There are more than a thousand species of ticks, and each one poses serious problems for human health and living organisms. Plants also belong to this category, and special types of pests settle on them.
Such a guest as a spider mite can also be found on currants. Therefore, it is worth understanding how to fight insects without hassle and quickly. There are many options and recipes, chemicals and biological methods. It is worth deciding on those that will bring effect.
Causes and factors contributing to the appearance of parasites
The key reasons for spider mite attacks include the following:
- Dry air amid high temperatures. This weather is considered the most favorable for the active reproduction of harmful insects. However, ticks can live for some time in low temperatures.
- Deficiency of nutrients in the soil. Weakened plants become more vulnerable to mites.
- Infection from other crops in the garden. Therefore, experienced gardeners advise immediately localizing the affected areas and immediately starting to destroy pests in order to stop their reproduction.
- Dustiness of plants. Ticks love this environment. To avoid their active reproduction, currants should be irrigated periodically.
If the causes of problems are not addressed, pest control products will only provide temporary results. The female is capable of laying 200 eggs per day. Therefore, treatment of currants should be comprehensive.
Description of the pest
The male spider mite reaches a length of 0.5 mm, and the female is slightly larger - up to 1 mm. To look closely, you will need a magnifying glass. But traces of their negative impact are easy to see with the naked eye.
It is no coincidence that the spider mite is considered a real scourge of vegetable gardens and orchards, since some species can feed on 200 different crops at the same time. Only fertilized females remain to overwinter, waiting out the winter days under a layer of fallen leaves. With the onset of spring and general warming, females climb up the stems of plants and lay eggs on young leaves.
The eggs are translucent; there can be several hundred of them in one clutch. A week later, larvae are born from the eggs, which grow quickly, feeding on currant juices and entangling it in a web.
Signs of parasitism
Symptoms of damage to red and black currants depend on the species of parasites. Plants face attacks from spider mites and bud mites.
Kidney mite
The pest can be identified by the appearance of the buds. They enlarge and become deformed. The round buds then develop into irregularly shaped leaves. The bud mite causes the leaves to lose color and acquire a rough texture.
After some time, the affected currant shoots stop developing. Insects quickly spread throughout the plant. If measures are not taken in time, there is a risk of crop death.
Cobweb
Spider mites are easy to identify. The key symptom is the formation of a thin web, which is localized on the leaves, between the shoots, and on the berries. Pests feed on the juices of currant leaves. As a result, the affected fragments lose their shape and become covered with spots. The processes of decay begin in them.
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How to fight aphids on currants with chemicals and folk remedies
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Treatment of disease during berry ripening
After currants have set berries, treating the plant with chemicals is unacceptable. Therefore, it is better to resort to gentle measures to combat the disease. For example, spraying with water and then covering the bushes with film, placing containers with sharp-smelling liquids near the growing crop.
It is necessary to regularly inspect currant bushes and remove damaged foliage. In extreme cases, when there is a threat of loss of a significant part of the crop or death of plants, it is allowed to spray garden crops with decoctions and infusions of herbs, and biological products.
It is better to start fighting spider mites from the moment they are discovered on the foliage, without waiting for the colony to develop. Because in this case, getting rid of the parasite will be difficult. You should not neglect preventive measures to curb the proliferation of the pest.
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What threat does it pose to the plant and the crop?
If measures are not taken in time and harmful insects are not dealt with, there is a risk of complete loss of the crop. Mites provoke a decrease in yield, lead to the destruction of ovaries and damage the leaves.
If the plants are not treated immediately, the risk of infectious pathologies increases significantly. Even disease-resistant currant varieties encounter viruses. The presence of pests also increases the risk of powdery mildew.
Life cycle of development of currant bud mite
The pest lives in the kidneys. There is enough food for him here (plant juice). Parasites multiply inside. The female lays eggs (up to 100 pieces). The offspring immediately overwinters, and after emerging from the shells they begin to actively feed. In this way, the bush becomes infected in the spring. Just one bud can contain several thousand pests.
Optimal conditions for the existence of ticks
The activity of parasites increases in spring when the air temperature changes to +5°C. The rate of growth and reproduction is increasing due to more significant warming. When the temperature rises to +12°C, the parasites move to new bushes, since the previously infested ones have already been eaten away and are not suitable for food. The peak of pest activity occurs in the spring-summer period; in the fall, mites also contribute to the emergence of new generations, until November.
In addition to currants, the bud mite also affects other plants.
Table: Characteristics of ticks at different stages of development
Most drugs do not affect eggs, so it is recommended to learn more about the development of parasites. After emerging from eggs, pests are in no way protected from insectoacaricides; it is at this stage that they can actually be destroyed in one approach. You can find out when the younger generation appears from the table.
| Name of development stage | Parasite dimensions, mm | Duration of tick development period at each stage, days |
| Egg | 0,05 | 3-7 |
| Nymph (I and II phase) | 0,1-0,13 | 10-14 |
| Imago | 0,15-0,2 | – |
Means and methods for killing ticks
To get rid of ticks, you need to choose the right remedy for them. For this, folk recipes and more serious chemical compositions are used.
