Aphids appear on currant branches in early spring when the leaves are just blooming. True signs gall aphid- reddish or orange swelling of galls, black and green aphids cause severe deformation of the leaves, they curl into a ball or roll up into a tube.
If you have the opportunity and enthusiasm, you need to take care of the currants from early spring, and in warm regions from the end of winter.
Scalding currants with boiling water
As a preventive measure against aphids and kidney mites, scalding the bushes with boiling water helps to some extent. As soon as the snow begins to melt, there are already thawed patches, and the trees and shrubs are still sleeping, as soon as the circle of earth at the base of the trunks has been freed from the snow, you can prepare for the procedure.
We heat boiling water in an iron bucket, pour it into a metal watering can and go to water. Water must be prepared in advance, because one currant or gooseberry bush takes from 5 to 10 liters hot water(it will cool down until you bring it to the berry). A shower head is required to the watering can so that the irrigation goes in thin streams, and not in a wide stream of hot water.
Before watering, make sure once again that the buds are dormant, not swollen.
- What boiling water gives: some of the aphids' eggs lay right on the branches, if you take a magnifying glass you can see them - small grains near the buds. And inside the kidneys, a kidney mite hibernates, scalding with boiling water helps to significantly hit this pest. If you see that some of the kidneys are thickened (currant kidney mite) - pluck them right away and into the fire. By the way, scalding also protects well against powdery mildew!
To water or not to water the currants with boiling water? I doubted for a long time whether I was doing the right thing with scalding, I didn’t scald it for some years, and there were always more aphids and mites in these seasons. The problem is that when pests go on a rampage, it is still very cold outside, and any solutions of chemicals have temperature restrictions, only folk remedies remain, but they are effective only with repeated spraying, sometimes it is too tiring and time-consuming.
The scalding procedure itself is not easy in fact - you need to heat a lot of water (like in a lightning on bricks or a grill), it is also somewhat annoying to walk with a watering can of boiling water in the garden, this is a man's job. We watered large currant bushes on a bench to process everything completely. Therefore, everyone must decide for himself whether this procedure suits him or not.
Fumigation
Gardeners often practice fumigating aphids by burning various means. They burn rubber, tobacco and a raincoat mushroom.
All fumigations help well, only you need to start not before bud break, but at the moment when the buds began to swell and are ready to open.
The easiest way is to put in old saucepan a piece of burnt bicycle tire or tire and place it under each bush to smolder.
For mushrooms and tobacco, beekeepers' smoker is used; only large, ripe mushrooms are suitable.
As far as all this helps: the real results were given by fumigation, which lasted three hours. We smoked tobacco from 7 pm to 10 pm (in calm weather), the aphid died almost completely. It was enough once. After that, it was enough to follow the anthills.
Disadvantages of the method: the easiest way is to fumigate with rubber - put it under the bushes and left, it smolders, there is a lot of smoke. Fumigation with mushrooms and tobacco in a beekeeper's smoke is very slow, you cannot move away, you need to walk around the currant bushes and inflate the furs. The smoke is thick and acrid. You can spread damp tobacco leaves to smolder in a small grill, but this is impractical - you need to control the wind for a very long time (if a dozen currant bushes).
Conclusions: I think that fumigation is not worth wasting time and health, combustion products are too toxic for humans.
Examining the bushes
Spring began, the buds turned green, and then young leaves blossomed. We examine the currants, especially the tips of the shoots, if suddenly the leaves began to curl into lumps, corrugation appeared, we immediately cut them off into the stove.
In the future, you need to monitor the shape of the leaves, rarely when it is possible to get rid of aphids by 100%, but you can restrain its rapid reproduction.
Do not forget to timely prune currants, cut out old branches and partially young ones if the bush is thickened.
How to process currants from aphids
Young currant branches bend well and they are not as prickly and branched as gooseberries, so you can not only spray it, but also dip the branches in a solution of insecticide chemicals or any folk remedy for aphids prepared according to the recipe.
I do this: I dilute an insecticide solution, usually it is either in proportions to a bucket of water, always warm (at least 20 degrees). Preparing a shoulder-mounted pump sprayer (not a hand sprayer).
I go up to the bushes and take turns dipping all the branches, trying not to miss a single one. By that time, the leaves had barely blossomed, the size of a ruble coin. She dipped, poured, let go.
And so every bush. Then I pour from a bucket into a sprayer, and I spray all the bushes, now from the base of the branches to the tips and always the soil under the bush.
- When treating the garden from aphids, patience and thorough spraying are important.
- It is important to guess with the weather - in the morning or in the evening, always calm.
- It is important to find an insecticide that can work at a specific temperature (some are ineffective in the heat, others in the cold).
- It is important not to poison the bees with chemicals, we really need pollinators in the garden and vegetable garden.
- It is important to predict the rain so that all the spraying work does not go to waste the next day.
- When spraying, push the sprayer tube deep into the bush and direct it in different directions, so the underside of the leaves is better wetted.
