Aphids on a pear: how to treat and how to fight, the best means for spraying

Pest varieties

There are a large number of aphid species in nature. The insect can be white, black, gray, brown, pink and other colors. Depending on what species the insect belongs to, it has a woolen or waxy coating.

Pear is one of the favorite trees of pests. Gall aphids inhibit the growth of leaves, further causing them to curl and fall. The red gall feeds on the sap of the resulting shoots and foliage.

Using a catch belt

The hunting belt is a simple homemade structure that is attached to the trunk of fruit trees. The principle of its action is to create an insurmountable obstacle to insect pests. You can use fabric, straw, plastic, rubber or adhesive tape as the basis for the belt. The latter option is considered the most effective, as it allows not only to protect the tree, but also to exterminate many pests.

Installation method:

A strip about 30 cm wide is formed from the selected material.
It is wrapped around a tree trunk at a height of 50 cm from the ground.
The belt is securely fastened so that it does not accidentally fall under the influence of wind or rain.

Signs of appearance

If aphids have settled in the garden, this can be understood by the following phenomena:

a sweetish sticky mixture appears on the branches, leaves and ground around the tree;
the leaves curl into a tube and dry out;
buds and young shoots are covered with a dark coating;
flowers and ovaries fall off.

Where pears are bitten by aphids, a purple tint appears. The liquid that coats leaves and branches is called honeydew. Dark coating on buds and shoots is caused by sooty fungus.

Causes

Colonies of this insect rarely appear in areas where it is cool and often rains. But if dry and hot weather sets in in some area, aphids immediately begin to multiply intensively. Very often, the reason for the appearance of these insects in the garden is the infection of neighboring areas. Since some species have wings and are able to fly over relatively short distances. But if there are many natural enemies of aphids in the vicinity, such as ladybugs and lacewings, then you should not be afraid of massive damage to plants. Read about the characteristics of the Meringue cucumber variety at this link.

In areas, the spread of these harmful insects is facilitated by ants that feed on the sweet substance secreted by aphids.

If ants begin to scurry intensively along the trunk of a pear tree, this is the first sign of the appearance of aphid colonies on the trees.

Methods for controlling aphids

Depending on the scale of the infestation, aphid control is carried out using different methods:

chemical;
biological;
folk remedies.

The group of main methods of insect control also includes prevention. The event is considered no less important. The final result depends on the correctness of a person’s approach.

Chemicals

The essence of the method is to spray the pear with insecticides. It is distinguished by its speed of action and effectiveness. When using medications, safety precautions are followed.

"Fufanon"

Refers to contact insecticides. The cost for 30 g of powder is low. Fufanon is considered the most famous and accessible drug for combating aphids.

"Aktellik"

One of the best preparations for treating pears against insects. Aphid colonies die 3 days after spraying the tree. The effectiveness of use lasts for a month. During this time, the aphids completely die or leave the garden.

"Bankol"

Refers to intestinal agents. Remains in the tree cells for a long time and retains its strength. “Bankol” is recommended to be used during the flowering of pears, so that before the harvest the chemicals leave the tree and the fruits are edible. Spraying is carried out before rain. Moisture does not wash away a significant portion of Bankol from leaves, branches and flowers. The cost is low, so it is available to every buyer.

"Aktara"

Systemic action against aphids. The result of application appears a month after spraying the tree. Remains on branches and leaves after rains. "Aktara" destroys not only aphids, but also other insects that have settled on the pear.

It is forbidden to use a product of chemical origin during the flowering of the pear, the formation of ovaries and at the moment of ripening of the fruit.

Considered an aggressive fungicide. It attacks many species of aphids.

"Biotlin"

Sold in the form of a powder intended for the preparation of a solution. 3 ml of the drug is diluted in 10 liters of water. Take from 2 to 6 liters of liquid per tree.

Traditional methods

You can get rid of aphids in another way - folk remedies. Characterized by high efficiency. Unlike chemical control methods, you will have to spend much more time to remove aphids.

