2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The spider mite is the most unpleasant problem for gardeners. It is found literally everywhere, attacks greenhouses with special zeal, and the complete death of vegetation becomes a consequence of the very violent vital activity of this parasite. Spider mites cause great harm to peppers, melons, cucumbers, eggplants and other crops. And the fight against him is a rather difficult task
What a pest looks like
A distinctive feature of this insect, belonging to the class of arachnids, is the absence of antennae and wings. Spider mites also have four pairs of legs. Females are usually larger than males (about 0.5 mm, while males are 0.4 mm), greenish-yellow in color. There is one more difference - males are characterized by an elongated body. This species of mites has rather peculiar hemispherical larvae. They reach about 0.2 mm in length, and, unlike adult insects, instead of four pairs of legs, they have only three. The eggs of these arachnids are transparent, have a yellowish-green tint and are spherical in shape.
How to determine if a spider mite is present
A spider mite can get into greenhouses in different ways - it can be brought along with seedlings, often it also penetrates into greenhouses on animals or on people's clothes. It is, alas, impossible to completely avoid these insects from entering greenhouses. Moreover, even cold winters are perfectly tolerated by adult females.
The appearance of such parasites on vegetation is easy to identify by visual inspection. Along the main veins of the leaves at the very beginning of infection, it is easy to see light dots similar to pin pricks. Further, such points first turn yellow, and then, a little later, completely discolor, after which the entire leaf is drawn in by a cobweb, which serves as a platform for the movement of pests. If the plants are badly damaged, they often die. At first, settling on vegetation, mites damage all its leaves, gradually moving to the upper part, where they destroy not only the blossoming leaves, but also the fruits.
The appearance of a spider mite is most important to identify at the initial stage. It is very easy to do this at the end of winter, when the females begin to spread over the entire area of the greenhouses. Since after winter the females of these pests do not have time to change their color, they are perfectly visible on the backs of the leaves. It is enough just to regularly inspect all the vegetation in the greenhouses with special attention.
How to deal with the parasite
If the spider mite has not yet appeared, then for preventive purposes, planting cucumbers or pumpkin crops often alternates with tomato crops - it has been established that this parasite reproduces extremely poorly on tomatoes. It is equally important to periodically eliminate all kinds of weeds - if the pests hibernated in the open field, then they will begin their reproduction just on these weeds.
Old vegetation from greenhouses can be removed in autumn in order to reduce the number of hibernating mites. And if, at the end of the last harvest, the plants are treated with acaricides - such a measure will help in preventing further dispersal of these arachnid pests.
Eliminating vegetation residues, as well as regularly digging the soil, is another good and effective preventive method. Periodically, the structural elements of greenhouses should also be disinfected - for this they are fumigated with sulfur or all elements are sprayed with bleach.
It helps a lot, including when growing cucumbers, the creation and subsequent maintenance of a high humidity level (about 85%) - the fact is that this insect does not tolerate a humidity level above 60%. At the same time, they also make sure that the humidity level is quite high around the transom. For preventive purposes, the plants should be regularly inspected and, if damaged leaves are found, such leaves should be collected and then burned. Along with these measures, various special biological products are also used.
Fitoseiulus - this is the name of the predator mite - is also recognized as a good means of fighting spider mites. Phytoseiulus is required to be placed near damaged vegetation in a ratio of 1:20 or 1:50.
If all of the above measures do not give the desired effect, then it is worth trying to use heavy chemical compounds. In this case, it is extremely important not to forget that spider mites develop resistance to the same agent over time. Due to this characteristic, acaricides with different levels of toxicity should be periodically alternated.
"Plant-Pin", "Etisso", "Aktellik", "Fitoverm" are considered good chemical agents for the control of these pests.
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