Aphid onions on currants
I also have my own secret - onion peel decoction, it helps very well, but you need a lot of raw materials. For a bucket of water, half a bucket of well-tamped onion husks.
I found a way out in the preparation of raw materials - all winter I go to the vegetable department of the store, there very often customers sort out onions, and a lot of husk remains in trays and baskets, it is usually thrown away. I ask permission and type in whole packages for free.
Pour boiling water on the onion husk and cook for 10-15 minutes to destroy the spores of harmful microorganisms in the husk. Then I leave the broth until morning.
I filter it, add a tablespoon of green soap. I pour it into the sprayer and go ahead with the song of the war on aphids. I start spraying with onion peels as early as possible. I repeat at least 3-4 times.
I want to note that in the processing of bushes and trees there is no special recipe, except for onions, you can also process other means, in this case it is important to have good tool... The entire success of an enterprise depends on the sprayer. If the device is good, just fill in the solution, fix the button and stand by the bush, or rather slowly walk around it in a circle.
Plants that repel aphids
There are plants that can scare away aphids from currants and other berries. These are catnip, marigolds, mustard, coriander, chives, fennel, garlic, mint.
I must say that such planting does not guarantee getting rid of aphids. I planted garlic, catnip and marigolds near the currants, it did not help much, perhaps it was necessary to enclose the currant bush in a close circle of defenders, so that neither ants nor aphids would get close, but I did not want to fly like Carlson with a bowl in my hands, picking berries.
Therefore, do not particularly rely on the protection of these plants, although, most of them are attracted to the garden. beneficial insects, not only bees, but also hoverflies and ground beetles that eat aphids.
Folk remedies for aphids
During my gardening history, I have tried various means to get rid of aphids. And I made my own rating, periodically tested one method, then another. In no way do I claim, I just share my impressions:
In my garden, spraying with yarrow and chamomile was completely useless: I prepared a solution of 100 g of dry grass per 1 liter of water, boil, cool, strain, add soap.
I did not like the aphids, but spraying with the tops of tomatoes, leaves and dandelion roots (500 g of leaves + 200 g of roots, insist on boiling water for a day) were statistically insignificant.
Citrus infusions helped from aphids: the peels were frozen, not dried. Grind the peel from one orange and steam with 1 liter of boiling water, when it cools down, add 2 drops detergent for hands. But then I checked, not all citrus fruits help, there are such varieties of tangerines and oranges, whose peels are very vigorous - if you chew it stings your tongue - that's what you need.
One more effective remedy: steamed leaves of celandine, if it grows on your site. I have a lot of it, it grows even under currant and gooseberry bushes and in this form does not frighten aphids at all. But an armful of leaves chopped up and steamed in a bucket of boiling water significantly reduced the number of aphids.
This method helps against aphids: in warm weather, when the water is not cold, water the currant bushes under the strong pressure of the hose, part of the aphids simply knocks down with water. Then sprinkle the powder from the mixture on wet leaves: 1 glass of ash (fine sieved), 1 teaspoon of mustard powder. The method is effective before the leaves are strongly twisted and deformed, when the leaves are still small and the skeletal branches are clearly visible.
But do not flatter yourself about folk remedies, especially when, in addition to currants, aphids have chosen plums, cherries, rose bushes - with a massive pest infestation, you simply cannot find enough folk remedies - they do not get to aphids in twisted leaves. Here the systemists are to help: Aktara, Confidor, - they soak the leaf through and through, and the aphid dies in any case.
Ant fighting
Those who have not tried it yet should know what to expect - a long war. Ants feed on aphids, cultivate, someone even assures that they milk - tickle the aphids' sides until they describe themselves with sweet syrup. I haven't seen it myself, I won't lie.
I tried chemistry against ants, and various infusions of herbs, skirts and Velcro on the trunks, they, by the way, helped on plums and cherries, but such protection cannot be put on currants, you need to eradicate anthills in the area.
What helps against ants: pee in the anthill from the heart, and pouring boiling water with acetic acid (for 1 liter of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of 9% vinegar). Urine and acid are categorically disgusting to them.
I fight with ants only in spring and early summer, the rest of the time all useful animals in the garden fight with them. I don’t know who exactly eats ants, except for hedgehogs, but even without my efforts, their number is sharply reduced, and with them the number of aphids.
If you want to use chemical poisons industrial production, then pay attention that the drug was intended specifically for the destruction of garden black ants. Homemade ginger ant remedies don't work.
Keep the garden clean, do not plant weeds up to the waist, while mowing, inconspicuous anthills will be visible.
Julia Reshetnikova, Vladimir
The fruits have a diuretic effect, cleanse the kidneys, reduce high fever body. Taste qualities all three varieties of currants: black, white, red, attract not only gardeners and lovers of fresh berries, but also various pests... The annoying attacks of aphids are among the common misfortunes that currant bushes succumb to.
