Harmful insects do not cause much damage to healthy cherries, so it is especially important to care for the garden and each tree individually. Only in this case can excellent results and high yields be achieved.
All gardeners, without exception, appreciate and love fruit trees such as cherries and sweet cherries. But in order for the attractiveness of stone fruit crops to remain for many years, and for the trees to bear fruit abundantly, they should be protected from pests. Unfortunately, the list of people who want to eat cherries is quite extensive, but we will focus on the most dangerous pests, the damage from which is usually maximum.
Cherry shoot moth (Argyrestia pruniella)
This small insect cannot be detected immediately in the garden, since its dimensions do not exceed 5 mm, with a wingspan of 12 mm. Successfully overwintered caterpillars bite into the buds that are beginning to bloom, causing their death or the appearance of underdeveloped and ugly leaves. Subsequently, the caterpillars move to the blossoming shoots and eat away the stamens and pistils. At the site of the ovary, a lump of cobwebs with small dry excrement remains.
The first caterpillars (they are yellowish-green with a brown head) can be found in early spring. During the period of growth and development, one caterpillar can damage 5-7 buds. At the end of June - beginning of July, butterflies emerge from the pupae, whose flight continues until the end of summer. During the day they hide on the underside of leaves, less often on trunks and branches. Towards the beginning of September, butterflies lay eggs (up to 30 pieces) on or near the buds of trees.
Measures to combat cherry shoot moth:
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Precautions when working with Iskra series drugs
As when spraying plants with any other insecticide, when using Iskra you need to protect your face and hands from small drops of the drug. To do this, they usually wear a mask, gloves, and special clothing, which should be thoroughly cleaned and washed after use. Plant treatments should be carried out in the early morning or evening, when the sun is inactive, in dry, rainless weather and in the absence of strong gusts of wind.
If you don’t feel the makings of a professional chemist who knows the properties of poisons, or an entomologist familiar with the habits of insects, it doesn’t matter. To defeat the army of pests, choose simple, easy-to-use and safe preparations that will reliably protect your garden and vegetable garden, from the formation of ovaries in the spring until the moment of harvesting fruits in the summer and autumn.
Cherry fly (Rhagoletis cerasi
This southern “guest” is gradually expanding its habitat and can now increasingly be found in the gardens of the northern regions. At high ambient temperatures, cherry fly larvae can damage up to 90% of the cherry crop and up to 40% of cherries.
White mobile cherry fly larvae have been seen by everyone who has ever bitten off half of a damaged berry. It is they who cause the greatest harm to sweet cherries. For future offspring, females choose the healthiest berries, avoiding rotten and underdeveloped ones. One female can spoil up to 150 berries. The larvae overwinter in the ground, and by spring they turn into adults.
Measures to combat the cherry fly:1. Choose early varieties of cherries and sweet cherries for planting. Harvest the entire crop quickly and simultaneously as soon as the fruits are ripe. Burn all fallen fruits or bury them in the soil to a depth of 0.5 m - this will prevent the fly from overwintering peacefully. 2. If you see single instances of flies, use adhesive tape traps. 3. As soon as the cherries bloom, take a bait liquid (beer, kvass, compote, honey water, etc.). Add it to jars or plastic bottles with the neck cut off and hang them on trees (2-3 jars are enough for one tree). The mixture will begin to ferment and attract flies, which will become trapped and bogged down in the liquid. 4. In case of mass infestation of cherry flies, spray with Karate, Iskra, Molniya insecticides according to the instructions. Carry out the first treatment at an air temperature of at least 18°C, when the flies are just starting to fly. The second - after 10-15 days, but at least 14-18 days before harvest. |
Preventive measures
Cherry pests and fighting them can take a lot of strength and energy. It is easier to prevent a problem than to deal with its consequences.
Preventive measures should be used not only against pests, but also against all kinds of tree diseases. The most effective methods of prevention are pruning affected branches, leaves and fruits. The cut parts of the cherries must be burned.
It is regularly necessary to loosen the soil in the root hole. Every year, at the beginning of spring, the cherry trunk must be treated with slaked lime. It is recommended to constantly fertilize the soil with mineral and organic fertilizers.
Cherry is considered a capricious agricultural crop, but, nevertheless, it is widespread in Russia. With the right tree protection techniques, you can reap a rich and high-quality harvest.
How to properly prune a grafted cherry tree
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Cherry piper (Rhynchites auratus)
The cherry weevil, or cherry weevil, is a very small bug, the length of which does not exceed 8 mm. Harm is caused by both adults and larvae. The larvae eat the seeds, reducing the weight of the fruit by 30-50%. The fruits lose their beneficial properties, and the total yield loss reaches 40%. The beetles gnaw holes in the buds, eating away the pistil, stamens, and leaves, which leads to deformation of the fruit and its death.
