Major currant pests and control

Shrubs such crops as currants can be seen in almost every garden.Such a widespread distribution of this shrub is easy to explain - gardeners massively plant currants, because it brings a bountiful harvest of tasty and healthy berries. You can make jam, marmalades, marmalades from black, red and white currants, use it to make sauces or serve as an independent dessert. And a large amount of vitamins and microelements make this berry very useful for human health.

Unfortunately, in the process of growing currants can be faced with various problems. Most often they are caused by all sorts of diseases or pests. How to reliably protect the shrub from harmful organisms, we consider below.

There are more than 70 types of parasites infecting currant bushes. Pests not only threaten fertility, their activity often leads to the death of the affected currant bush.

The bud mite is one of the most common, and at the same time dangerous pests. The tick can get to the site along with young seedlings. Black currant is particularly vulnerable. The pest hides in the strings of the bush, because it does not tolerate moisture and heat.

Currant mite of the genus spider, in size it is not more than half a millimeter. But despite such a small size of the parasite, it is quite voracious. Also kidney mite is a peddler of many diseases. Because of this, the plant's immunity weakens and it becomes very vulnerable to other pests and diseases.

And only during the flowering tick can climb out. This is the only case when the parasite is vulnerable. Since during this period the currant bosoms have already withered, the tick needs to look for a new shelter for breeding.

You can detect a tick in the winter. If a sleeping plant has increased buds, this is the first sign of its appearance. In the spring, a parasitic hive will noticeably lag behind. Shoots will grow unevenly, and the sheets are deformed.

In appearance, the kidney moth differs from the ordinary in the color of its wings — its anterior wings are brown-yellow and the hind wings are grayish-brown. The larva of the kidney moth itself has a different color, it depends on the stage of its development. At first it is reddish, after it becomes orange-brown, and, finally, brown with a green tint.

In winter, this parasite is under the bark of a plant in the state of a pupa. Currant white and red varieties are particularly vulnerable. A mole wakes up when the kidney covering starts moving. The pest destroys the ovary, crawling from one kidney to the next.

Already with the onset of the first weeks of May, the larva of the pest takes the form of a pupa. Ten days later, a butterfly emerges from the cocoon. The parasite begins to infect the ovary.

Spider mite lives below the crown of the plant. If there are light spots on currant leaves, then this is the first sign of a spider mite. Over time, such damaged sheets lose their color, dry and die. The currant weakens the immune system, it loses its resistance to cold and fruitfulness.

This tick is able to weave a web. Most often the spider mite lives on black currants. After the buds on the bush bloom, the parasite begins to spoil the crown of the plant. But the pest multiplies only in dry and hot weather on the weeds. The winter spider mite easily transfers under fallen leaves.

Gall midges are very dangerous currant pests, which are small insects that harm absolutely the whole plant. In general, their larvae live on currants of black varieties.Galliums are leafy, floral, and stem. Parasites grow to three millimeters and have a yellow-brown color.

Winter gall midges transferred in the form of larvae and are in the first layer of soil. They change their color as they grow older. First, the caterpillar is white, then it becomes red or orange, and at the end becomes scarlet. With the arrival of spring, they become pupae, and adult individuals become active already during the currant flowering period.

Flower gall midges lay their eggs in the ovaries of the future flower. Their larvae all eat from the inside. Subsequently, the ovaries become spherical and die. After that, the larvae go to the ground.

Leaf gall midges live on young leaves of currants and eat them. Damaged sheets do not develop, curl and die. The stem gallet does not eat leaves, but lays its eggs in cracks on the currant post after it has flowered. Larvae form large colonies under the bark. Currant bark dies along with shoots.

Glass-pan is one of the most dangerous pests of currants. This insect grows to three centimeters. Covered with scales of dark lilac color, on the belly are white stripes. After flowering currant glasshouse lays eggs in the cracks of the shoots.

The hatched larvae of the glass-eater eat the core of the trunk. Such tunnels in length reach 40 centimeters and serve as an insect refuge for the winter. Each autumn larva grows up to two centimeters, while they all live inside the currant. Leave the plant of the glass in only at the end of spring to turn into a pupa.

