, thereby securing it from unnecessary spraying with chemicals. Strawberries should be processed during fruiting. only if the situation is critical, and folk remedies do not help.

Enemy in the garden you need to know in person, otherwise it will be very difficult to fight. Next, we consider the main pests that can infect strawberries of all varieties.

• Strawberry weevil. It is a black bug in the size of no more than 4 mm. She loves to feast on all the sweet things in the garden: raspberries, strawberries and strawberries. It is very resistant to wintering, as it often hides under old leaves. As a rule, in spring, overwintering black bugs begin to devour strawberry leaves, then eggs are laid and later larvae appear. In the summer, new bugs appear, which are taken to eat not only the leaves, but also the fruits. Weevil is very easy to learn. Also in nature, there are root weevils, which significantly affect the root system of strawberries.

• One of the most serious strawberry pests is the strawberry mite. Berry mites overwinter very well, while they are always difficult to notice, since their body length is no more than 0.3 mm. Because of this pest, strawberry leaves lose all their properties and slowly dry out.

• If on a strawberry it was got stem nematodethen it almost always means that the harvest will disappear completely, if not to take action in a timely manner. This parasite multiplies in the tissues of the bushes, causing serious damage to strawberries. Affected bushes are far behind in growth, bear very poor fruit. Very often, gardeners do not understand what is the matter. Nematodes are very resistant to various weather factors, and therefore they are very difficult to withdraw.
• It also happens strawberry nematodewhich is very similar to the stem, but differs slightly in size with it. Crop losses from this pest are slightly less, but it is still difficult to identify the causative agent of the crop.

• Great danger for the berries in the garden and carry ordinary slugs. They can completely eat all the strawberries.

Of course, this is not all pests that can affect strawberries, but this is one of the most important. Also, strawberries are very often subjected to the following diseases.

• Gray rot. On the leaves and berries formed a lot of dark brown spots.

• Mealy dew. This fungal disease affects the bushes very much.

• Root rot. It provokes a massive death of bushes, it all starts with the leaves falling off.

All of the above diseases can be detected on strawberries during its fruiting, which will make it harder to treat the culture.

So that the strawberries do not hurt, and pests do not attack it, regular care of the plant is needed. From the earliest spring until autumn, it is extremely important to monitor the general condition of all strawberries in the garden or greenhouse.

Today, on the shelves of gardening shops you can find a lot of a variety of means to combat pests. But no one has canceled and safe home remedies that you can prepare yourself.

• Natural insecticides are such plants as calendula and marigold of different varieties. If you put them next to strawberries, then for the berries you can not worry.
• If strawberry mite was wound during strawberry fruiting, then all the beds should be processed onion extract. Only then will it be possible to save a tasty harvest. Approximately 250-300 grams of onion peel should be filled with 1 bucket of water and insist a few days.
• If there are a lot of pests, then harvest as soon as possible and mow all the bushes. Well, if they are roasted by the sun. In this case, there is the possibility of good fruiting for the next year.

• If you find a lot of rotten strawberries, you can try processing with mustard infusion. 100-150 grams of mustard should be used for 1 bucket of water, infused for 1-2 days and then filtered.
• Fruiting strawberries are safely treated with ammonia and iodine diluted with water. Hydrogen peroxide, ashes and boric acid can also be used.
• If strawberries are attacked by ants and aphids, then berries can be processed using garlic infusion or the drug Aktara can be used.

To conduct a preventive struggle, you can use biological products in early spring. Especially proven:

• "Spark";
• "Fitoverm";
• Kemiphos.

Before purchasing a drug, it is very important to know which group of insecticides it belongs to, whether it is possible for them to process the crop during fruiting. Summarizing, we can say that only preventive measures will help protect plants from attack by pests and various diseases. It is also very important to remember that if the situation is not very critical, then It is best to use folk remedies, and leave chemical preparations at the very last moment.

About how to process strawberries, see below.