Adult beetles can be distinguished by the golden-green with a crimson tint of the elytra. The larvae of the tubeworm reach a length of 8-9 mm, they are light yellow with a brown head, curved in the middle. Females gnaw round holes in the pericarp and lay eggs there, clogging the bottom with a cork-like composition. During the season, one female lays up to 100-150 eggs. Completion of larval development coincides with fruit ripening. Having had enough of them, insects fall from the trees and burrow into the ground. Before the onset of cold weather, approximately half of them will have time to pupate and turn into beetles, and the second half will overwinter in the larval state. Both beetles and larvae hide at a depth of 10-15 cm. In any case, next year the gardener will face a “double blow”: a massive emergence of overwintered weevils.)
Measures to combat the cherry tubeworm:
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Spark Double effect – total protection against pests!
The universal tablet against insect pests Iskra Double Effect has been a confident leader in sales since 2001 and successfully protects plants from more than 60 types of pests. What properties of the drug have maintained high demand for it for almost 20 years:
- Versatility and speed of action, which allows the Iskra tablet to be used as an “ambulance” remedy.
- The effect is enhanced by the addition of a second active component - potassium supplementation, which allows the plant to accelerate the recovery of the damaged part. Today Iskra is the only double-action insecticide!
- Low cost of treatment combined with high efficiency, especially against weevils and aphids.
- Easily dissolves in water. The drug has been awarded many gold medals and diplomas at Russian and international exhibitions.
Winter moth (Operophtera brumata
When the season is over and the harvest is harvested, a very dangerous and insidious enemy flies to the plots - the winter moth. Owners of dachas located near forests or other tree plantations should be especially wary of it. If in September-October you notice nondescript light brown or beige moths, know that it is too early to leave the area.
The wingspan of an adult moth does not exceed 25 mm. The front wings are gray-brown with dark wavy transverse lines, the hind wings are slightly lighter. Caterpillars are up to 28-30 mm long, yellow-green, with a longitudinal brown stripe on the back and a yellow-brown head. They appear approximately 10-14 days before flowering and feed on leaves and other parts of the plant. Caterpillars gnaw out buds, flowers and ovaries, entwining them with cobwebs. A month later, the insects descend into the ground and pupate, remaining in this state until autumn. In September-October, butterflies emerge from the pupae, for which a temperature of 5-11°C is considered favorable. They are not afraid of even night frosts down to –15°C! Adult females lay eggs near the buds, in cracks or folds of the bark, and can lay up to 300 eggs in the fall.)
Measures to combat winter moth:
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Cherry pest control and preventative measures
No matter how fast-acting and effective modern means of insect control are, treating cherries against pests will not give the desired result if there is no competent prevention.
Throughout the season, fallen leaves are regularly collected and destroyed. The same is done with mummified, unripe fruits.
Cherry pest control, as in the photo, should involve irrigating the plants with chemicals. But this is far from the main stage. The main work is carried out in the fall and includes:
- pruning diseased, dry and damaged branches;
- sections, as well as cracks in the bark and damaged areas with gum formation are treated with garden varnish;
- fallen leaves, branches and remaining fruits are carefully picked and burned;
- the soil under the trees is loosened and carefully dug up;
- with the onset of the first cold weather, the garden is sprayed with a 5% urea solution.
In the spring, the condition of the trees is checked again and comprehensive treatment is carried out against insects and diseases of fruit crops. Most often, systemic means that are effective against a whole range of hazards are used for this purpose. It is important to irrigate not only the trees themselves, but also the soil underneath them. Repeated spraying is necessary after flowering. Another treatment can be done in the summer.
Black cherry aphid (Myzus cerasi)
Cherry aphids (which also damage cherries) can completely destroy a tree. The colony settles on the underside of the leaves and begins to actively eat them. Damaged leaves wrinkle in a spiral and transverse direction, turn black and dry out. In search of food, aphids can spoil fruits, and in young orchards they also damage shoots, which leads to their freezing.
The size of individuals does not exceed 2.5 mm, and they can be distinguished by their coal-black color. The eggs overwinter at the base of the buds, and larvae emerge from them in April. Two weeks later, at the beginning of flowering, females grow from the larvae, which can hatch another 100-150 eggs over the next month and a half. Thus, one colony can give birth to another 10-12 “settlements”. It is not easy to completely get rid of these “garden occupiers”; a colony of aphids forms a very powerful (and, importantly, voracious) community, with its own hierarchy, change of generations and roles.)