How to deal with aphids
Currant bushes generally require close attention in the spring. During the ripening of the fruit, the plant is attacked by aphids, so the main task of gardeners is to timely intervene to protect against these small insects. The deciduous part of the shrub with the presence of aphids has a red-spotted crust that looks swollen. Have black currant green leaves are wrapped in pipes, where hundreds of small insects are located on the inside.
Aphids are considered a dangerous guest for plants, as it is not so easy to get rid of them without the necessary knowledge. Shoot aphids multiply on black currants, and varieties with red and white berries are eaten up by red-gall (hairy) aphids.
The danger of the appearance of red-gall aphids on currants
At first glance, the red-gall aphid seems to be a harmless, small flea, but after the breeding stage, these insects mercilessly destroy the currant bush. Actually the red-gall aphid, or hairy aphid, is a fast vector of disease and can spread to neighboring plants. Small insects drink currant juice. Due to this massive attack, the plant gives off a scent that the ants respond to. Aphids on currants by themselves damage the crop and the general condition of plants, and also provoke the appearance of other insects.
An interesting fact is that the laid eggs hibernate freely on open shoots even at low temperatures.
In spring, in places where insects accumulate, the leaves swell and turn red. Young branches are not enough nutrients for normal growth, therefore, their development is suspended, and the leaves curl and deteriorate. The same applies to the black currant bushes, which are very fond of the shoot aphid. The principle of deposition of larvae in these insects is the same as in the red-gall aphid, only the eggs are black and overwinter at the beginning of the buds. After the onset of warmth, the larvae migrate to the upper parts of the buds, smoothly passing to the attack of young petioles and green leaves.
How to deal with aphids
Due to the rather frequent attacks of insects, currants need preventive spraying when the greens have not yet been touched by pests. There are medications available to help prevent aphids from appearing as well as to combat the present ant colonies. If the slightest signs of aphids are noticed on the berry, do not hesitate to break off the affected leaves. When spreading, insects move along the shoots, the tops of which must also be removed along with the galls, where insects settle. To dispose of unwanted plant material, take a bucket of water. All torn leaves and shoots are placed in water and then completely burned. Thus, new attempts to attack aphids and their reproduction on currant bushes are prevented.
With spring awakening on summer cottage a large number of insects appear, including ants. These small individuals pose a real problem in getting rid of aphids. The sap and odor emitted by plants when eaten becomes the cause of their appearance. The coexistence of these two species of insects does not interfere with each other, but threatens with loss of yield and death of currant bushes.
Traditional methods of dealing with aphids
The hope for plant orderlies does not always save the crop from death, therefore there are many among the people different methods to combat aphids. In addition to simply cutting off infected areas of currants, processing with special infusions and solutions will help. Let's consider each effective decoction separately:
- Infusion of marigolds. It has been proven many times that the gall aphid is not able to withstand the smell and taste of these flowers. For its preparation, they take finely chopped marigolds in the amount of a bucket filled in half and fill it with water to the top. Then you need to let the flowers stand in the liquid for three days. During this time, one more ingredient is being prepared - laundry soap in crushed form (fifty grams). After settling, the infusion is filtered, separating the vegetable component, and soap is added to the water.
- Red pepper decoction. The pungent strong smell is unbearable for aphids, so hot chilli peppers are able to scare away insects for a long time. To prepare the infusion, one kilogram of peppers per bucket of water will be enough. Vegetables are finely chopped and poured with liquid, and then put on low heat. In time, such a mixture should languish for at least sixty minutes, after which it is infused in a cooled form for two days. For spraying currants, the filtered broth is used, diluted with water in a ratio of 1:40. One bucket of liquid consumes two hundred and fifty grams of a hot broth. It has been observed from experience that this method of processing currant bushes effectively helps to get rid of slugs.
- Garlic and onion infusions. The principle of action of these two plants can be seen immediately - a pungent and strong smell survives aphids, and the immunity of currant bushes increases. According to the recipe, you need to take one kilogram of onion feathers per bucket of water. The greens must be chopped and filled with ten liters of water. The infusion is prepared quickly, within six hours. After filtration, the contents can be placed in a spray bottle.
Onion peels are also effective in controlling aphids. One bucket of liquid will require about five hundred grams of husk. The solution is allowed to brew for five days, after which it is ready for use.
Spraying currants is good for a windless evening. It is advisable to look at the forecast for the future so that after the treatment of the bushes it does not rain in the near future, otherwise the solution will need to be sprayed again.
To combat the carriers of aphids, ants dig a moat around each planted currant bush. To prevent insects from getting to the plants, a sticky substance is poured into the ditch.
Chemical methods of aphid control
There are a large number of preparations that can be found in specialized plant stores, with chemical composition... The effectiveness of the use of tools such as : Karbofos, Intavir, Aktara, Vofatox, Fufan, Rovikurt proven by experience. If folk infusions do not lead to the desired result, then chemicals in the appropriate dosage will help get rid of persistent aphids. When working with any chemical, precautions should be taken to protect the body and hands from the effects of poisons.
