Cabbage pests: description and control methods

Cruciferous flea

One of the most formidable pests for cabbage is the cruciferous flea. It affects not only this plant, but also many other species: radish, radish, etc. As pests of white cabbage, they are found almost everywhere. Therefore, the fight against them is relevant for many regions of our country.

These insects reproduce very actively and rapidly, as a result of which almost all white cabbage seedlings can die in just a few days. Fighting them is the key to successful seedling survival. The beetles hibernate in the soil and, when spring comes, they begin to actively multiply, parasitizing and feeding on agricultural plants. As a result of their vital activity, young leaves and the root collar of the plant are damaged. This further leads to the death of most of the crop.

You should deal with them in the following way:

• processing white cabbage with wood ash, as well as spraying it with ash infusion. It is necessary to process the leaves at least three times with an interval of 4-5 days;
• excellent protection is obtained by treating plants with a decoction of tomato tops. The decoction is prepared from 4 kg of chopped fresh green tops (can be replaced with 2 kg of dry tomato tops), which are soaked in 10 liters of water for 4 hours. After that, the resulting broth is boiled over low heat and cooled. Charming it is necessary to strain it. Before spraying, dilute in a ratio of 1: 1 and add 40 g of soap per 10 liters of the finished solution.

But these methods of struggle will be ineffective if you do not often visit the garden or summer cottage. Therefore, insecticides are better means of control. These include Aktellik, Aktaru, Intavir, Bankol, etc. In addition, it is known that dog shampoo, diluted in a ratio of 2 caps per bucket of water, is also quite effective in combating these insects.

aphid

Cabbage aphid is a very common pest. These animals are formidable pests and so many gardeners and gardeners encounter it while growing crops. The high danger of the pest lies in the fact that it serves as a carrier of over 20 different viruses. Therefore, its vital activity can be complicated and unpredictable for cultivated plants.

Aphids are ubiquitous, but are extremely rare in subtropical climates due to environmental conditions. For plants, all generations of the insect are dangerous. The harmful activity of aphids consists in sucking juices from white cabbage, which leads to its death. Plant protection against aphids includes the following agrotechnical methods:

• timely and complete weed control;
• strict observance of all the rules of agricultural technology during the cultivation of cabbage;
• deep digging of the soil;
• uprooting after harvesting all plant residues with their further burning;
• harrowing the soil in spring;
• autumn plowing;
• planting seedlings near dill, carrots and tomatoes. The smell of these plants repels aphids.

In addition, there are biological methods of control – the treatment of cabbage with biological insecticides. It can be “Agravertin”, “Aktofit” and “Akarin”. The method of their use is indicated on the packages. By following the above aphid control methods, you can avoid many growing problems and ultimately get a high-quality and plentiful harvest.

Bedbugs

The cabbage bug is the same common pest in our gardens as the aphid. These insects are very prolific and have an incomplete development cycle. Bedbug larvae can be found on the underside of the leaf blade. After hatching, the larva turns into an adult – imago. The peak of reproduction falls at the beginning of summer in the presence of hot weather. Damage to white cabbage and other varieties is caused by all generations. Dealing with them is quite problematic, but possible.

Damage to plants is caused by insects piercing the leaves in order to suck out the plant juice. Light spots are formed at the puncture sites, leading to the development of various pathological processes. Protection against insects consists in carrying out preventive measures:

• complete cleaning for the winter of all plant residues left after harvesting;
• early planting of seedlings;
• removal of weeds near cabbage varieties;
• growing seedlings near cultivated plants that repel bedbugs.

To repel bedbugs, you can use naphthalene, which is mixed with ash and sand in a ratio of 1:5. You can also use fluffy lime with creolin in a ratio of 20:1. Some gardeners advise using tobacco, which is mixed with sand in a 1: 1 ratio, decoctions of potato tops or onion peels and chamomile. This treatment can be repeated after 15 days. In addition, the soap solution has proven to be excellent. To prepare it, we dissolve 300 g of laundry soap in 10 liters of water.

With a strong colonization of plants by bugs, one should resort to chemical insecticide preparations: Actellik, Phosbecid or Belofos. We dissolve two ampoules of the product in 2 liters of water. Please note that you need to use prepared solutions only fresh. If preventive measures are observed, more radical methods will not be needed.