We use folk recipes
To eliminate ticks, you can use the following recipes:
- Garlic infusion. Take 150 grams of garlic peel and mix with a bucket of water. Leave for a day. You can also make a composition from fresh garlic. To do this, you will need to take 200 grams of fresh raw materials per 10 liters of water. Leave for 2 hours.
- Dandelion infusion. Take 0.50 kilograms of leaves and 200 grams of plant roots. Pour a bucket of warm water and leave for several hours. Strain before use.
- Mustard infusion. To prepare it, take 200 grams of powder per bucket of water. After 12 hours, it is recommended to strain the product.
Traditional recipes are recommended for use in simple cases, with a small number of pests. It is worth treating the bushes 2 times - during the formation of buds and after the end of the flowering period.
Biological enemies
Under natural conditions, parasites have enemies. These include predatory mites. The use of this method of pest control is acceptable when growing currants in a greenhouse. At the same time, it is prohibited to use acaricides, since they have an adverse effect on all ticks.
Plants for eliminating pests
There are plants that have a beneficial effect on the growth of bushes and can be used to eliminate spider mites. These include the following:
- celandine;
- calendula;
- garden dandelion;
- Datura-herb;
- sagebrush;
- yarrow.
Herbs can be used in dried form. To do this, it is recommended to place them in bags and place them near the plants. This will help repel pests.
Insecticides
These parasites are not affected by ordinary insecticides because they are not insects. When such pests appear, acaricides should be used. Insectoacaricides are also often used to control pests.
Chemical acaricides
It is recommended to use the acaricide solution before bud break. The most popular and effective remedies are Akarin, Bitoxibacillin, and Agravertin. After using the products, the pests die within a day. For 20-26 days, the foliage is covered with a special layer that repels pests.
It is recommended to process plants in dry weather without wind. Leaves should be sprayed on each side. This is done 2-3 times every 5 days. It is better to alternate medications, since pests develop resistance to chemicals.
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When and how to prune currants correctly, diagram and timing
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Biological products
To cope with ticks, you can use biological preparations. They are an excellent alternative to chemicals. Such agents include bacterial microorganisms and antagonistic fungi. Popular products include Lepidotsid, Bisolbifit, Fitoverm.
What is dangerous about the appearance of spider mites on currants?
To understand the danger of the spider pest, you need to know its life cycle, reproduction, and also what harm this causes to the berry bush.
The adult individual has a red-brown body color, but there are also representatives with a light green body
Life cycle and reproduction of the pest
The arthropod family consists of 1,270 species of mites. Pests have from 4 to 8 legs. At different stages of life there can be from 2 to 6. All types of mites cause damage to agricultural crops. They extract juice from young shoots, replacing it with secreted toxins. The most common spider pests are those with 2 spots. However, yellow and red ticks are not uncommon. Weaving a web helps the colony move around the plant.
Developing from a larva to an adult, the parasite has a certain number of legs at different stages
Important! The spider pest does not belong to the group of insects. Parasites are representatives of the arachnid class.
There are three main development cycles of the spider pest:
- The longest cycle occurs from March to April, as well as the autumn month of October. It lasts 4 weeks at air temperature + 15 oC
- The average length of the cycle occurs in May and September. It lasts 3 weeks at an air temperature of + 20 °C.
- A small cycle lasting 1 week is observed in the summer, when it is hot outside with an air temperature of + 30 ° C.
Dry and warm weather is comfortable for the spider web pest to reproduce. The number of generations can reach 15 generations. For currants, mite activity in spring and summer is destructive. In autumn, a decrease in population growth is observed. The berry bush suffers less at this time of year.
However, if ticks are not dealt with in the fall, the females hide under the bark for the winter. They are able to sit out in fallen, unharvested leaves and weeds. With the onset of spring, the females awaken and crawl along all the branches of the currant. Each of them lays up to 100 eggs measuring about 0.14 mm. They can be found on the underside of the currant leaf blade. After a week, a larva emerges from each egg, and after another three weeks it turns into an adult. Young mites begin to invade new currant bushes. When they reach fresh branches, movement stops. Spider pests dig into young shoots and begin to suck out the juice.
What harm does spider mites cause to currants?
The spider pest absorbs the juice of young shoots. However, this is not the most dangerous action. It releases toxins into the plant body. The end result displays a photo of spider mites on currants, showing what is happening to the berries and foliage. If the population size is large, the leaf blades become marbled. At first they become discolored, then acquire a brown color and gradually dry out. Stopping photosynthesis in currant leaves changes the entire physiological balance in the plant. Young immature shoots begin to dry out. The bush loses its winter hardiness. Next year the yield will decrease. The berries will become small.