You can find contact drugs that have an immediate effect directly on aphids, or intestinal drugs that get inside insects after eating. In both cases, aphids die if pesticides are used correctly according to the instructions. Poisonous systemic drugs provide a long-term effect, impregnating currant bushes with protective contents.
In addition to observing a safe mode when spraying, you need to know the following features:
- Aphids are located on inside leaves, so the spraying of drugs must be carried out using hands;
- The first time the bushes are treated in early spring, when an examination is made for the presence of aphids in the buds and their disposal;
- The second spray of chemicals is applied a month before the berries appear;
- Between repeated spraying of currants, it is necessary to give an exposure for one month.
An overabundance of nitrogen in the soil, which is present there due to the applied fertilizers in excess of the norm, can lead to the appearance of aphids on currant bushes. This suggests that more does not mean better in horticulture. Even when applying bait for currants, you must follow the instructions, and also take into account the type of soil on the site.
Aphid is a small insect (2-3 mm), settling on currants, with a piercing-sucking oral apparatus and two pairs of wings (winged individuals). The body can be light green, grayish-green or yellow-green in color. In the spring, when the first leaves appear, young insects hatch from overwintered eggs. Females reproduce rapidly without fertilization. Only females are born. The aphid colony is growing rapidly. When food becomes scarce, winged forms appear, migrating to neighboring bushes. In the fall, males begin to be born. They will fertilize females, and they lay eggs on the branches near the buds before the onset of cold weather. 
How to recognize aphids on currants?
This pest is preparing for a new summer season since autumn: it lays the larvae that hibernate on plants. In spring, black, green, brown insects multiply rapidly, feeding on the sap of young trees and bushes. Signs of aphids on currants:
- Reddish bumps appear on the leaves.
- On the branches, you can distinguish white scraps - pieces of skin that aphids have thrown off.
- The leaves dry up, curl, bend, the buds do not have time to open, and the fruits do not ripen.
- Many ants are running along the branches.
- The plant is covered with honeydew, a sticky liquid produced by aphids. Ants feed on these secretions with pleasure.
Aphid activity peaks in June. Several generations of insects are born over the summer. When there is little nutrition for all individuals on one bush or tree, winged forms of this pest appear. They fly to neighboring plants in search of a new place of residence and food. Due to aphids, currants are deprived of nutrients and do not develop, and they also begin to suffer from viral infections. Therefore, it is necessary to remove aphids from the site from early spring.
Prevention with aphids on currants
Everyone already knows how to deal with harmful aphids on currants, but the question of how to prevent aphids from entering their bushes is important. There are a number of measures that can be taken regularly to reduce the possibility of infection. With annual pruning, you need to remove all affected shoots, here it is definitely better to be safe. It is imperative to weed out the weeds around the bushes, in the fall and spring, well dig up the ground under the bushes and around them.
Ladybugs and lacewings do an excellent job of clearing the garden from aphids. If they live in the garden, then aphids will never disturb your plants, but the widespread use of broad-spectrum chemicals has reduced them to a minimum in summer cottages. To attract them, you can sow marigolds, yarrow, tansy, allisum, dill, parsley between the currant bushes. Ladybugs often live on buckwheat. But you need to get rid of ants, otherwise, whatever you do, the ants will bring aphids into the garden all the time.
Bushes can be periodically powdered with crushed into dust wood ash or tobacco. It is advisable to do this after rain, so that the dust lingers on the leaves longer, carefully process the underside of the leaves and all young shoots.
Preventive methods are usually time-consuming, but they can really rid the currants of aphids, and the owners do not have to deal with pests, risking the harvest or even their health.
How to deal with aphids on currants
First, decide how you will deal with aphids, that is, with the help of folk remedies or bio and chemical. drugs. If this is the first option, then you will have to be patient, since you will have to process the currants more than once. But it seems to be environmentally friendly. The second option is the destruction of aphids with special preparations that will destroy the aphids in 1 application and protect the plant from further attack by the pest. These drugs usually work for at least 30 days. Of course, this is chemistry, but if you follow the instructions for use, then harm to humans is minimized, since a waiting period is indicated for all drugs, that is, after how many days currants can be eaten without fear for their health. As a preventive measure against aphids on currants, it is advisable to plant around the bushes those plants that scare away this pest: marigolds, calendula, garlic, dill, parsley, basil, mint, coriander, tansy, yarrow. Maybe this will not help 100%, but in any case, the number of the pest will be much less.
Folk remedies for the prevention and control of aphids on currants
Wood ash. Preparation and dosage:
- 200 - 300 g. Pour 1 liter. boiling water;
- insist until it cools completely;
- bring the filtered solution to 10 liters, add crushed laundry soap.
Wood ash + tobacco. Preparation and dosage:
- 400 g of dry tobacco leaves;
- 400 g of ash;
- 10 l. water.
Insist for a day. Strain before use.
Celandine. Preparation and dosage:
Pour 3.5 kg of ground leaves and stems with 10 liters of water, for 18 - 24 hours.
