Peach trees can be attacked by garden pests (aphids, shchitovki, moth, weevil, etc.).
Peach pests damage leaves and shoots, slow down the development, ruin the crop and can lead to the death of the plant. To avoid this, you must:
- timely detect the occurrence of pests (each pest has its “own” handwriting by which it can be calculated);
- take appropriate action.
Pest control measures include certain agrotechnical activities (autumn and spring digging, getting rid of fallen leaves, cleaning the bark, pruning shoots, spraying lime milk, setting traps, etc.) and chemical treatment of peach from pests with special preparations (for each type of pest it is necessary to choose a specific insecticide).
Important! Toxic chemicals should be sprayed and covered with fog - the smallest splashes - the whole tree evenly. It is necessary to ensure that the solution falls on both sides of the sheet - external and internal, wetting the bark (especially cracks).
Weevils
Weevils and their larvae cause serious harm to the peach tree - gnawing young leaves, buds, damaging young buds and flower ovary (gnawing on petals, pistils and stamens), suffering fungal diseases.
The fight against the weevil includes primarily preventive measures (competent preventive actions will provide reliable protection of the garden). Prevention is as follows:
- viewing and checking the branches of garden trees, checking the seedlings (especially the ground clod);
- competent planning of areas with crops vulnerable to weevils in different parts of the garden;
- autumn and spring digging the earth around the peach, cleaning the old bark;
- spring whitewash with lime milk (1.5 kg of slaked lime per 10 liters of water) of the lower part of the stem (during the period of swelling of the kidneys);
- installation of a trap belt on the trunk (from the ground to the first branch);
- pre-spraying the buds with a water mixture of soap and mustard powder (can be replaced with wood ash);
- planting garlic-onion beds around a peach (a pungent smell deters weevil).
Did you know? Weevils are black-brown beetles in size from 7 to 12 mm with a long proboscis (because of it the insect is often called an elephant). They breed by parthenogenesis (only females live in our region). One female can lay up to 1000 eggs. Weevils hibernate in the soil, crawl out into the air in April, eggs are laid in May (in flower buds).
If prevention of pests did not help, and the weevil still wound up, most often apply the biological (natural) and chemical (insecticidal) methods.
Biological method safer for the plant and pollinating insects (bees):
- The use of natural enemies of weevils - for example, nematodes can be used from May to June. The preparation with entomonematodes in the form of a powder ("Antonem-F" or "Nemabakt") dissolves in water. Then peach roots are watered with this solution. Nematodes with water penetrate into the weevil larvae and kill pests.
- "Morning" manual collection of bugs - in the morning, when bugs are still slowed down by coolness, you can shake them from the branches on a spreading blanket or oilcloth.
- Removal of damaged buds (visible on the brown top).
If safe methods did not lead to the desired result, you need to apply more radical means - spray the buds with insecticides.
Application depends on the drug, but the first time you need to handle a week before the disclosure of flowers (drugs "Karachar", "Fitoferm", "Iskra M"), a number of drugs allow triple use - before flowering, the last phase of flowering and 10 days after flowering ("Fufanon", "Kemifos", "Novaktion", etc.).
Before use, you should carefully read the instructions. The normal flow rate is from 2 to 5 liters per tree.
Important! In order to avoid addiction of pests to an insecticide, it is not recommended to use the same one in a row, it is more expedient to use different preparations. If there are many trees, then before the first use you need to test the effect of the funds on one tree.
Pliers
Mites (red spider webs, common, etc.) feed on plant sap and can not only reduce peach yield, but also destroy the tree.
The tick on the peach is almost invisible - its size is up to 1 mm. They live on the inner surface of leaves, fruits, shoots.
A signal of their presence is the appearance of a web between the leaves, on the stems (on the spider webs, mites can be carried by the wind to other trees).
In hot summer, ticks multiply rapidly (from eggs to adults - seven days). Ticks do not like rain, coolness and dampness.
Did you know? Ticks are a family of the Arachnid-type Arthropods subclass (8 five-membered legs, two pairs of eyes, a head fused to the chest, high adaptability). In the world there are more than 50 thousand species. Small sizes (from 0.4 to 1 mm) make it difficult to timely detect the pest.
Regular preventive measures (whitewashing the trunk, trapping belts, destroying the fallen leaf, etc.) reduce the risk of tick infestation of peach, but do not guarantee 100%.
Therefore, it is necessary to systematically inspect the leaves and branches of trees. If there are signs of ticks, take action. In the not neglected case, you can offer effective popular methods of struggle (without heavy chemistry). This spraying:
- tobacco solution. The solution is prepared from a kilogram of tobacco dust (sold in garden stores) and 20 liters of water (it is better to first dilute to a uniform state in a bucket), add 50 g of soap (for better adhesion). It is necessary to spray twice with a seven-day break;
- infusion of chamomile (insist 12 hours a kilogram of chamomile in a bucket of water). It is also necessary to process twice with a week break.
If a tree has been subjected to a mass invasion of ticks, then insecticides and acaricides will come to the rescue. Spraying is carried out twice - after the appearance of the ovary and a month before harvesting (this will make it possible to destroy the larvae and adults first, and then hatched from the eggs).
