Tree Peony. Pests

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The pest complex on tree-like peonies has a small number. It is necessary to pay attention to your favorites throughout the season in order not to miss the invasion of "competitors" on the plantation. Quick response, preventive measures will help to save our plants in time from the raids of insidious enemies

Pest types

The following varieties are often found on peonies:

• sod ant;

• ordinary bronze;

• root knot nematode.

Each species causes certain harm to peony bushes. Let's consider in more detail the methods of dealing with them.

Turf ant

Ants use the sweetish liquid secreted by the buds as food. They can eat away the petals of inflorescences. They are distinguished by an elongated yellow-red body, 5-7 mm long.

They live in earthen nests. A mound is visible on the surface of the soil. They actively use stone shelters for breeding. One family consists of several tens of thousands of workers serving 1 queen.

The underground part of the anthill goes to a depth of 1.5 meters, complicating the fight against them. The main goal of the gardener: to destroy the "queen", which rarely appears on the surface. With the complete removal of the above-ground "attendants", the number quickly recovers at the expense of the uterus and young individuals inside the "house".

Control measures:

1. Natural repellents, according to scientists, are: tansy, mint, anise, wormwood, parsley, bay leaves, tomatoes, mustard. Dried or fresh grass is laid out near anthills to scare away.

2. Treatment of the site with slaked lime, ash, ground red pepper, vegetable oil with the addition of crushed garlic.

3. Using baits with intestinal poison (boric acid, borax). Hot syrup is prepared from honey or sugar, adding a poisonous substance. The liquid is poured into saucers, leaving them near the nests. To avoid poisoning other animals, cover the top with plywood, leaving a small gap for the ants. After 2-3 days, the solution is replaced with a fresh one.

4. With a large number of colonies, chemical preparations are used: Thunder, Anteater, Muravyin. Dig the nest, pour the solution, cover it with earth from above.

5. Treatment with liquid urea dressing. They introduce liquid into the anthill.

Ordinary bronze

A beetle with rigid wings, a golden-green color of the entire oblong-oval body with a metallic sheen up to 2.3 cm in size. On the paws there are oblong stripes, wrinkles, dots, teeth. From the side of the abdomen, copper-red with a greenish tint.

The white curved larva has 3 pairs of legs in the thoracic region, up to 6 cm long. During its life, it molts twice, passing through 3 instars. Pupates in the substrate.

Loves sunny, warm weather. On cloudy days it sits on inflorescences. When it gets colder, it hides under leaves on the ground at night. The period of active life of beetles is from May to mid-September in the Middle Lane. It feeds on petals, pistils, inflorescence stamens, young shoots, leaves, nibbling them.

Winters in the ground. In spring, beetles mate, the female lays eggs in fertile (humus, rotted manure) soil. The larvae feed on plant debris in the soil without harming the peonies. Pupate in autumn. It gives one generation per season.

Control measures:

1. Collection, destruction of adults during the summer.

2. Use of natural entomophages: birds (jays, magpies, starlings, jackdaws, rooks), takhin flies, steppe scolia.

3. Processing broths of tansy, dandelion, wormwood, marigolds. The smell scares away beetles, disorients the pest.

Gall nematode

A worm-like pest no more than 1.5 mm in length, visible only through a microscope. They feed on the roots, piercing the tissues, injecting their secretions into the cells. The injection sites increase in size, forming nodular swellings (galls) of an irregular or rounded shape up to 0.5 cm in diameter. The growths retard the movement of nutrients. The roots rot, the stems grow weakened, short.

Inside the galla, the female lays up to 2000 eggs. The hatching larvae crawl into the soil, affecting other roots. The development cycle of one generation is 3-6 weeks. The favorable temperature for development is 20-30 degrees.

Control measures:

1. Planting healthy material. Careful inspection of the purchased plants.

2. Removal of infected bushes with roots from the site, followed by burning. Filling the remaining holes with 1% formalin solution, burying with soil. Planting in infected areas of phytoncidal crops: dill, marigolds, onions, marigolds, garlic.

3. Treatment of the soil with drugs: vidata, oxamil or 40% carbation. Chemicals are applied to a depth of 15 cm, followed by dropping it in with earth.

Timely pest control protects tree peonies from mass destruction, preserves the decorative effect of the bushes. Healthy planting material is the key to successful cultivation of beautiful flowers in private plots.