Onion peel. Preparation and dosage
- 200 g per 10 l of water, hold for 3-4 days
Soda ash + laundry soap. Preparation and dosage:
- 1 tablespoon to 1 liter of water.
The advantage of infusions and solutions is that they are safe for humans and the environment... They are easy to make from plants and available materials... Perhaps some gardeners will argue that the work of harvesting raw materials and obtaining solutions takes a long time. But the systematic use of ecological products does not harm health, ensures the quality of the fruit, and does not pollute the atmosphere.
True, with some plants you need to be on the alert, for example, celandine juice is poisonous and you need to work with it with rubber gloves. Disadvantage homemade remedies is considered a "mild" action on pests. That is why they are best used for prophylaxis or at the initial stage of infection.
Fighting aphids on currants: treating bushes with chemicals
To get rid of gall aphid colonies on currants, chemicals that need to be applied in several stages will help. Use chemicals needed only in advanced cases and massive pest attacks.
- The first spraying of currants is carried out in the spring, at the time of budding.
- The second time it is necessary to carry out the treatment when the shrub is flowering.
- It is better to spray the currants for the third time immediately after flowering.
- The last treatment should be carried out only after complete harvest.
How to treat currants from gall aphids?
For treatments, chemicals are used that are dissolved in water. The following drugs have proven themselves well:
- Actellik (diluted with 15 ml per 10 liters of water);
- Novaktion (diluted with 5 ml per 10 liters of water).
" Currant
Each currant berry is an incomparable storehouse of vitamins, a source for delicious homemade preparations, fruit drinks and pie filling. Without exaggeration, good, bountiful harvest inflated pot-bellied shiny berries - the desire of any gardener. It is quite real, with the right variety of bushes, taking into account the climate, and proper care for them.
The reasons for which leaves and whole fresh shoots begin to dry are most often fungal infections and pests.
- spider mite;
- kidney mite;
- currant glass jar;
- currant leaf gall midge;
- currant shoot gall midge;
- leaf gall aphid;
- gooseberry shoot aphid.
Currants are ill from the following infections:
- spheroteka;
- anthracnose;
- septoria;
- columnar rust;
- goblet rust.
Most often, currant bushes suffer from a variety of aphids and kidney mites.
Kidney mite, methods of dealing with it
This pest lives on the currant bush all its life. A very small insect, the body length of the female is only 1.5-3 mm, and the males are even smaller... Insects hibernate and lay eggs in the buds of the plant. When the larvae hatch, there is not enough space for them, respectively, they move to neighboring buds, capturing new shoots. Thus, the entire currant bush is affected, and then neighboring currant bushes and other plants - raspberries, gooseberries and others - also fall ill.
Of course, the shoot does not develop if it is affected by the pest. If such branches grow, then only in a mutated form. Accordingly, the yield also decreases. In addition to reducing the number of berries, mites do other harm. They carry many infections that can affect plants, including viral curl or marbling. In this disease, the leaves curl up and become sticky, almost like aphids.
There are a lot of methods for dealing with ticks that have settled on currants:
Pouring boiling water
The way to solve the problem is the most environmentally friendly and with minimal cost. The method is quite effective - all larvae die during scalding., and the bush is only getting stronger and stronger.
The use of boiling water has its own nuances:
- no need to use steep boiling water, enough temperature 60-80 degrees;
- it will be more convenient to pour over the branches if tie them together;
- ticks begin activity with the first warm rays, if the bush has already begun to bloom, then you cannot water it with boiling water... Processing must be done before the appearance of a "green haze";
- dousing can also additionally in late autumn.
Manual deletion
This method requires concentration and patience. Sorting the buds in order to remove the tick should be done in early spring, before they open.
This method has two significant drawbacks.... First, it is very difficult to distinguish a visually healthy kidney from the one in which the larvae have lurked. Secondly, there is a high probability of cutting off full-fledged healthy shoots, especially at the end of the inspection of the plant.
When choosing this method, all removed kidneys must be collected in one bucket and incinerated.
Sulfur chemicals
The most popular and effective sulfur-based preparations are:
- colloidal sulfur;
- lime-sulfuric broth.
Ticks cannot tolerate sulfur in any form. Preventive spraying with sulfur-containing solutions is a guarantee that pests will not settle on the bushes.
If the plant is severely affected, then you need to prepare a solution of sulfur in proportions of 10 grams per 1 liter of water, and treat the plant with it. Bushes are treated with sulfur twice:
- before flowering or at the beginning, use a 2% solution;
- after flowering - 1% or 1.5% mixture with sulfur.
There is a significant risk of remaining in the year of processing in this way without a crop, however these chemicals completely destroy both the tick itself and fungal infections... It is important to follow the recommendations specified in the instructions for the chemicals in order to comply with safety measures when working with it.
Pruning
This is an extreme, drastic measure. If a tick suddenly turns out to be resistant to everything in the world, and this, although very rarely, but it happens, the plant is cut at the root in late autumn, or it is completely dug up, that is, it is completely destroyed.