The most effective means:
- colloidal sulfur (per 10 l - 80 g) - is processed during the growing season from 1 to 6 times (each subsequent treatment - every other day);
- "Phyto farm" (per liter - 15 ml) - 2 times during the growing season (the second - after two days);
- "Neoron" (10 l - 15 ml) - once in 45 days before harvest;
- "Karate" (10 liters - 5 ml) - 2 times during the growing season (the second - after 20 days).
Moths
The moths pose a serious threat to the young shoots and to the harvest (if the fight against these pests of the peach is late, then all the fruits may die). Most often, peaches fall prey to the eastern and plum moths.
Oriental moth
Harm from the eastern moth is reduced not only to damage to the fruit. Caterpillars devour young shoots, carry fungi (including ascomycete, causing moniliosis). The first signs of pests are:
- gum on young shoots, longitudinal cracks, their lethargy and dying off;
- wormhole on the surface of peaches.
Did you know? Oriental moth - Lepidoptera butterfly (15 mm in length). The female is larger than the male. The wings are gray-brown, the body is dark. The motherland of butterflies is East Asia. Butterflies fly a month in the period of peach blossom. More active in the evenings and early in the morning. Eggs (from 100 to 200) are laid on the tops of the shoots, buds (females of the first generation), sepals and peduncles (females of the second generation). One generation lives from 24 to 40 days. Up to 4 generations can pass during a season, overlapping one another. Winter is waited in the cracks on the bark, under the fallen leaves.
In the fight against the eastern coddle moth, agrotechnical, natural and chemical means are used:
- agrotechnical measures are prophylactic and health measures - in the evening, dead bark is cleaned, dead leaves are removed, padalka, damaged shoots are cut off, and in the autumn the ground around the tree is loosened. Traps are also used - glue with pheromones for males (the effectiveness of this technique is small), belts on the trunk of impregnated matter (one percent chlorophos);
- natural (biological) - with the use of Hymenoptera Trichograms (egg-eating riders who parasitize on Codworm eggs) - during laying eggs;
- chemicals are used against each generation (including after harvest). Benzophosphate is a powerful agent against the eastern pinwort (10 liters - 60 g) - sprayed three times (the interval between treatments - 15 days) after flowering. They also use "Chlorofos" (10 l - 20 g), 25% "Rovikurt" (10 l - 10 g), 10% "Karbofos" (10 l - 60 g) and others. Normal consumption is up to 10 l mixes on an adult tree and 2 l on young.
Important! During the period of flowering of peach trees, insecticide treatment is strictly prohibited. Other crops in the garden during the processing of peaches with insecticides should be covered with foil.
Plum moth
Plum moth larvae infect peach fruits: the pulp and the core of the bone are eaten away, the vessels from the stem are broken (the inflow of juices stops), the fetus begins to wither, sing prematurely and falls.
The first sign of the presence of a plum moth - the massive fall of green peaches with wormholes, as well as the appearance on the fruits and leaves of lumps of cobwebs.
Did you know? Plum moth in appearance resembles an eastern, has larger sizes (up to 2 cm). Butterflies fly at the end of May - the beginning of June. The butterfly lives from 4 to 15 days, manages to sow up to 50 eggs per fruit. Caterpillars independently gnaw a peach skin and are introduced into the fruit. For the season has time to pass two generations of moths. Caterpillars winter in dense cocoons of spiderwebs in the crevices of the bark, in the soil under the tree.
Peach protection from these pests by agrotechnical and natural means is similar to that applied to the eastern moth. With a small number of pests, it is advisable to use the Bitoxibacillin biopreparation against each generation (40-80 g per 10 l).
The use of chemicals has its own specifics:
- processing is carried out until the appearance of caterpillars (with the appearance of clumps of web) - "Intavir" (one tablet per 10 liters);
- against second generation caterpillars - Fufanon, Sumition, Novaktion (but not less than 30 days before harvest).
Moth
The garden moth and its larvae (especially the miner moth and the fruit striped moth) pose a serious threat to the buds, young shoots and peach leaves.
Mining Moth
Mining mole reduces the viability of peach, inhibits growth, reduces the yield of the plant. Signs of defeat moth - premature yellowing and fall of the leaves damaged by the larvae. On the leaves - the characteristic spots, mines (in the form of tunnels, spots, etc.).
Mining mole has dimensions of about 4 mm. The female moth lays up to 90 eggs from the back of the leaves, from which the larvae gnaw out mines in the leaf plates (the skin is not damaged). Miners overwinter in bark injuries, under fallen leaves.
In the fight against the mining moth, an important role is played by the cleaning and destruction of fallen leaves, autumn whitewashing of the trunk, digging, washing away with a stream of water during the summer of butterflies.
As a natural insecticide used tincture of red pepper (boil an hour, for 10 parts of water - 5 parts of pepper, then insist for a day). 10 l - 125 ml tincture, add 40 g of soap. Spraying is carried out twice, with a gap per week.
The use of these funds does not guarantee complete release from the pest; therefore, chemical preparations are used against peach pests (for spraying the leaves, entering into the soil, and injecting into the stem).