Video “The easiest way to protect cabbage”

Leaf beetle

Another pest of white cabbage and other varieties of this plant is the cabbage leaf beetle. This is a small bug, which, despite its size, causes severe damage to cultivated plants. Adults have the appearance of bugs with a greenish tint on the body and brown paws. Damage to cabbage is caused by biting females into leaves and laying eggs in them.

To deal with such insects, it is necessary as follows:

• autumn digging beds;
• early planting of seedlings in the ground;
• protection through the removal of all post-harvest residues of plants from the garden;
• timely and complete control of weeds;
• compliance with the rules of crop rotation for cabbage.

To prevent the appearance of these insects, cabbage is sprayed with a 0,15% Aktellika solution, as well as the Aktara insecticide. By following these rules, you will protect your garden from the invasion of leaf beetles.

Scoop

No less common pest for cabbage is the scoop butterfly. The cabbage scoop has two stages of development: a caterpillar and a butterfly itself. An adult can reach a size of 5 cm in the wings. Outwardly, the scoop has a gray color with bright white spots. In this case, the edges of the wings may have teeth, on which strips of white or yellow-white color are applied. There are spurs on the front legs of the cutworm butterfly parasitizing on cabbage. With these signs, you can distinguish an insect from other types of butterflies that are safe for your crop. These are nocturnal insects that are attracted to cabbages for their nectar, sugar, and color. The scoop can parasitize not only on various varieties of cabbage, but also on other plants of the cruciferous family. However, this is typical for almost all of the above pests.

A distinctive feature of this insect is a very high fecundity. Moreover, the number of possible generations is determined by weather conditions and habitat. So, in the northern regions of our country, the scoop can breed only one generation, but in the southern regions – up to three. The fight against the scoop should begin to be carried out even in the early stages of its development and appearance. This will allow you to achieve significant effectiveness of various methods of control and save your crop with minimal effort.

The list of control measures in this situation includes the following operations:

• installation of pheromone traps. This is the simplest and most effective method of struggle. Such traps should be hung from May to September. Using pheromone traps, you can effectively destroy pests at two stages of their development (both caterpillars and butterflies). Moreover, the destruction occurs without the direct participation of a person, since butterflies appear only at night. Also, with the help of such traps, you can make a rough estimate of the population of these insects in the garden or garden;
• the use of insecticidal solutions. They should be resorted to only when a significant population has been found.

The most effective drugs that are currently used to combat cabbage scoops are Dipel, Lepidocid, Zeta, Aktellik, Fitoverm, Carbofox and others. In addition to these two main methods of control, additional preventive agricultural technologies can be used:

• autumn plowing;
• cultivation of row spacing in the presence of mass pupation;
• complete and timely destruction of weeds, especially during their flowering period.

It would be useful to know that trichograms are among the biological enemies of cabbage scoops. They destroy cutworm ovipositors, thereby significantly reducing the number of mature individuals and the overall population. As you can see, there are quite effective preventive methods and ways to deal with these pests. Using them, you can completely destroy the scoop population in your garden or backyard.

Stem cabbage stalker 

Stem cabbage secretive bollard is a common and fairly common pest of cabbage in our gardens. This is a small beetle with a light spot on the shield. Its larvae are quite large, which makes it easier to find them on plants. They can be found in leaf veins, as well as on stems and root collars. The hatched larvae look like maggots and can completely destroy the crop of cabbage and other cruciferous plants within one month.

The main measures to combat these insects include the following preventive operations:

• keeping the land and garden clean from plant residues;
• timely cleaning of leaves from under trees and shrubs;
• frequent loosening of the soil between rows in the summer;
• upon detection of larvae – spraying plants with special insecticides. But remember that this must be done no later than one month before harvest.

As you can see, cabbage has a large army of pests in the face of various types of insects. The timely application of preventive measures and pest control will help you get a high-quality and plentiful cabbage crop in the fall without any problems.

Video “Pest Control”

The video provides detailed instructions on how to protect cabbage from pests and what to do to get a good harvest.