After the destruction of the diseased bush, as well as after pruning it, the entire tool with which the work was carried out must be disinfected, if possible, it is also good to heat it additionally.
Folk remedies and methods
Also, the affected shoots were doused with a steep garlic broth - 200-300 grams of peeled garlic per 10 liters of water.
If flowering has already begun, then the bushes are sprayed with decoctions from plants such as:
- tobacco is a plant, but the tobacco that is used in production is also suitable;
- dandelion;
- Walnut.
Taking advantage of folk recipes, it must be remembered that these measures are good if the spread of the tick is insignificant. If the area affected by the pest is large, then more effective measures should be taken.
For the prevention of tick activity, there is nothing better than acaricides... This is a modern line chemicals wide range action, which means helping not only to combat ticks, but also other pests and a number of diseases. The drugs are presented very widely in any of the gardening stores and are a complete alternative to sulfur, having its effect, but without harming the bush.
Aphids on white, black and red currants, how to fight?
Swelling on currant leaves is a sign of the appearance of aphids Aphids usually settle on the bushes of the white and red varieties:
- red-gall;
- currant hairy.
Black gooseberry aphid loves the same.
Dangerous for diseased plants and extremely favorable for aphids are weather conditions such as:
- arid;
- hot;
- sunny.
All the wonderful days for relaxing at the dacha, as if intended for barbecue and mowing lawns, are loved not only by humans, but also by aphids. You have to deal with this pest constantly, since life cycle individual is very short, and per summer season can change from 10 to 15 generations in one insect colony.
The aphid that settled on the currant is a very small insect, on average, the body length is only 2.2 mm. In close congestion, pests look like a spot of light grayish, yellow or green shades.
Aphids feed on the juice of currant leaves, biting into them from the back. Even a small settlement of these pests takes a lot of energy from the bush., significantly reducing not only the yield, but also the growth and development of currants.
The waste of aphids is the honeydew, or, as it is also called, honeydew - a favorite delicacy of ants. There is a widespread misconception that ants eat aphids, helping the summer resident to fight it. It's not like that at all. on the contrary, ants carefully protect the pest colonies and even spread aphids, transferring them to fresh shoots and neighboring bushes.
Aphids and ants are a natural symbiosis of species, therefore, it is extremely important, starting the fight against aphids, to destroy anthills.
You can get rid of pest colonies in the following popular ways:
- noticing swollen leaves on the bushes, shoots with twisted lumps of leaves, you need to immediately, without putting off, cut and burn;
- helps well spraying bushes and processing each leaf with an infusion of ash and makhorka, prepared in such a proportion - 400-500 grams per 10 liters of water;
- gives a good effect hand washing of each sheet and then spraying the whole plant with a solution of soap and soda - a lot of soap and a tablespoon of soda per liter of water;
- celandine is poisonous for aphids, therefore, having prepared an infusion in a proportion of 3.5-4 kg of freshly cut celandine per 10 liters of water, you can spray the bushes, both already affected and outwardly healthy, but you need to wear gloves and a respirator, since celandine can cause severe irritation;
- simply wash every leaf with soap and escape, a household one is best.
Apart from these widely accepted and sufficient simple ways, pesticides and insecticides can be used against aphids, such as:
- vofatox;
- karbofos;
- kinmix;
- aktara;
- rokyvoort.
The list of drugs offered to gardeners by the industry is quite large and varied, but whichever one you choose, you will have to spray the bushes three times:
- in the spring, before bud break;
- after the appearance of leaves;
- in summer, about a month before picking berries (July - August, depending on the variety).
For preventive measures, in order to initially scare off aphids, it is good to plant plants next to currants that it does not tolerate:
- Dill;
- tomatoes;
- garlic;
- mint;
- parsley;
- basil;
- coriander;
- tansy;
- marigold.
It will be most effective to apply comprehensive measures, including the detection and baiting of ants. Getting rid of aphids completely is difficult, but quite possible.
What if the currant dries?
There are many reasons due to which the bushes may begin to turn yellow and dry, but they can all be divided into three categories:
- natural circumstances;
- the action of pests;
- plant diseases.
TO natural reasons can be attributed weather, such as drought. The wrong place in which the bush grows is too sunny and dry, or, conversely, moisture stagnation, which causes rotting of the roots.
Diseases leading to plant drying out are usually carried by insects. The most common ones are:
- veined and striped mosaics;
- anthracnose, a fungal infection requiring immediate action;
- powdery mildew, both European and American;
- cercosporosis;
- rust, both goblet and columnar.
If the origins of the drying of currants are due to weather reasons, for example, in a hot and sunny summer, then it is easy to deal with it. You just need to provide watering. They drink a lot of bushes, from 1.5 to 2 x buckets per day... During the ripening period of the berries, the amount of water received by the plant should be increased to three buckets.
You can not water the currants cold water, from such care the plant can get sick. The water should warm up well in the sun. To do this, you can dial it in the morning, leaving it for the day.
