How to deal with ants on an apple tree?

The troubles of gardeners move in a circle: from the preparation of planting holes through the care of plants to harvest.And then preparation for a cold time. But sometimes pests, including ants, put these plans at risk. In this article we will look at how to deal with these insects on the apple tree.

You can see ants on an apple tree very often. These creatures adore sweetness no less than humans. They diligently breed aphids, which gives them a nice-tasting juice. But for gardeners, the fact that ants appeared on apple seedlings is probably a good sign. The fact is that they testify to the decent quality of the land.

It is noticeably improving wherever these insects crawl. The nutritional value rises sharply, the concentration of phosphorus increases 10 times. It follows that trying to eliminate all anthills is not necessary. But still the ants themselves choose which plants to use to collect sweet juices. Often it is soon discovered that the plants were attacked by the hordes of aphids, that its colonies are rapidly developing.

Improving the soil, which has already been discussed - this, no doubt, is good. However, the ants themselves also eat a lot of apple pulp, gnaw the fruit and lay their moves in them. Yes, a situation is impossible when hard-working black insects eat the whole crop. However, losses can be quite large.

It is impossible to talk about how to protect an apple tree from an invasion of ants, if the reason for their appearance has not been eliminated. Insects themselves do not attack the fruit tree. After all, they simply do not care there. But if the apple tree is affected by a colony of aphids, then the ant activity is already manifested. Worst of all, sometimes ants move aphids around the garden, when the colonies of this insect suffer and are deprived.

To protect the trees from ants, apply:

• special traps;
• toxic lures (placed near an anthill or on migration paths);
• safe folk drugs;
• active insecticides;
• belts for catching insects.

Aphid is sensitive and easily dies even from seemingly minor impacts. Its danger is connected with the colossal intensity of reproduction. When the current generation dies out of the applied means, the next generation is already formed. Therefore, protection involves the repeated elimination of aphid populations. Only this way it is possible to cope with this stubborn pest and prevent the occurrence of the next invasions of ants.

To save the plants from such aggression, it is required to treat them with a so-called tank mixture in early spring. It includes fungicides and insecticides. This composition:

• allows to suppress fungi;
• eliminates the larvae of various insects;
• destroy the ants themselves.

To effectively combat ants, the treatment is carried out with "Fufanon", "Fitoverm", "Zircon", "Epin" and other mixtures. Alternatively, Aktar can be combined with Topaz and Zircon. The dosage is selected in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Apply the compounds need 2 times. The first treatment is carried out before the leaves bloom, and the second time it is necessary to make it before the formation of the first flowers.

You can sprinkle the plant with karbofos (chlorofos), "Skorom", "Decis". Before the early leaves, you need to apply "Fufanon" in a mixture with chlorine dioxide of copper. When flowering has not yet begun, but the buds are already forming, a combination of such preparations as:

• Planriz;
• "Trichodermin";
• "Acrofit";
• Pentafag;
• "Bitoxibacillin".

It will be possible to destroy pests if these compounds are sprayed on the leaves, scattered on an anthill, or left in the ground. The speed to achieve the effect varies from 24 to 240 hours. It all depends on the type of agent, method of treatment, the severity of infection and other parameters.

There are other toxic components that also have a paralytic effect, but the lesion occurs through the respiratory system of ants. It is enough to do the treatment with such mixtures 1 time in 30 or 60 days to ensure that insects are removed from the site. Toxins are stored in the soil for up to 4 months in a row. But the disadvantage of any synthetic means is that they undermine the garden ecosystem. In addition, these drugs can adversely affect the quality of the collected fruit.

If there are a lot of ants, the benefits of synthetic compounds outweigh the potential danger. In such cases, the paths along which aggressive insects move are blocked off with special washers of the Combat and Raptor brands. Their advantages are related to:

• ease of use;
• relative safety;
• high efficiency.

In addition to tablets and liquid preparations, occasionally used trapping belts. For example, those supplied by Aeroxon. The main active ingredient in this case is the adhesive that remains for a long time sticky. It effectively keeps a variety of crawling pests.

Its features have a summer fight against ants with the use of insecticides. To solve this problem, use "Ants", "Anteater" or "Muracid". Any of the three drugs should be used only in the temperature range from 10 to 25 degrees above zero. The treatment is carried out either in the morning or in the evening, since day and night time are equally unsuitable for this purpose. "Anteater" - a gel that needs to be applied to the paths trampled by ants on the trunk of an apple tree; it is also worth treating them the anthill itself.