Soap solution

This method was actively used by grandparents in the past. The method has not lost its relevance today. To prepare the solution, the laundry soap is grated and mixed with 10 liters of water. The resulting liquid is sprayed onto the pears.

Ash

Trees are sprayed with an ash solution, which is prepared in the same way as soap. The liquid is boiled and 30 g of soap shavings are added to it. As soon as the solution has cooled, it is used for its intended purpose.

Potato tops

A large bunch of green mass is crushed and filled with water (10 liters or a bucket). Leave to infuse for at least 4 hours. Then they filter and spray the trees. If there are no potato tops, feel free to replace them with tomato tops.

Onion infusion

250 g of unpeeled onion, cut into cubes. Place in a bucket of water and leave for a day in a dark place. After filtration, the liquid is ready for use.

Tobacco infusion

The method will be relevant in case of a massive invasion of aphids on a pear. Tobacco dust is infused for 2 days, mixed with cold water. Just before use, filter the solution and add laundry soap.

Dandelion infusion

Effective for controlling aphids if the insect has just settled on a tree. To prepare the product, take 500 g of dandelion stems and leave it in water (1 liter) for a day. After this, the liquid must be boiled. Add 3 heads of chopped garlic to the resulting broth. Boil the mixture for another 10 minutes and filter. The resulting solution is diluted with 12 liters of water and grated soap is added.

Spraying the decoction is done in the evening after sunset. Chamomile is no less effective. Therefore, if it is not possible to get dandelion, it is replaced with chamomile.

Alcohol infusion

An infusion of alcohol or vodka will help get rid of aphids. Alcohol is mixed with water in equal proportions. The trees are sprayed with the prepared liquid.

Other folk remedies

You can prepare the irrigation product at home. For this, the following components are taken:

soda or ammonia;
mustard or vinegar;
boric acid or birch tar;
celandine or green soap;
iodine, milk or Coca-Cola.

They are used separately or combine several components in equal proportions. An obligatory component is water. With its help, a solution is made that is sprayed on the tree.

Biological drugs

Aphids can be controlled with biological preparations. But they are considered to be preventive. To achieve a positive result, you will have to spend a lot of time.

"Iskra M"

After spraying, the effect of the drug lasts for 2 weeks. It is removed from tree tissue a month after spraying. The substance has the form of a highly concentrated emulsion.

Why choose this drug:

Destroys aphids and other insects.
Lasts for a long time.
Can be used simultaneously with pesticides and fertilizers.

The drug allows you not only to get rid of aphids, but also to forget about the insect in the garden for 2-3 seasons. The pears will become clean and will not be covered with black plaque and sticky excrement. It has a wide spectrum of action, therefore it is effective against most types of aphids.

"Spark Double Effect"

The drug is based on 2 active ingredients - permethrin and cypermethrin. Release form: tablets. Additional components are anti-stress additives and potassium fertilizer. The drug fights aphids and helps the tree recover from insect infestation.

For one spraying, 1 tablet is enough, which is dissolved in a glass of water. Then the amount of liquid is adjusted to 10 liters. The resulting suspension is carefully treated with pears.

"Iskra Golden"

To treat pears against pests, the drug is based on a substance obtained by artificially converting tobacco dust and nicotine. The medicine is presented in the following forms:

sticks;
powder;
liquid.

Each type of drug has detailed instructions for preparing a solution to combat aphids. The insecticide is effective even at high temperatures. The product has proven itself well in regions with warm climates.

conclusions

Aphids are a pest of garden crops. It especially often settles on pears, causing damage to the trees - the shoots do not ripen, and the fruits have an unattractive presentation. If you do not fight the pest, trees, especially young ones, may die, unable to withstand the winter. Therefore, the gardener should not allow this insect to spread on his site. Fight him using the following methods:

Chemicals. Used when there is a large spread of aphids on the site.
Trees are treated with metaphos, karbofos, kinmiks, agravertine and other preparations.
Traditional medicines. Not as effective as chemical agents, but practically harmless to humans. These can be decoctions and infusions of garlic, onion peels, potato tops, tomato and others.
Biological. Their enemies are used against aphids. For example, ladybug, lacewing. Or biological products based on plant extracts and other components that are harmless to humans. This group includes: bitoxybacillin, spark and others.