If the bush dries up due to decay of the roots, due to their flooding, which is typical for a very rainy summer, the actions should be as follows:
- pour earth under the plant;
- dig drainage grooves around the bush, at a distance of 50-60 cm.
After the completion of heavy rains, when the earth dries up, the drainage layer must be filled up, since currants are a moisture-loving plant, and under normal conditions it does not need water drainage.
If the bushes dry out due to the fault of insects or diseases, then appropriate measures must be taken.
Not every modern summer resident understands types of insect pests or a variety of plant diseases. That's why very popular chemicals with a wide complex action, such substances include:
- sulfur;
- phosphomide;
- karbofos;
- vitriol;
- bordeaux liquid;
- phytosporin;
- foundationol.
Fungal infections, such as anthracnose, require fungicide treatment of the bush as soon as possible. The causative agent of the disease, a fungus, starts in fallen leaves. That's why it is extremely important to remove foliage from the site and burn it... The disease itself manifests itself in the middle of summer, in the form of red-brown spots on the leaves. If the disease is not cured, the "rash" will capture all the leaves, eventually exposing the bush, and infect neighboring plants.
Red-brown spots on currant leaves - a sign of anthracnose As preventive measures against insects and diseases, the following are very effective:
- processing of currants and soil under it 2% solutions of nitrophene or karbofos in the spring. Before bud break;
- periodic spraying during the summer of the bushes with foundation.
Often the currant dries simply because the bush is old. In this case, either you need to rejuvenate it by pruning, or dig it up, and, after disinfecting and fertilizing the soil, plant a new one.
It is not so difficult to ensure that the currants bear fruit well, do not hurt or dry out. It is enough just to comply with some conditions:
- right choose a place for the bushes not too dry and without stagnant water;
- provide watering into drought;
- remove dead leaves;
- prophylactically process plants;
- attentively monitor the state bushes.
Subject to these simple rules, currants will surely please from year to year with large, juicy, tasty and very healthy berries.
Since early spring, summer residents have a lot of worries: watering, weeding and more pests are annoying. When the first leaves bloom on the currant, aphids immediately appear. The pest settles on young shoots, which are deformed and dry out. Currant yield is declining. What to do and how to deal with aphids on currants?
How to spot aphids on currants
Most often, gall aphids, a small sucking insect, settle on currants. It feeds on aphids on young shoots and currant leaves. You can find a pest colony on the bottom of the currant leaf. On damaged leaves, red or yellow swellings are formed, tubercles - galls.
Around mid-July, when currant leaves stop growing, aphids develop wings. At this moment, the pest leaves the bush. If there are a lot of weeds around the plantings, the gall aphid will move to them, where it will feed until the fall. During the season, more than one generation of pests is hatched, which in the fall, around September, migrate back to the currant bush. Females begin laying eggs.
Gall aphids on currant bushes are a big danger, especially for young plants. Fragile bushes, affected big amount pests are unable to develop normally. The yield of adult bushes drops sharply, the berry becomes smaller.
How to deal with aphids on currant bushes
One of important factors in the fight against gall aphids on currants, prevention is. From early spring, you need to carry out the main preventive measures:
Be sure to remove all weeds under the bushes;
Carry out sanitary pruning of the bush, cutting out all diseased branches;
Attract beneficial insects that feed on gall aphids, such as ladybugs;
To carry out the spring scalding of the bush with boiling water.
Important! If ladybugs and lacewings have settled on currant bushes, then insecticides must be applied carefully. Better to replace them with herbal infusions. Beneficial insects will help you get rid of aphids quickly.
By attracting beneficial insects to the garden, you can get rid of gall aphids without resorting to chemicals. To attract insects, experienced gardeners practice planting medicinal plants under currant bushes:
Marigold;
Allisum;
Yarrow;
Many insects that are useful for the garden prefer to live in dill or buckwheat plantings.
How to get rid of aphids on currant bushes: fumigating the garden
Very often, one of the methods of controlling aphids is to fumigate the garden. Experienced gardeners practice fumigation with rubber, tobacco and mushroom.
Fumigation should be carried out before bud break, at the time of their opening.
Fumigation with rubber is carried out as follows: a bush of rubber is placed in an old pan and smolder under each currant bush.
Fumigation with tobacco and mushroom raincoat is carried out with the help of beekeepers smoker.
It is necessary to fumigate the garden for at least three hours. This should be done in the evening, in calm weather. Aphids die completely, there is no need to use chemicals.
The downside of this method is acrid smoke, which has a bad effect on human health.
Fighting aphids on currants: treating bushes with chemicals
To get rid of gall aphid colonies on currants, chemicals that need to be applied in several stages will help. It is necessary to use chemicals only in advanced cases and massive attacks of pests.
1. The first spraying of currants is carried out in the spring, at the time of budding.
2. The second time it is necessary to carry out the treatment when the shrub is flowering.
3. It is better to spray the currants for the third time immediately after flowering.
4. The last treatment should be carried out only after complete harvest.
How to treat currants from gall aphids?
