Aphid control on fruit trees

Aphids of fruit trees are very small (up to 7 mm) winged or wingless insects that feed on the juice of young shoots and leaves of various trees and shrubs. They pierce the soft succulent tissues of plants with special proboscises and suck out plant juice, which contains many nutrients necessary for the favorable vegetation of horticultural crops. With a large accumulation of aphids on young shoots and leaves, the trees suffer from a lack of trace elements absorbed by aphid colonies, stop growing and give new growths.

Some information about aphids

1. 1. There are more than 4 thousand species of aphids all over the world, about 1000 of them live in European countries, which includes Our Country.
   2. Aphids lay their eggs in the fall in the ground or in bark cracks on trees, in the spring voracious caterpillars emerge from the eggs, and by the beginning of the flowering of fruit trees they turn into an adult insect, ready to lay new eggs. During the spring-summer season, aphids are capable of producing at least three generations of offspring. Imagine this huge number of hungry insects that pounce on all garden and horticultural crops in your garden.
   3. Aphids differ from each other in color and body size, their different species prefer to settle in colonies on individual plants, even the names of subfamilies are given to them according to the type of culture: green apple aphid, plum aphid, peach aphid, gooseberry, currant.
   4. No matter how this harmful insect is called, the purpose of all species of aphids is the same – to produce their own kind, and for this they need food, which they get by destroying the cultivated plants of the garden and vegetable garden.
   5. Gardeners who find aphids on fruit trees know that other pests will follow them – these are ants, or, conversely, having noticed ants, they determine that there is an aphid colony somewhere nearby. This symbiosis of aphids and ants has been known for a long time, there is an erroneous opinion that ants eat aphids, so they do not need to be destroyed or driven away. This is not at all the case, ants live and even protect aphid colonies because of honeydew, a sweetish odorous liquid that aphids secrete. For ants, this is a delicacy containing many nutrients, it is because of it that such a soldered symbiosis of these insects occurs.

1. Aphids can form colonies not only on fruit trees and berry bushes, many vegetables are attacked. Throughout the season, especially when the formation of new young shoots begins in the garden, and vegetable seedlings enter the stage of active vegetation, aphids begin their detrimental effect on horticultural and horticultural crops.

Consequences of an insect attack

Aphids on fruit trees, shrubs and vegetable crops can cause great damage to plants:

• plant leaves not getting enough nutrients and moisture due to the invasion of aphids, they gradually dry out, twist into tubes, and then fall off before reaching the required growth;
• honeydew, secreted by aphids in the process of life, clogs the pores of leaves and stems, blocking access to sunlight, natural plant photosynthesis is disrupted and leads to the death of young shoots of fruit trees;
• these insects and ants following aphids are carriers of fungal and bacterial diseases, trees can get sick and die through their fault;
• if you do not take measures to combat aphids on fruit trees, shrubs and vegetable seedlings, you can lose a significant part of the crop or be completely left without it.

Methods and means of pest control

You can get a decent harvest in the garden and vegetable garden if all plants are protected from diseases and harmful insects. Gardeners spend a lot of time and effort on fighting aphids on fruit trees, but this is necessary, because no one wants to give voracious pests part of the crop that they grow on their plots of land. In our article we will talk about the means and methods of dealing with aphids on fruit trees.

Methods

1. Planting repellent plants in the areathat repel aphids from fruit trees and shrubs. These plants include: garlic, onions, Dalmatian chamomile, coriander, marigolds.
2. To attract aphidsCan be planted away from horticultural crops, plants that this insect prefers: nasturtiums, begonias, sleeping pills, mallow.
3. Linden and viburnum are also favorite trees for aphids, should not be planted fruit and vegetable crops close to these plants.
4. Necessary regularly carry out preventive maintenance of the garden and vegetable garden by means of spraying trees and bushes, spilled soil plots with chemical or folk remedies.
5. Heat treatment of plants (dousing with hot water at a temperature not lower than 70 °) in early spring or late autumn. Aphids do not tolerate high temperatures, quickly die from exposure to hot water. This method can be applied to plants on which a large colony of aphids has settled and cannot be destroyed in any other way (currants, gooseberries, raspberries).
6. If the plant is compact and low, you can use insect washing method from the leaves under the pressure of a stream of water from a hose or watering can, and then shed the soil under it with hot water.
7. Trapping belts help protect fruit trees from ants – the main carriers of aphids on trees.

Chemicals may contain components that can cause allergic skin reactions, burns of the cornea of ​​​​the eyes. Folk remedies also cause burning, itching, redness of the skin. Be prudent.

Facilities

In specialized stores, you can find many chemical and biological agents that are used to control aphids (and other insects) on fruit trees, berry bushes and vegetable crops:

• Phytoverm – the biological preparation is produced in ampoules and vials, after processing the plants it begins to act in 4-5 days, the aphids that eat the leaves sprayed with the agent become immobile and die;
• Trichopol – the drug in the form of tablets causes paralysis in aphids, the drug acts until it is washed off the leaves by rain, it is safe for people and animals;
• Aktofit – the biological product also causes paralysis of insects when eating plant sap, 2-3 days may pass before the onset of action, then the aphid dies;
• Fufanon – Phosphorus-containing product is quickly absorbed by all parts of plants: leaves, shoots, roots. Aphids, having tried such a “treat”, die within a day. The drug retains its properties up to 4 days or until the first heavy rain, very toxic, be careful.
• Arrow – begins to act after 2 days, destroying aphids and other pests, the validity period is from 2 to 3 weeks.

For adherents of maintaining the ecological balance in nature, there are less dangerous means of dealing with aphids. Gardeners who do not accept the use of chemicals on their plots have learned to process gardens and vegetable gardens with environmentally friendly solutions, infusions, decoctions according to folk recipes. The video posted after this paragraph is devoted to the preparation of an aqueous solution with the addition of ammonia. We advise you to take a look.

The following video talks about the use of soda, iodine and laundry soap in the fight against aphids on fruit trees. All these remedies are safe both for nature and for humans, but we will not hide from you that such treatments with folk remedies do not work immediately and are not as effective as chemical and biological preparations. It is necessary to regularly, at least 6-8 times per season, spray all plants with them. Be patient if you are for the environment.

Ants accompanying the appearance of aphids on a tree cannot fly. In the fight against them, trapping belts attached to the lower part of the trunk and branches of the fruit tree help. You can make these belt tapes yourself, or you can buy sticky tape for flies in the store and attach it to the right place. Watch the attached video, you will learn from an experienced gardener how this can be done in practice.

We mentioned earlier that one of the methods for controlling aphids is to plant repellant plants that protect our fruit and vegetable crops, mainly flowers, seasoning herbs, trees and bushes with pungent odors. They are attractive to aphids, which shower them with their “attention” and distract them from the plants we want to protect. The following video provides a more detailed list of such plants.

Conclusion

Whatever way you choose to deal with aphids on fruit trees, the main thing is to achieve a favorable result, to destroy or expel pests from our garden and vegetable garden. In a healthy garden, which is carefully cared for by hardworking owners, a decent harvest should grow, which will only please, and not upset gardeners.

Everything is subject to a person, he can achieve everything that he has conceived. In this article, we decided to tell you about the methods of dealing with aphids, we hope that we have coped with our task. Read, watch videos and photos, we tried to help you. We wish your garden a long and healthy life without such problems as pesky aphids.