Gooseberry moth is a great danger to the fruits of any variety of currants. This is a small butterfly of gray color, it spends the winter under a plant bush, in the soil. When the temperature reaches +12 degrees Celsius, the gooseberry moth will lay eggs in the flower buds.

The number of eggs can be up to 200 pieces. After a week, caterpillars hatch from them, which begin to eat currant berries. Only one gooseberry moth can eat up to 15 pieces. Caterpillars on the bush are very easy to detect, as they are two centimeters and have a bright green color.

Aphids are very small parasites that you will not immediately notice with the naked eye. Aphids feed on plant sap and carry viral diseases. In addition, aphids are very attracted to various insect pests. Aphids are gallic and shoots.

Sheet gall aphids are yellowish insects three millimeters long. Parasites form colonies on currant leaves. In spring, the hatched larvae begin to draw nutrients from the young leaves and shoots. Because of this, on the leaves, lumpy bulges begin to form - galls of red color. After damage, the leaves fold and dry.

Shoot aphid light green in color and up to two millimeters. The winter season only carry the eggs of this parasite on the currant bark. They also feed on the juice of young leaves, shoots, but also the juice of the kidneys. In summer, the females grow wings. This pest affects all young leaves and tops of the shoots. The leaves begin to curl, as a colony of aphids lives inside.

Currant Zlatka is a flattened beetle that eats the core of the branches. Because of this, the shoots dry out, and the berries become noticeably small, the yield is deteriorating. She has green worms, and they spend their entire life cycle in the same shoot that they eat from the inside.

If in early spring you will notice that some currant buds are rounded and swollen, then there is a scythe there.If you do not remove these buds, then next year the entire branch will dry out and will not yield a harvest. Shchitovka will breed throughout the bush, and a year later he will die.

The main problem is that in some way you can influence the shield only during its movement around the plant. When the number of pests inhabiting one kidney reaches too many, some of them leave their home in order to find another. It is at such a moment that these malicious arthropods will be as vulnerable as possible, and then the procedures for their destruction must be begun.

Effectively deal with currant mite can be within three weeks after the bush blooms. Unfortunately, it will not work out to get rid of this pest with the help of various insecticides, since they are arthropods, not insects. To combat mites that affect currant bushes, apply acaricides and products that contain colloidal sulfur. Most of these solutions can be purchased in specialized stores. The best professional drugs for tick control are Oberon, Kinmiks, Aktellik and other similar means.

Also, pest control can be carried out directly using the most colloidal sulfur. To independently make a preparation for treating the bushes, you need to dissolve about ten grams of sulfur in one liter of water. It is necessary to spray bushes with currant berries with such a solution twice, namely before, not at the time of flowering and after it. In the second treatment, the dosage of the active substance is also halved in the same way. Another good tool is a solution based on sulfur with the addition of a small amount of lime.

It is important to remember that if you do not observe the correct dosage of sulfur and exceed its concentration, you can damage the bushes and burn the leaves. You can try drugs on a biological basis, but such tools, as practice shows, are ineffective. This is due to the fact that the best results of biopreparations show in conditions of very warm weather, while currants belong to crops that wake up even at rather low temperatures.

Effective control of insects such as the kidney mole usually involves a series of agrotechnical measures. To do this, in the first half of spring and late autumn, parts of the bush that attacked the larvae of caterpillars are removed. At this time, the currant is hibernating, and such procedures can be carried out without fear of causing severe stress. It is also important to thoroughly dig the ground around the bush about 20-30 centimeters deep. This should be done because the buds of the kidney moth often live in the soil.

Also, the fight against this pest is in the treatment of currant bushes with special solutions. To prepare such a drug, 150 grams of nitraphine must be dissolved in a ten-liter bucket of water. Then this means sprayed the bushes and the soil is processed around them. When the kidneys begin to swell, it is best to use a tool based on chlorophos, and a one-percent chlorophos-based emulsion will be suitable for the destruction of bud embryos.

To cope with leaf aphids at home will help solutions based on tobacco dust with the addition of conventional soap or different herbal infusions. If the bushes are attacked by a relatively small number of these insects, the easiest thing is to simply crush them and tear off the infected leaves from the bush.