Measures to combat black cherry aphids:1. Attract ladybugs - natural enemies of aphids - to the garden. 2. Spray the leaves with a soap solution (0.5 pieces of finely grated laundry soap per 10 liters of water) or ash infusion (500 g of ash, pour 5 liters of water and let it brew for 3 days. Then add water to 10 liters and spray). 3. Garden ants are often “carriers” of aphids. Destroy them with boiling water (pour it directly into the anthill). 4. Spray the trees with infusions of various herbs (for example, dandelion, marigold, horseradish, yarrow, tobacco) or potato tops. Pour 1 kg of leaf mass into 10 liters of hot water and let it brew for 2 days. Apply the treatment 2-3 times per season along the bottom of the leaves. 5. In especially serious cases, use the drugs Iskra, Komandor, Fitoverm. Carry out all treatments in calm weather 1-1.5 months before harvest. |
Only regular inspection and observation of fruit trees and their inhabitants will help you protect yourself from pests. It is especially important to carry out spring and autumn earthworks in a timely manner.
Cherry diseases
Cherry diseases can affect the bark or fruit. A seemingly small spot can lead to sad consequences in the form of loss of culture. Therefore, you should know not only what the “enemy” looks like, but also how to fight it. This is how the following types of disease are distinguished:
- fungal - the most common. They can be identified by the death of the trunk, foliage, fruits, and spots appearing. The fungus is carried by wind and even the use of dirty tools;
- bacterial - petioles become infected from insects, wind and undisinfected equipment;
- viral - can be transferred from one site to another. These diseases are the most severe, because no control measures will help cure the tree. Therefore, in order to save all garden crops, you will have to get rid of it;
- non-infectious - the plant begins to hurt as a result of improper care, pruning, etc.
Taking into account these characteristics of the diseases, it will be possible to choose the right treatment method and save the cherries.
Features of treating plants against caterpillars
When exterminating pests, it is important to follow certain rules:
- Adhere to processing deadlines.
- Do not get carried away with chemicals - you should use toxic compounds as a last resort, without exceeding the dosage.
- It is necessary to poison insects in dry, windless weather in the morning or evening hours.
- Wear protective equipment when using chemicals.
- Follow the rules of hygiene - after treatment you need to wash and change clothes.
- Destroy any remaining funds rather than storing them until next use.
- Do not harvest within 30 days after spraying.
How to understand that caterpillars have appeared?
Although nature has taught caterpillars to be excellent at camouflage, detecting these pests is not difficult. If holes, whitish spots, cobwebs appear on the leaves of plants, and vegetables and fruits are covered with holes, this indicates the presence of pests. The attack of caterpillars on a summer cottage also manifests itself in early yellowing and falling of leaves.
On vegetable crops
The appearance of caterpillars on vegetables can leave farmers without a harvest, so you need to regularly check the beds and get rid of harmful insects in a timely manner. The fact that caterpillars have appeared on vegetables can be judged by the following signs:
- If small white dots are found on the inside of the tomato tops, and round holes are found on the fruits, it means that whiteflies or cutworm larvae are at work.
- If cuts and traces of excrement are visible on the cabbage leaf, it means that white cabbage larvae have infested the cabbage heads.
- Caterpillars on beets can be detected by nibbled tops. It is important to notice larvae feeding on the greens of root crops at the very beginning of their growth, since due to insufficiently developed spoiled leaves, the fruit develops poorly and the yield decreases.
On trees and bushes
Trees and bushes suffer from the effects of caterpillars no less than vegetable crops. The fact that plants are infested with larvae can be judged by cobwebs on the branches, rotten fruits, and spoiled leaves that begin to curl under the influence of insects.
Web
The presence of cobwebs on the trees indicates that hawthorn or gypsy moth caterpillars have settled here. If such a sign is detected, it is necessary to take immediate action, otherwise you may lose the harvest.
Larvae under the bark
The most difficult thing to detect is the caterpillars that have settled under the bark. These pests gnaw out multi-membered passages in the tree where they hide. As a result of such exposure, the plant becomes dry and eventually dies.
In the buds of apple trees
Significant damage to the harvest of fruit-bearing trees and bushes is caused by butterfly larvae deposited in the buds. Insects eat away the ovaries of future fruits, causing the plants to stop bearing fruit. It is not difficult to notice the caterpillars that have settled in the buds; just carefully examine the flowers, which the larvae of hawthorn, leaf rollers and codling moths like to eat.
