How to treat and spray tomatoes and seedlings against white and black midges that eat them: preparations
Actellik drug for midges on tomatoes
If the tomatoes are attacked by white and black midges, and the fruits have not yet set, the plants need to be treated with one of the following chemicals :
- "Actellik" - 1 ampoule per 1 liter of water, treat the plant no more than 4 times.
- "Actofit" - dilute according to instructions, apply at least 3 times, every 5-7 days.
- "Aktara" - dilute according to instructions, apply at least 3 times, every 5-7 days.
- “Verticillin J” - 25 ml per 1 liter of water, treatment 2 times every 7-10 days.
- “Pegasus” - 2 ml of 25% of the drug per 1 liter of water, treat the bushes 2 times after 7 days.
- “Fufanon” - 1.2-1.5 ml of 57% drug per 1 liter of water, treatment 1 time.
- "Confidor" - 0.1 ml of 20% drug per 1 liter of water, treatment 1 time.
- "Phosbecid" - 5 ml per 5 liters of water.
- "Mospilan" - 0.05-0.06 g per 1 liter of water, treat 1 time.
- "Decis" - dilute according to instructions.
- "Inta-vir" - 1 tablet is diluted in 10 liters of water.
- “Karate” - dilute strictly according to the instructions. Use at intervals of 7-10 days.
- "Arrivo" - dilute an emulsion with a 25% concentration in 7-10 liters of water.
- "Neoron" - dilute according to instructions.
Attention. It is not worth purchasing a lot of the chemical; aphids may develop an addiction to the drug and it will stop working on it.
Consequences of whitefly damage to cucumbers
You can detect a whitefly only by carefully examining the bush, paying special attention to the back of the leaves - this is where the pest prefers to lay its larvae.
Infected bushes can be recognized by some obvious external signs that become noticeable with a quick glance at the plantings:
- leaves and stems are covered with a sticky coating over the entire surface;
- the leaf plate is deformed, curls, withers;
- greenish or yellowish spots appear on the surface of the leaves without clear boundaries;
- larvae appear on the reverse side of the leaf;
- the fruits stop filling and growing;
- when you shake a bush, a swarm of flies flies up from it;
- the plant turns black due to the appearance of sooty fungus.
If at least one of the above signs is observed on your cucumbers, you must immediately begin processing the plantings before it is too late.
Due to the fact that the parasite sucks the juice out of the plants, they begin to slow down their growth, little nutrients are supplied, dehydration occurs, the fruits do not grow, the leaves curl and fall off. As a result, you can lose the entire harvest.
In addition, the whitefly carries various diseases on itself. It often causes chlorosis, yellow mosaic, leaf curl and necrosis. In the place where the parasite stuck to the leaf, chlorophyll can no longer be formed; this area becomes vulnerable to various pathogenic organisms.
Decis for protection against black and white midges on tomatoes and seedlings: recipe for use
The drug “Decis” for white and black midges
The drug “Decis” is a pesticide. It is widely used to kill various insects, including aphids, on vegetables, grains and in the garden. Acts on the nervous system of insects, destroying them. It dissolves well in water. The drug is enough to use 0.6-1 g per 10 liters of water. It acts quickly, 1 hour after spraying the plants. You cannot store the diluted solution; you must use it all at once. After treating tomatoes with the drug, its effect lasts 14-20 days. Does not cause addiction to it among pests.
Important. "Decis" cannot be mixed with other drugs that have an alkaline environment.
Prevention
To destroy white midges on tomatoes, you will need to spend a fairly long period of time, and when using insecticides, you can harm both yourself and the plantings. It is much easier and better to carry out proper prevention.
- Since the whitefly dies at +15°C, greenhouses should be ventilated more often in early spring - this measure will significantly reduce the risk of the parasite appearing.
- In addition, it is necessary to regularly weed the plantings, removing weeds and tomato tops.
- Dig up the beds, treat the metal elements of greenhouses with soapy water from time to time, and do not store compost in the garden.
These simple measures will be quite enough to make tomato plantings unattractive to white midges. Have a good harvest!
What plants repel white and black midges on tomatoes?
