What is a spider mite and what are the means to combat it?

Carefully inspecting your plants, you suddenly find that the leaves have lost a saturated green tint and a thin web has gathered on the tips of the branches. Now the count goes on the clock - plants are affected by a spider mite.

Spider mite is one of the most dangerous pests for garden and indoor plants. Firstly, it is rapidly hitting new trees and shrubs. Even a light breeze carries a microscopic insect from plant to plant. Secondly, lightning-fast propagation and the creation of a web can completely deprive you of the crop, and in especially neglected cases, it can lead to the death of the plant.

What is a pest of indoor plants?

This is a microscopic arachnid, whose dimensions are 0.3 - 0.5 mm.

Features of the spider mite:

• Small sizes practically do not allow to detect a spider mite with the naked eye.
• The color of the insect is green or brown.
• Incredible vitality: when adverse conditions occur, the tick falls into hibernation, but does not die. When conditions change, he again activates his destructive activity.
• Optimal conditions: temperature 20-30 degrees, humidity up to 55%.

When preventing and combating spider mites, the features of its life cycle in Central Russia should be taken into account:

• Firstly, the most active stage of development and reproduction of the spider mite occurs in June. Already at the beginning of the month, as soon as warm weather sets in, the spider mite actively begins to switch from plant to plant and create its own cocoons.
• Secondly, by mid-August, ticks hibernate, become slit in the crevices of the cortex, dig into the soil, their life processes slow down, which means that the effectiveness of insecticides against them decreases.
• Thirdly, the life of egg laying lasts up to 5 years. This feature should be taken into account during preventative treatments of the garden. If in one year your trees were hit by a spider mite, repeated treatments are needed for several more seasons to prevent the development of insects from previously laid eggs.

How to process flowers - preparations

Let us dwell on the new, but well-proven systemic drugs Actellik, Aktara, Neoron, Fitoverm.

Actellik

Cost: from 17 rubles.

Hazard Class: high, respiratory protection with a gauze bandage is required, to exclude the presence of people and animals in the treated room.

Packing: ampoules, granules.

Mode of application: Dissolve 2 ml of the drug in 2 liters of water, and with strong infection with a spider mite - in 0.7 liters of water, treat the outer and inner surfaces of the leaves at an air temperature of at least 25 degrees. The remaining solution cannot be stored.

Fitoverm

Cost: from 9 rubles.

Hazard Class: low.

Packing: ampoules, 4 ml packaging.

Mode of application: It is recommended to use in the evening twilight due to the rapid decomposition of the components of the drug under UV radiation. Application temperature 18-30 degrees. For spraying, prepare a solution of 1 ml of the drug per 1 liter of water, work with a spray bottle, gloves. It is forbidden to use simultaneously with chemical pesticides and in an alkaline environment.

Neoron

Cost: from 120 rubles.

Hazard Class: average.

Packing: ampoules, packaging of 12.5 ml.

Mode of application: 2 ml of Neoron is dissolved with 1 liter of water and the leaves, branches and trunks of plants are thoroughly sprayed, the soil under the plants and in the greenhouse is also treated. Efficiency - 1 month.

Aktara

Cost: from 30 rubles.

Hazard Class: average.

Packing: ampoules, granules.

Mode of application: for spraying and root dressing. The drug is absorbed by the plant and acts on the spider mite through the juice. Dissolve the drug at the rate of 1 g per 1 liter of water. It should be used at an air temperature of 12-25 degrees. Efficiency - 10-28 days.

Flea or bug bugs

By themselves, these funds are not effective against spider mites. However, they are used to increase the viscosity of the solution and its resistance to precipitation.

Acaricides

Acaricides are special formulations designed specifically for tick control. The following items are currently on the market:

• sunmight;
• flumayt;
• floromayt;
• Apollo
• Oberon
• fufanon;
• nissoran;
• demitan and others.

"Anticlesch"

Anti-tick is one of the highly effective and inexpensive anti-spider mites. It is based on proven karbofos. It has a rather high level of danger - the third: you can work only with a glove and a mask, do not let animals and agricultural birds into the treated area. Lethal for pollinating insects.

The advantages of Antiklesche is the possibility of its use in hot weather, outdoors and in greenhouses, as well as a very short period of start of action on the spider mite (several hours). Instructions for use are on each package, it is necessary to strictly observe the proportions.

Folk methods: description, instruction

For those, who do not accept chemical plant protection products, we can recommend folk remedies for combating spider mites: soap, ammonia, garlic and onions.

Ammonia solution

Prepared in proportion: 30 ml of alcohol per 10 liters of water. With this solution, it is necessary to process both the plants themselves and the earth, as well as the elements of the greenhouse, if the tick has settled in it. Processing of the plant should be carried out on both sides of the leaf by careful spraying. A spray gun is best.

For prevention, ammonia can be placed periodically among landings in an open container. Caustic fumes of this substance are detrimental to the spider mite, and during the initial defeat they can very effectively cope with insects.

Soap solution

It is prepared from household or sulfur-tar soap. It is recommended to grate soap 200 g and soak in a 10 liter bucket of water until dissolved. Then the solution is mixed and plants are sprayed with it. Care should be taken so that the solution minimally gets to the roots - it can lead to the death of plants.

If a few plants are affected, or a spider mite has wound up in your home, then the option of soaping a rag or sponge and rubbing the leaves on both sides with this rag is possible.

Often used combined soap-ammonia solution.

Garlic

1. An economical version of the infusion will require 30 g of chopped garlic and a bucket of hot water. After the mixture is infused for a day, it can be sprayed with plants.
2. Another option will require 500 g of garlic and 3 liters of water. The mixture should be infused for 5-6 days, filtered and diluted in a proportion of 60 g of infusion in a bucket of water.

All sprayings with garlic infusion are carried out strictly in the evening, to avoid leaf burns.

Onion

Similar to garlic, an infusion onion peel works.

To receive it you need 200 g of husk to insist for 12 hours in a bucket of water.

After filtering the solution, the plants are also sprayed.

Other infusions

In addition to the 4 described above folk remedies against spider mites, it is quite effective to use infusions of herbs such as:

• dandelion;
• yarrow;
• wormwood and horseradish;
• as well as infusion based on potato tops.

About why a spider mite appears on indoor flowers and plants in the open ground and how to deal with it, read here.

Prevention

Preventive measures to combat the spider mite are to comply with crop rotation, thoroughly harvest and burn last year's tops and leaves, regularly digging and loosening the soil. However, in the hot years, all these measures may not be enough to prevent the tick from landing.

Spider mite is not an unsolvable problem in modern areas. The correct selection of preventive measures and the instant treatment of infected plants will allow you to fully control the situation, not to lose crops and not to destroy plants.

Watch the video: How to Naturally Get Rid of Aphids, White Flies, and Spider Mites (November 2024).