But preventative measures can prevent damage to pears by aphids: clearing weeds and loosening the tree trunk, destroying anthills, removing shoots, installing hunting belts. Find out about the features of planting a Tomato tree here.

Preventive measures to protect pears

Gardeners often try to protect trees from aphid infestations. To do this, do not neglect the rules of prevention:

In late autumn, the bark is cleaned of contaminants and treated with antiseptic preparations. The tree trunk circle is dug up, and the bark near the base is whitened.
It is useful to pour boiling water over the pear bark and the soil around the tree. A simple step can help get rid of pest eggs.
In spring, a sticky belt is hung on the tree to protect it from pests.
When the buds have not yet bloomed, the tree is sprayed with insecticides. This allows you to destroy the first insect larvae.

Prevention does not imply complex actions on the part of humans. If everything is done correctly, the gardener will not have to fight aphids during the season. This way the harvest will be preserved.

Prevention

Preventive measures against aphids should be carried out throughout the year, seasonally:

Autumn. Remove weeds and leaves under trees and do not burn them, but place them in a compost pit. Cut out root shoots on which eggs can overwinter;
Winter. View the composition of plantings and remove viburnum, chrysanthemum, and nasturtium from the garden. Colonies of aphids love to settle on these plants. Before frost, it is necessary to dig out anthills;
Spring. Whitewashing of trunks with quicklime with the addition of copper sulfate. Install trapping belts on trees. Treat the “bare wood” with nicotine sulfate or another more modern drug. When feeding plants, the nitrogen rate should be reduced. The application of ammonium nitrate leads to the growth of young vegetative mass, and young shoots will serve as tasty food for aphids;
Summer. Apply sprinkling. Water washes away aphids, their eggs, and honeydew, which attracts ants. Loosening and cleaning of weeds in the tree trunk circle.

If in the summer on the lower shoots of the pear you find leaves rolled into tubes or as if crumpled, you need to cut off the affected areas with pruning shears.

What to process?

Adding fertilizers to the soil is a very important moment for the development of the plant. It directly affects the quality and quantity of the harvest. But, you need to know exactly what fertilizers need to be applied, at what time, their quantity and, of course, the characteristics of the drug. Plants that receive the correct complex of fertilizers have an undoubted advantage over a plant that received it or did not receive it according to the rules. The only disadvantage of feeding is its excess.

If fertilizing is applied in excess, this can also have a detrimental effect on the plant.

Urea (urea)

It is good to use urea fertilizer as a mineral fertilizer. An aqueous solution of urea is applied to the soil, and a weaker solution is sprayed on the leaves.

A diluted solution will prevent possible leaf burns. For good absorption of urea, potassium sulfate or phosphorus is added as the second component. The last component accelerates the growth of young shoots.

Acidic soil will not allow the pear to fully grow and develop. Calcium deficiency in the soil reduces pear yields. Acidic soils require liming and additional application of ash as a source of phosphorus, potassium and magnesium

In spring, the application of these fertilizers is especially important.

All substances necessary for development and growth must be supplied in ratios that are optimal and well absorbed. The composition of the fertilizer is simply scattered on the space near the trunk and spilled with water.

Bordeaux mixture

Treatment with Bordeaux mixture is carried out in early spring, before buds open. It consists of a solution in a certain proportion of copper sulfate and lime. Processing with a mixture is considered one of the oldest folk methods, which is still popular and effective. The drug is a strong poison for various microorganisms. Therefore, it is able to fight many diseases, including crops such as pear.