White and black midges are afraid
of celandine. You can fight tomato aphids with the help of plants that it does not tolerate. These are the following plants:
- Celandine
- Calendula
- Yarrow
- Sagebrush
- Dill
- Garlic
- Onion
Recipe 1. Decoction of celandine
For the decoction you need:
- 2 tbsp. l. dry celandine
- 1 glass of water
Prepare the decoction:
- Fill the herb with water and boil for 5-10 minutes.
- Let it sit until it cools down.
- Add 2 liters of water to the broth and splash the tomatoes.
The same decoctions can be prepared from yarrow and wormwood . Aphids also do not like these herbs.
Recipe 2. Infusion of tobacco and laundry soap
For the infusion you need:
- 400 g tobacco
- 10 liters of water
- 40 g laundry soap
Preparing the infusion:
- Fill the tobacco with water and leave for 1 night.
- In the morning, add grated laundry soap, mix well and you can sprinkle the tomatoes.
Folk recipes
When midges appear on tomatoes, it is not always necessary to use toxic substances. In some cases, folk remedies and methods are quite effective. The simplest of them involves the use of low temperatures. Simply take the midge-infested tomatoes outside and leave them until the morning.
Important! This method is only suitable for cold-resistant varieties, and such an event can be carried out in early spring, when the air temperature is still quite low. And when the thermometer drops below +15°C, the whitefly will die!
- Infusion of yarrow. Fill a kilogram of plant leaves with a bucket of water and leave it warm for two days. After this time, we filter the product and treat the infected plantings. Spraying should be done two to three times at weekly intervals.
- Soap solution. Grind a bar of laundry soap and dilute it in water at a ratio of 1:6. The solution should be concentrated. Beat it into a foam and use a soft sponge to apply it to the leaves or spray the bushes with a spray bottle. Do not wash off the soap solution.
On a note! The soap solution does a great job even with numerous colonies of white midges on tomatoes!
- Garlic infusion. To prepare this product, you need to chop 10 cloves of garlic and pour five liters of water into the resulting mass. The infusion is left warm overnight, then filtered and applied to infected plants.
Tips for killing midges from tomato seedlings
Splashing tomatoes from midges in a greenhouse
Midges can fly in from the street if you grow tomato seedlings on a window. The reason for the appearance of midges is excessive watering in the cold season. People give a lot of advice on how to get rid of them:
Tip 1. Water the tomato seedlings with a weak, barely pink solution of potassium permanganate .
Tip 2. Sprinkle the ground in which the tomatoes are planted with a thick layer of ash , then insects will not be able to hide in the ground.
Tip 3 . If you have a lot of tomato seedlings, in the spring, when dandelions appear, make a dandelion infusion . It's done like this:
- Pour 1 kg of dandelion plants with roots into 10 liters of boiling water and leave for 1 day.
- Add 1 tbsp. l. hot pepper and grated laundry soap.
- We spray on tomatoes and soil inhabited by midges.
Tip 4 . Water the tomato seedlings with water to which 1 tbsp is added. l. vinegar per 1 liter of water .
So, now we know how to deal with small white and black midges on tomatoes.
Characteristics of the pest
The winged aphid is an insect 1-2 mm in length, with a black body and transparent wings. Adults, like larvae, feed on the sap of cultivated and weed plants, hiding on the underside of leaves. The insect reproduces intensively; up to 5 generations of midges can hatch in a season. Thanks to their wings, pests easily move from bush to bush, spreading throughout the planting.
The danger of winged aphids for tomatoes
A rapidly growing population of midges can cause serious damage to tomato beds, depleting individual bushes until the plants die. In addition, pests are carriers of viruses and leave honeydew on plants - a favorable environment for the proliferation of fungi. With significant leafhopper infestation, the loss of tomato yield can be about 30%.
Signs of damage to tomatoes by winged aphids:
- wilting and curling of the lower leaves;
- black sticky marks on the plant;
- dark spots on stems;
- the appearance of a dry brown crust at the site of the stains.
How to distinguish from a tomato mosquito
Black midges may turn out to be representatives of another species - the mushroom or tomato gnat. The insect more often appears on seedlings, while the peak reproduction of winged aphids occurs during the flowering period of tomatoes, but if the soil is excessively moistened, the pest can appear in the greenhouse at any stage of plant development.