Two other alternative formulations are liquid and granules. According to the manufacturers, there is no risk when using such mixtures. The same three mixtures can be used to treat other fruit plants and even vegetable crops. It is forbidden to use any brand-name insecticides for 20 days or less before harvesting.

When the fruits are collected, all hollows, where there are or may be ants, fall asleep at the discretion of the owners of giving one of the drugs:

• Barguzin;
• "Ant";
• "Thunder".

Household compositions and improvised means can be used even to fight pests after flowering. They help to remove ants from the apple tree in June. Mostly handicrafts are focused not on the roots or leaves of apple trees, but on anthills. Often used against them diluted carbolic acid or an aqueous solution of soda, mixed with linseed oil.

Good results are obtained by a mixture of kerosene mixed with carbolic acid. Oil smell repels insects. Acid helps to eliminate them. 300 g of kerosene, 60 g of carbolic acid are diluted with 10 liters of water. 0.4 kg of liquid soap is also added to this mixture. Processing both the apple and the anthill with this compound should be carried out repeatedly.

Another variant of the natural product involves the combination of 5 g of soda and 30 g of oil squeezed from flax seeds. Their mixture is dissolved in 1 liter of water and sprayed on the tree twice. Usually, one treatment is enough to drive away annoying pests. But the repetition after a while allows you to guaranteed exclude their return. Another way - homemade kind of traps, which are prepared from plastic bottles; ants attracted by honey water will sink and choke.

There are also natural remedies that allow to fight insects in hollows. Such cavities are richly saturated with mustard, ash, lime. Some advise additionally spraying hollows with shoplifting insecticides to finally crush an anthill. Having achieved victory, calm down early. When the ants die, they clean the hollow to expose the healthy part of the tree. After this, the recess is sealed with a clay or cement plug, so that "lovers of sweet food" will not enter again.

There are a number of ways to scare the ants from the apple. Not all of them are popular, and no one can understand the mechanism of the work of individual techniques. But you can try them all, because there is no danger from them. Some people believe that you can cope with an anthill by sprinkling it with dry millet. The insects are supposed to confuse the grains with their offspring, start caring for them, and as a result the settlement gradually dies.

Judging by the reviews, this technique gives the result. So finding out exactly how it works should be left to specialists - botanists and entomologists. As practice shows, ants die with similar use of cornmeal and semolina.

Another good tool is the treatment of settlements with aphid soap. Neither the aphids themselves, nor the ants can not tolerate such a sharp aroma and soon cease to visit the place unpleasant for themselves. But in order to consolidate success for a long time, you will have to do the treatment 2 or 3 times with an interval of 24 hours. If there is natural pure tar, you can lubricate the circumference of the trunk. The resulting strip should be at least 50 mm.

For an unbearable smell of ants ground cinnamon (until it has lost its freshness). The disadvantage of this method of protection is the high price. So you can resort to it only in the case when there is nothing else, and you need to save the apple trees urgently. A simpler option is to find a red mushroom in the forest and poison the ants with it. Fresh mushrooms are put on a saucer, moistened with milk and covered with sand. Soon the insects will get to the dangerous "delicacy" and will not fail to try it. To put a toxic bait should be near the apple tree or directly next to the anthill.

Another way to poison ants is a combination of egg yolks from chicken eggs (boiled separately from protein), boric acid and honey (this component will be an excellent bait).

Mixing all this in equal proportions, roll the balls. They will need to be expanded where the ants gather. It will take 2, maximum 3 days, and they will leave from there. Then the pests will not return. There are two more ways to solve the problem: watering an anthill with boiling water (with preliminary splitting) and sprinkling soda.

For treatment in early spring can be used iron sulfate or Bordeaux liquid. Both formulated diluted to 3-4%. Scare devices are recommended to apply where insects have not yet reached. Most often it is weakly affected or completely healthy trees. When preparing or using ready-made traps, it is required to set only those that are designed exclusively for ants and do not harm other insects.

When hollow free from ants, you need to work in gloves so that your hands are not injured. For cleaning use a scoop, a sharp knife, a chisel and other cutting tools that can pass into the hole. If ants are found under the bark layer or in the thickness of the trunk, then there is an external defect somewhere. It must be found and eliminated until the wood is rotting.Cut or drill a channel, and then enter a scare device.

Further, the work sequence is predictable:

• cleaning of all rotten tissues;
• antiseptic treatment;
• drying of the opened emptiness;
• overlapping of holes and damaged areas with garden pitch, cork from dry wood and other substances (according to the dimensions of the holes).

For information on how to protect an apple tree from ants, see the video below.