These are drugs that affect the development of insects ("Dimilin", "Insegar", "Match", etc.) and organophosphate and organic insecticides ("Bi-58 new", "Zolon", "Konfidor Maxi", etc.) of double application .
Fruit Striped Moth
Caterpillars of fruit moths are distinguished by gluttony (one caterpillar is capable of destroying 5-6 shoots), devouring the buds, leaves, eating the seeds of young peaches. Caterpillars winter, climbing under the bark of a tree, in its folds, crawl out during the budding period.
The first butterflies appear in June, laying eggs at dusk. Maturation period is two weeks. In late August, butterflies of the second generation appear.
Among the ways to combat pests occupy a large place agrotechnical (pruning of affected branches and shoots, cleaning fallen leaves).
During the bud formation, the peach crown can be sprayed with emulsion with industrial oil 1-20A, "Karbofos" (10 l - 30 g) or "Chlorophos" (10 l - 20 g). During egg laying, foliage can be treated with phenoxycarb-based chemicals, and the task of how to get rid of moths on peach temporarily recedes into the background.
Aphid
Aphid is a sucking type insect. With the defeat of aphids young shoots wither, dry, lose leaves, the tree begins to hurt. Signs of aphid presence:
- clusters of aphids (buds, bottom of leaves, young shoots);
- sticky liquid (pad), covering the leaves;
- the twisting of the tips of the shoots;
- the formation of buds and fruits ceases;
- a large number of ants (they are attracted by the pad).
Important! With the timely detection of aphids with her easy to handle - remove the hands, wash with soap and water, etc. If time is missed - will have to use strong pesticides.
For peaches, green, black and striped peach aphids are particularly threatened.
Green Peach Aphid
Insects of light green color, small size (1.5 mm), form colonies. Especially great damage is caused by green planting to young saplings: it pierces the leaf with a proboscis and sucks the juices (the leaves fade, twist, fall, the flowers crumble, the seedlings can dry out).
Damaged shoots freeze out in winter, mushrooms settle on the paddy, tree beetle beetles appear on weakened trees.
You need to start to destroy aphids with methods softer for a peach tree:
- agrotechnical: cutting of root shoots, weeding or mowing of vegetation, cleaning the bark, removing aphids by hand or with a strong jet of water;
- biological: the use of natural enemies aphids (ladybugs, wasps, hoverflies, etc.). Planting nettle, onions, herbs, etc. In addition, effective (in the initial stages) use decoctions and dandelion infusions (400 g leaves insist 2 hours in 10 liters of warm water), garlic (300 g minced garlic in 10 l of water to insist 20 minutes), onion peel (150 g husks per 10 liters of water, insist 5 days, add 50 g of soap) and etc.;
- chemical: spraying with pesticides. In the fall - Bordeaux liquid (2%), in spring, before or after flowering, - Bordeaux liquid (1%), a mixture of thiazole and fostyol, "Dipterex". With the advent of the fruits - "Bi-58 New", "Actofit" (8 ml per liter of water), etc. In the spring, you can kill aphids after winter with DNOC (once in two years).
Striped Peach Aphid
Striped aphid on peach sucks the juice from the bark and shoots (the bark becomes sticky), the leaves on the top shoots wrap, turn red and fall.
The name aphid received because of the 7-8 dark stripes on the yellow-green body. For winter, the eggs remain in the cracks of the bark, the larvae appear in early spring (first generation).
First they feed on the kidneys, then on the leaves. The mass appearance of striped aphids - in the second and third generation. In autumn, females lay two or three eggs and die.
Ways to combat striped peach aphids are similar to how to deal with green aphids.
Shchitovka
Shchitovka - an insect pest living on a peach. A sinus feeder sucks juices from the bark, lays eggs in it, winters also in the bark. Of the different types of flaps, mulberry and Californian shchitokis are particularly dangerous for peach.
Signs - wilting and twisting of the tips of the shoots, loose and porous bark in the habitats of the shields, shoots cease to bear fruit. A sign of Californian shchitovki serve red dots on the fruits of peaches.
Did you know? Flags reach a size of 2 to 7 mm. A waxy brown or dark gray coating provides protection against chemicals to the shield, and not every insecticide will damage it. Females - viviparous. The larvae (rooks) are actively moving until they attach with the help of a proboscis and release wax threads - the base of the scute.
The control of the shield can be done manually: by detecting the scutes, it is possible to destroy the pest (if the tree is still small).
Agrotechnical measures — thinning of crowns, destruction of infected shoots, and destruction of root shoots — are effective in fighting the shield.
A reliable, proven remedy is the treatment of a plant with tincture of tobacco (400 g of tobacco insist in 10 liters of water for a day, 2 hours to boil, add 50 g of soap and pour another 10 liters of water).
At the end of April, it is possible to combine spraying against weevils and scale insects (the same preparations).
From mid-June to mid-August, there is a massive hatching of strollers. This is the best time to use one of the insecticides (DNOC 40%, Iskra-M, Aliot, Inta-VIR, Kinmiks, Fufanon). After a week, you can repeat the procedure, but with a different drug.