Fruits affected by mites are wrinkled, small, often entangled in cobwebs
Causes and signs of infection
The primary stage of currant infection is difficult for an inexperienced person to detect. The pest itself is similarly difficult to notice due to its small size. The inspection should always start from the bottom of the bush. The first spotting appears on older leaves. It is easy to find larvae on the underside of the leaf blade. Adult ticks themselves are often present here. Their body length is approximately 0.6 mm. Females are always larger than males. An adult tick has a soft, elongated body. A bulge forms on the back, but the abdomen remains flat.
The network of cobwebs formed on the foliage should alert the gardener
Important! The most difficult to detect are the larvae, as they are transparent. Adult ticks can vary in color from green to orange or red. The color depends on which plant the spider pest extracted the juice from.
The cause of currant infection is the natural conditions themselves. Ticks are carried by wind, birds, and insects. Spider pests migrate along the web. Here, a person is to blame for the infection of currants if he did not notice the danger in time.
Agrotechnical techniques
To cope with ticks, it is necessary to use special agricultural products. Such measures are highly effective.
Description of actions for cleansing from parasites with fire
First you need to carry out sanitary pruning of the plant. To do this, use a blowtorch to burn branches at a distance of 10 centimeters. In this case, the lamp should be quickly moved from top to bottom.
This is done several times. It is important not to keep the device in one place.
Under the influence of fire, it is possible to cope with most mites and aphids. In this case, healthy buds and the plant itself will not be damaged. This method does not make it possible to completely destroy pests. However, it will significantly reduce their activity.
How to pour hot water on bushes
Pouring boiling water over currant bushes helps to cope with mite larvae even before they reproduce. The procedure also increases the plant’s immunity to powdery mildew. When carrying out the procedure, you should adhere to the following recommendations:
- in order not to harm the kidneys, you should use slightly cooled water - its temperature should be 90 degrees;
- to facilitate the procedure, the branches should be tied at the top;
- It is recommended to use a watering can for watering;
- The bushes need to be doused before the buds appear - the next treatment is carried out only after the leaves fall.
Symptoms of spider mite infestation
Tick traces are easy to find. If you are careful, you can see individual small light dots on the leaves. Over time, the number of ticks increases noticeably, and the number of points also increases. The number of affected leaves is also constantly increasing.
As a result of the action of mites, soon all currant leaves lose their green color and become marbled. The structure of the leaves is deformed, they lose their ability to photosynthesize.
In the places where the leaf petiole is attached to the stem, especially in the upper part of the plant, a very thin cobweb is found. It is precisely because of the ability to create such a web that the tick received its name.
Timing and technology for processing bushes
Many gardeners are interested in what to do in case of tick attacks. To achieve excellent results, you need to follow the recommendations of specialists.
We fight the uninvited pest before the currants begin to bloom
Natural remedies are used before flowering. Such methods are used to combat ticks that have survived the winter and their larvae.
We destroy parasites during fruiting
During the fruiting period, it is prohibited to use chemicals. It is better to use natural remedies. After harvesting, it is permissible to use stronger agents. Autumn treatment will help avoid the development of larvae on the plant.
Application of chemicals
You can use chemicals before flowering, or at least during it. During fruiting, chemicals are absorbed into the fruit, causing poisoning in humans. Treatment during fruiting is justified only if the bush is severely damaged; the berries cannot be eaten.
It is noteworthy that acaricidal agents act only on adult ticks and larvae, without harming the eggs. Therefore, the bush is treated with chemicals in several stages in order to destroy all generations of the pest.
Such drugs as Sunmite, Oberon, Nissoran and Envidor have proven themselves well. It is recommended to use the drugs alternately so that the parasite does not develop an addiction to them.
Preventing ticks in the garden
To avoid the active development of ticks, you need to take preventive measures.
Growing resistant currant varieties
Resistant varieties include the following:
- In memory of Michurin;
- Mystery;
- Minx;
- Nightingale's night;
- Sevchanka.
Sanitary pruning
In the spring, such pruning is usually not carried out. It begins immediately after the leaves fall. In this case, you need to get rid of broken, dried and weakened branches.
Preventive actions
Annual prevention will help protect currants from spider mites. This includes compliance with agricultural practices and preventive treatments. In autumn, fallen leaves in which the pest overwinters are removed from the area. The soil under the bush is dug up so that the female parasites appear on the surface. When cold weather sets in, they die.
Spring prevention includes spraying. Use the drugs Fitoverm or Bitoxibacillin. Treatment begins in early spring to destroy the pest before the larvae appear.
In spring or autumn, currants are pruned to avoid thickening of the bush. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied before flowering begins, after which they switch to phosphorus and potassium compounds. Weeds are regularly weeded in the tree trunk circle.