Experienced gardeners also recommend a proven method to perform the treatment of currants from aphids, the essence of which is the treatment of currants with hot water before buds bloom. Moreover, this procedure helps not only to destroy most of the eggs of aphids, but also many other larvae of harmful insects and fungal spores. Perform this procedure with a watering can or a small bucket and pour currant bushes with hot water from the top to the bottom.

Spider mite is another common currant pest. At first, it is quite possible to cope with it with the help of abundant watering with ordinary water. This is due to the fact that the spider mite suffers greatly from excess moisture. Therefore, if you regularly water the currants from top to bottom, and after completing this procedure, cover the bushes with some kind of film material, then all malicious arthropods will die.

It is not recommended to use professional chemical agents to combat spider mites, but in complex and neglected cases their use is simply not unavoidable. To carry out the processing of such drugs can only be before the bush blooms, that is, somewhere in April, otherwise the berries collected from it, can not be eaten. You can also use such tools only under certain weather and temperature conditions.

When the air warms to a temperature of more than 20 degrees Celsius, the bushes are sprayed with acaricidal agents three times at intervals of a week. If the temperature outside reaches 30 degrees Celsius or more, for example, in June, then it is necessary to spray four times every five days. If this is not done, then new individuals will have time to hatch from tick eggs.

Repeated use of chemical professional means due to the high resistance of the eggs of this arthropod to many well-known drugs. In specialized stores you can find a lot of drugs recommended for the destruction of eggs of spider mites. Professional agrotechnologists recommend such tools as Apollo, Floromite, Nissoran and others.

It is possible to save a currant from midge by several methods. One of them is the use of insects, which are natural enemies of gall midges. Most often these are microscopic bugs that feed on this parasite - they are able to exterminate up to several hundred insect eggs per day. Accordingly, by introducing such bugs into the bushes, it is possible to significantly reduce the population of pests. The most active bugs that eat gall midges show themselves at the end of summer, and it is possible to attract them to currant bushes with the help of such crops as buckwheat or dill.

This insect passes to the bushes from the upper layers of the earth. To prevent this, you can spread a covering material under the bushes like plastic film, cardboard or roofing material and sprinkle it on top of the ground. The litter should be kept under the bush until the currant gall midge attack on the bushes completely stops. It will show itself well against this parasite and the spring processing of the zone near the roots of the plant, where its pupae often spend the winter. To this end, tobacco dust and lime are used, which are mixed in a one-to-one ratio. Often for this treatment are also used drugs, which include ash and sand.

It is recommended to use chemicals to combat gall midge only when more than ten percent of the area of ​​a bush is affected by a pest, and only at the stage of active formation of inflorescences. Experts recommend spraying the bushes with solutions with the addition of such agents as Kemifos, Bitoxibacillin, Fufanon or similar. After the completion of primary processing, you need to follow the changes in the number of harmful insects and their activity.If positive changes are not observed, then spraying must be repeated, but only at the stage of formation of ovaries. The final chemical treatment is done after harvesting the berries.

In order to rid the currant from such a dangerous pest as currant goldfish, attract insectivorous birds. For example, woodpeckers effectively cope with the colonies of this insect.

Another good way to fight goldfish is to plant certain trees and make heaps of wood pruning near the bushes. They act as bait for insects and are able to divert their attention from the currant bushes. When a large number of pests accumulate on the trees and in the piles, they are simply burned, thus destroying hundreds of dangerous insects.

With such a pest as a glass, it is best to fight with the help of sanitary pruning, due to which the branches of the shrub affected by the tracks of this insect are eliminated. This procedure should be performed on an ongoing basis, and throughout the summer and spring with a frequency of two to three weeks. You can also consider the use of chemicals against the glass. Separate foci of this pest after ten days after flowering begins are sprayed with a weak solution of karbofos or an emulsion based on it.

In order to quickly cope with the gooseberries, it is necessary to regularly dig up the soil in which the currants are growing, and at the end of summer and early autumn to do hilling. Thanks to this protection, the insect will not be able to attack the bushes, the main thing is to clear the ground in the summer so that the currant bush can grow and develop normally. You can also plant crops such as tomatoes or mint near the currants.

Damaged or deformed due to the defeat of ognevka sheets and berries must be quickly cut and get rid of them. A good measure to combat it is the attraction to the bushes of natural enemies of this insect, namely ground beetles.