Karbofos

It is an effective drug for controlling various pests. It is mainly used for spraying plants. It is also used in processing pears. The dosage of the drug is calculated based on the area of the treated surface. The main thing in its use is that the solution must be diluted in accordance with the instructions and applied immediately after dilution. For pears, it is recommended to spray 2 times per season at a dosage of 40 g of the drug per 10 liters of water.

Fitosporin

It is used to treat and prevent plants from various diseases. The drug is effective. The peculiarity of its use is that it absolutely cannot be diluted in tap water. Bleach can kill existing bacteria. It is recommended to dissolve it in well or rain water. After dilution, it is necessary to settle the water with the drug to effectively activate bacteria, and only then treat the trees. Treatment should not be carried out in hot weather; bacteria may lose their effectiveness in hot weather. Recommended spraying is once a month.

Environmentally friendly preparations that do not harm the fruits

The following drugs are widely popular:

Aktofit,
Actarophyte,
Aktoverm,
Fitoverm,
Verticillin - M,
Bitoxibacillin – BTU – M,
Gaupsin.

These substances must be used strictly according to the instructions.

Cherry aphids are small black insects, 1–2 mm long. Their eggs overwinter under the bark of cherries, and in the spring they hatch into small bugs that attack young parts of the tree.

Adult pests overwinter in the grass under the trees, and when it gets warmer and the cherries begin to grow, they rise to the juiciest young shoots.

They suck juices from young leaves and green shoots of the current year, which disrupts photosynthesis and metabolism. The leaves curl into a tight round bundle, the shoot stops growing, and the aphids move to the fresh green parts of the tree.

Aphids never live alone - there are always ants next to them. Ants feed on the sweet, sticky secretion produced by aphids. In addition, ants carry aphids to other plants.

The fight against these pests is carried out comprehensively: they are treated against aphids and anthills are destroyed.

Description and harm caused

This sucking insect reaches a length of no more than 5 mm. Since its body is transparent with a greenish tint (red, black and brown colors are also found), it is not so easy to notice this parasite on the plant. And this needs to be done as early as possible, before a whole colony of sucking pests forms on the shoots and leaves of the tree. On average, one female can lay up to 50-60 eggs, so a few insects you may not notice can quickly become a huge problem. In addition, the larvae develop rapidly: as soon as they are about 15–20 days old, they themselves can begin to lay eggs.

Fighting aphids on a pear tree is not an easy task even for an experienced gardener. The thing is that if you don’t notice the threat in time, then it will be even more difficult for you to eliminate all the parasites. In addition, in the second half of summer they begin to migrate. Therefore, nothing will prevent them from settling on your other trees.

A pear can suffer significantly from aphids, which choose the most “juicy” parts of the plant for their food: leaves, young shoots, inflorescences and buds. The main harm that an insect can cause lies in the fact that the tree’s photosynthesis process is disrupted. Parasites actively feed on plant juices. As a result, the leaves begin to curl, but they are responsible for absorbing useful components during the process of photosynthesis.

It is also necessary to get rid of aphids because the pear tree begins to weaken; it is already much more difficult to withstand winter frosts. If no measures are taken to protect the plant in time, it may even die.

Helpers from nature: beneficial insects that destroy scab

How to deal with the invasion of green larvae in the summer? “Natural orderlies” come to the aid of gardeners, eating larvae and adult aphids:

lacewings;
syrphids (flies);
ladybugs;
red ants (enemies of earth ants).

You should think twice before using pesticides or burning last year's garbage in June. After all, at the same time you can destroy beneficial insects that can clean the garden.

Note to beginning gardeners. Lawns in the middle of the garden look beautiful, but require regular preventative treatment. They need to be mowed weekly and then sprayed with insecticides (decoction of tomato tops, etc.).

What to process?

If fertilizing is applied in excess, this can also have a detrimental effect on the plant.

Urea (urea)

It is good to use urea fertilizer as a mineral fertilizer. An aqueous solution of urea is applied to the soil, and a weaker solution is sprayed on the leaves.

In spring, the application of these fertilizers is especially important.