The fungus gnat looks like a larger black midge than the leafhopper, reaching 3-4 mm in length. Adults also drink plant juice, preferring the tender tissue of the apical shoots, so they can damage the growing point of tomatoes. But the greatest damage to tomatoes is caused by the insect larva. Midges lay transparent white eggs in the ground, from which white worms from 3 to 8 mm in length with a black head emerge. In this phase, insects constantly live in the soil, feeding on plant roots, after which they pupate.
The tomato mosquito is less dangerous for tomatoes than the winged aphid; it poses the greatest threat to young plants with an undeveloped root system. Minor damage to the roots is unlikely to have a significant effect on the condition of adult tomatoes. But pests should not be ignored - a large accumulation of larvae in the soil can lead to slow growth of bushes, absence or weak formation of ovaries. In addition, the tomato mosquito is a carrier of bacteria.
On a note!
The presence of a large number of ants near the tomato plantings speaks in favor of aphid damage.
Types of insect control
It is important to note that not all control methods are effective at all stages of insect development. The plaque that forms on the leaves as a result of the vital activity of midges is a barrier against chemical and biological agents. Therefore, to quickly destroy pests, you need to use an integrated approach.
Chemical control methods
Manufacturers annually produce a large number of drugs against pests. Before purchasing the product, you need to study the instructions in order to properly treat the plant. Some drugs only need to be sprayed once, others need to be used regularly.
It is important to choose a drug suitable for a certain stage of insect development. So, moth repellents will not help get rid of larvae and pupae. Spraying is ineffective in controlling adults; they can fly from plant to plant.
Types of chemicals against whiteflies:
Important! Systemic drugs should not be used during the harvest period. The last treatment should be no later than 25-30 days before harvesting the fruits.
The most effective drugs against white midges are:
Processing rules
So:
Important! Do not immediately use strong chemicals; toxic compounds can accumulate in the soil and poison the plants.
Biological drugs
The essence of biological agents is the use of living microorganisms that can resist the action of pests. In the case of whiteflies, manufacturers produce preparations with insects that can eat white midge larvae.
A cardboard with a biological product is hung on tomato bushes. After some time, microorganisms begin to spread throughout the plant, destroying whitefly larvae and pupae.
Fitoverm is considered the most effective biological preparation; after its use, you can harvest within two days. The product contains compounds that quickly decompose in the soil; they do not harm the plant.
Traditional proven methods
Experienced summer residents note that folk remedies can effectively combat pests without developing resistance in them.
These methods include:
Fumigation of greenhouses
The procedure should be carried out twice a year - before planting seedlings and after harvesting. Before fumigation, you need to close the windows and doors, and also plug all the cracks.
Sulfur candles can be used for fumigation, but they are only suitable if the room is located away from residential buildings. Before carrying out the procedure, you need to remove all tomatoes from the greenhouse.
The smoke control method can be carried out using tobacco. You need to put a sheet of iron on the ground, on top of which you place newspaper, wood chips and tobacco. Before the procedure, you need to lubricate the glass of the greenhouse with Vaseline. After the fire is lit, the disturbed insects will rush to the windows and stick to them.
What herbs will save tomatoes?
By sowing the right herbs in an area with tomato beds, you can forget about pests forever. These herbs include dill - it attracts insects that feed on midges. It can be planted between the beds.
Mechanical methods
The fight against whiteflies in a greenhouse is also carried out using light and natural enemies of midges. You can also catch adults using a vacuum cleaner.
Whiteflies, like other moths, are attracted to light. One person enters the greenhouse and begins to shake the bushes, while the other stands at the exit and holds a blowtorch in his hands. This procedure can be carried out every 2-3 days.
During the day, you can spread pieces of foil between the beds. The sun's rays will reflect off the foil and fall on the lower leaves of the tomatoes where the insects live.
The enemies of white midges are ladybugs and lacewings. If you attract these insects to the area, you can quickly eliminate the problem. You can also populate the greenhouse with pupae of the encarsia wasp and the macrolophus bug.