The fight against the shield includes the elimination of the affected pests of the kidneys, after which they must be burned as soon as possible. Then you need to pour boiling water over the bush, which is best done with a watering can, on which the sprayer is installed.

If numerous chemicals and professional preparations do not have proper effect and currant bushes remain affected by harmful insects and bugs, you can try the treatment with folk remedies. Moreover, such treatment is very popular among gardeners, because the probability of damaging the bushes or making the crop inedible is much less, in addition, folk remedies are much more accessible. Charcoal or ash, tobacco dust, mustard powder, various plants and vegetables, and much more can be the main component in the household spraying solution. Despite the ease of preparation and use, such tools are able to effectively deal with beetles, mites and other parasites.

Against ticks, herbal and vegetable based infusions perform best. To treat currant bushes from arthropods, often use a tool on the basis of onions. For its preparation, a small onion must be crushed and filled with a liter of water, then left for eight hours. Infusion based on dandelion roots can also save currant bushes from ticks. To prepare the solution, dandelion roots are poured with a liter of water and allowed to infuse for two hours.

Also against ticks can help such a useful vegetable as garlic. To make a remedy for the treatment of bushes, you need to take one hundred and fifty grams of garlic cloves and finely chop or crush them and pour one liter of water. The resulting liquid should stand in a dark cool place for at least five days. The result will be garlic concentrate, which must be diluted with clean water before you water the bushes.

To get rid of aphids in the people are widely used laundry soap. 30 g of soap is added to a liter of water, and an effective remedy for this pest is ready. Ash-based solutions are also used: two kilograms of this material are poured with ten liters of water and left to infuse for two days.

Another effective remedy is a mustard powder concentrate. To prepare it, you need to take about 50 grams of dry mustard, dissolve it in a liter of boiling water and let it brew for at least three days.

Tobacco will also help to deal with aphids. 300 grams of tobacco dust need to pour a bucket of hot water and let stand for three days. Then in the resulting solution add a little soap and the resulting liquid process currant bushes.

You can kill aphids with the help of infusion of conifer needles. To do this, take about 250 grams of pine needles, pour two liters of boiling water and let it stand for a week. The resulting concentrate before use must be diluted with water.

From larvae pests help infusions based on herbs and vegetables. One of the most effective remedies for germs of parasites is wormwood infusion. To prepare it, you need to boil a kilogram of dried wormwood for 15-20 minutes in a small amount of water. The resulting slurry is filled with ten liters of ordinary water.

Another good remedy for the larvae can be made from a crop like tomatoes. To do this, chop a kilogram of the green part of this vegetable and pour ten liters of water, then boil it. Also, gardeners often use bitter pepper to make homemade sprayers. 100 grams of this vegetable is thoroughly crushed, boiled in one liter of water and infused for two days. Then the resulting solution is filtered, diluted with a large amount of water and a little laundry soap is added.

The protection of currant bushes is the primary task of any gardener who wants to harvest a bountiful crop of tasty and healthy berries. One of the most effective and simple measures that will help protect the bushes from pests is treatment with boiling water. Hot water and high temperatures kill a large number of the most common pests that live on the shoots, leaves and branches of this shrub.

Pouring boiling water does not damage the currant bushes, but on the contrary, it can additionally strengthen them. The main thing is not to use cool boiling water, and let it cool slightly. It is also important to hold this event strictly before the currant bush wakes up. You can do the processing of hot water in the winter, when the bush completely reset its foliage.

You can try to collect the caterpillars and embryos of harmful insects manually. On the onset of autumn, the ground around the shrubs well need to dig and pile up, as a result of which the pupae will perish if severe frosts occur.

Proper care of the currant is no less important preventive measures. Timely sanitary pruning and the use of quality planting material can greatly facilitate the life of any gardener. After pruning currant pests, it is important to sanitize the dacha tool, so as not to infect other bushes. It is imperative to remove old dry stumps and shoots from the site and ensure that piles of leaves and other materials of plant origin do not accumulate.In the spring you need to weed all the weeds and carefully dig the ground.

About how to treat currants in the spring and autumn from pests, see the following video.