For treatments, chemicals are used that are dissolved in water. The following drugs have proven themselves well:
Actellik (diluted with 15 ml per 10 liters of water);
Novaktion (diluted with 5 ml per 10 liters of water).
Folk remedies for the fight against aphids on currants
Using folk remedies in the fight against aphids, you can get rid of the pest without interfering with beneficial insects. For these purposes, use the following infusions:
Tobacco infusion;
Infusion of marigolds;
Infusion of red hot pepper;
Infusion of tomato tops;
Infusion of onions and garlic;
Ash infusion with wormwood;
Soda ash solution;
Infusion of celandine.
1. Tobacco infusion
An infusion is prepared from tobacco dust or makhorka, with the addition of laundry soap and water. For this, 500 grams of tobacco dust is poured with 10 liters of water and the mixture is infused for several days. Filter the finished infusion, dilute with 10 liters of water and add 100 g of grated laundry soap as an adhesive.
Spraying is carried out in the evening, in clear weather. After rain, repeat the treatment.
2. Infusion of marigolds
The infusion of marigolds, which is prepared from dried flowers, is very effective in the fight against gall aphids. For a 10 liter bucket, take ½ part of the crushed marigolds, which are poured warm water... The mixture is infused for three days. The finished solution is decanted and 50 g of grated laundry soap is added.
3. Infusion of red hot pepper
You can prepare a concentrated infusion from red capsicum. To do this, 1 kg of fresh pepper must be cut and put in a saucepan, pour 10 liters cold water... Boil the mixture and cook over low heat for 1 hour. The cooled solution is removed in warm place for several days. The finished solution is filtered and stored in the cold.
For spraying, a working solution is prepared from the concentrate. For 10 liters of water, 1 glass of concentrate is used. You can add grated laundry soap to the solution as an adhesive.
Important! The ready-made working solution and red hot pepper are used not only in the fight against aphids. It works well against slugs.
4. Infusion of tomato tops
A good infusion is obtained from tomato tops for combating gall aphids on currants. For this, dry tops of tomatoes, about 2 kg, and fresh tops of 4 kg are crushed, pouring 10 liters of water. The mixture is boiled for 30 minutes. The resulting concentrate is cooled and stored in the cold. A working solution is prepared before spraying. To do this, the concentrate is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 5, adding grated laundry soap.
Important! The working solution of their tomato leaf concentrate can be used to combat ticks, scoops, moths, cruciferous flea beetles and goose sawflies.
5. Infusion of onions and garlic
Experienced gardeners are advised to spray currants with infusion of green onion feathers. For this, 1 kg of chopped green onions is poured with 10 liters of water, the mixture is infused for 6 hours. Strain the finished solution and spray.
You can use the prepared in advance onion skins... For this 500 gr. the husks are infused in 10 liters of water for about 5 days.
Important! Infusions of onion and garlic not only fight pests on currants, but also increase the immunity of plants.
6. Ash infusion with wormwood
Affected currant bushes are treated from aphids with an ash solution with the addition of wormwood. To do this, pour 500 grams of crushed wormwood with water, about 5 liters, adding 1 glass of ash and 50 grams of laundry soap. The mixture is infused for about 5 hours. Spraying is carried out with a working solution, which is prepared from 1 part of the infusion and 2 parts of water.
7. Soda ash solution
You can process currants against aphids with a solution of soda. A working solution is prepared from 1 tbsp. l. soda ash and 1 liter of water.
Spraying with such a solution will help to get rid of not only aphids, but also drive the fungus from the bush.
8. Infusion of celandine
Summer residents are fighting aphids with celandine infusion. A solution is prepared from 4 kg of fresh celandine herb, which is crushed and poured with 10 liters of water. You need to insist the solution for a day. The finished solution is sprayed with currant bushes.
Important! During the processing of plantings of currants with a solution of celandine, it is imperative to use individual protection, since celandine juice is very poisonous.
What you need to consider when processing currants from gall aphids
Young shoots of currants bend well, they can be dipped in any prescription product and washed well, without the risk of breaking the branch.
Each branch should be sprayed and washed without missing a single section of the bush.
You need to spray not only the shrub, but also the soil under it.
The weather during processing should be calm. When applying chemicals, watch out for the bees. It is important not to poison the beneficial insects that are very much needed in the garden. It is better to postpone the spraying for the evening, when the bees no longer fly.
When spraying, be sure to moisten lower part leaf, for this the spray is directed into the bush.
Do not place high hopes on folk ways fight against aphids on currants, if time is lost and the pest has chosen roses, plums and gooseberries. In such a situation, the use of chemicals is indispensable.
In the fight against aphids on currants, it is important to monitor the cleanliness of the site, to prevent a riot of weeds and the proximity of shrubs to anthills. Frequently carry out preventive spraying with herbal infusions, monitor the density of the bush and cut out diseased branches in time.