Recognizing pests that eat tomato seedlings
Several decades ago, the main pests for any dacha seedlings were harmless bugs and aphids. Who now eats seedlings, for example, tomatoes? And you can't list all of them! Let's start with the most popular ones:
These pests destroy seedlings from the root, and when there is a young seed in the ground, they start from it.
The presented list of greenhouse parasites is, of course, incomplete, but in order to preserve the seedlings in the greenhouse, the most tenacious ones must be eliminated. Let's start with the bear.
About the bear
From the point of view of science, the bear is a tenacious pest that lives in the upper fertile layer of the earth. He does not disdain the roots of any horticultural crops. Outwardly, this insect is a centimeter thick, rather creepy enough.
The common bear eats both in the greenhouse and on the plot seedlings of tomato, radish, carrot.
They often ask why the common bear is the most tenacious? The answer is simple: the insect feeds on both any plant roots and earthworms, and is able to fly and swim. It's scary to think what else she can do. The main habitat is, as mentioned earlier, the upper soil cover.
The bear has the most detrimental effect on any seedlings in those latitudes where the earth does not freeze thoroughly in winter. If the soil during the winter has not frozen to groundwater, then the invasion of this pest is inevitable.
How to resist?
It is not so easy to fight any pest that eats seedlings in the country. It is necessary to decide on the ultimate goal: to get rid of pests completely or simply to protect young plants. The difference is significant, because summer cottages with a greenhouse are not on the outskirts, which means there are at least two neighbors. By destroying or scaring off any pests on your site, you will make their life in the neighborhood more active.
We come to the conclusion that the fight is pointless, but the protection of tomatoes, and other seedlings in the greenhouse, is a must.
You can also reduce the influx of unwanted insects by preventive work. It is enough to know what attracts the same bear. It is well known that this pest loves boards, rotting logs, high humidity and compost pits.
So, the bear eats seedlings in the greenhouse from year to year. It is much easier to secure the piece roots of the same tomatoes, but it is a little more difficult to process the beds with carrots, beets and arable land with potatoes.
- Root protection with plastic. It is most practical to make a barrier from 5-liter containers for drinking water. To do this, you need to cut off the top and bottom, and plant one root in the resulting cylinder. The edges of the cylinder should protrude a few centimeters. This is how we get protection without chemicals, which will 100% protect against destruction of the root system.
- Greenhouse conditions. For greenhouse tomatoes, the protection is different. The soil in the greenhouse (greenhouse) is much warmer, so the bear tends to warm to the warmer ground in cool times. Of course, you cannot completely remove it, but you can reduce the amount of the bear using a container of water. A glass jar is buried in the ground one level with the surface of the ground, the top is covered with a heavy object, leaving a small gap. At twilight, bear specimens tend to liquid, in those places where their concentration is maximum, the banks can be filled completely in a day.
- Insecticide. To protect the seedlings, "Medvetox" or a similar preparation for fighting the bear is suitable.The effect is noticeable from any means. Another folk method can be used to protect tomato seedlings in a greenhouse by spreading small egg shells into the holes. Both fertilization and pest control.
Winter scoop butterfly
In everyday life, it is confused with a moth. An adult butterfly is harmless to plants and humans, but its larvae or caterpillars are a real agricultural parasite that eats seedlings. The caterpillars of the winter moth are rather thick, large, gray or dark brown in color.
For each of the plants, there are caterpillars that match the color, which are not so easy to see from afar. The winter moth larva eats potato tops, beet leaves, onions, cereals, corn leaves and tomato seedlings.
During the day, the larvae hide from direct sunlight, but at dusk, eating already begins.
The results of the life of the larvae are very similar to the traces of the bear, because the harm is done precisely from the root. The peak of activity of growing moths is in the middle of summer. However, there are already “late” individuals specializing in winter crops.
Advice
In order not to use chemical compounds once again, experienced gardeners dig up a plot to the depth of a shovel bayonet during the period of maturation of the offspring of a winter butterfly. As a result, the brood does not have time to grow.
It is known that caterpillars parasitize all living things, including weeds. Do not disdain their flowers. To reduce the number of caterpillars, you need to periodically deprive them of food. What do you need to do for this? Mow weed areas, weed row spacings and clean roadside.
Advice
It is very easy to catch caterpillars with a container of a drink - a sweet liquid or syrup. Beer, compote, mash or kvass will do.
Khrushch, or beetle larva
Khrushchev begins to feed on humus, ends up with the root system. Moreover, there is no effective method of dealing with the beetle larva. It is more convenient to do this manually, to get rid of the pest when digging, otherwise the growing larva of the May beetle eats the roots at the stage of maturation. The presence of fresh manure will also provoke a large concentration of larvae.
Advice
It is necessary to use rotted manure (which has lain for more than 1 year), and even this composition should be checked for the presence of crustaceans.
Fungal infection
Tomatoes are also characterized by fungal diseases, which inexperienced gardeners often confuse with the manifestation of pests.
- Late blight
The most common disease is late blight, or late blight. This is a fungal disease that occurs in any nightshade under adverse conditions. The fungus is active in high humidity conditions with temperature changes at night. Simply put, in case of frost late blight (late blight) in an ordinary greenhouse will inevitably come. Also, dense plantings and excessive liming of the soil contribute to the development of the disease.
How is this possible? Fungal spores accumulate on the walls of the greenhouse, and with abundant condensation they fall into the soil. Therefore, greenhouses are most often left in the ventilation mode. Experienced gardeners also monitor the level of humidity: the norm for this indicator is no more than 75%.
Tomato seedlings in a greenhouse are treated with kefir, vitriol or garlic tincture against mold. Moreover, you can use kefir every weekend: one package is diluted in a bucket of water. Garlic in tincture is used less often, but this liquid is more effective with one gram of potassium permanganate. It is not recommended to store these solutions for a while, otherwise phytoncides will erode. To combat mold, solutions can be used in turn.
- Anthracnose.
Diagnosed as a seedling disease caused by a fungus. Seeds and seedlings with such a disease develop poorly, the plants do not bear fruit, dying during the growth process.
It also arises from high humidity, but affects only weak seedlings.What to do in this case? Having found a hint of a black leg, it is necessary to treat the plant with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or plant it away. Recommended drugs: "Baktofit", "Fitolavin".
Greenhouse parasites
The spider mite eats tender leaves of seedlings. The tomato becomes covered with tiny specks, which are later made yellow-white from green leaves. It is very difficult to discern the tick because of its size: it is no more than one millimeter long. However, a large group of such parasites eat young plants (more precisely, draws juice from them) very quickly. Fans of folk remedies claim that you can get rid of a tick, processing seedlings tincture of henbane, tincture of dandelion leaves, tobacco dust or a mixture of horseradish. Well, if such experiments are not to your liking, purchase special insectoacaricides.
Eats young plants aphid... It "cuts" seedlings both in the greenhouse and in the open field. The pest has long been known, therefore, there are a lot of methods of dealing with it. Do not forget about the prevention of cleaning the garden for the winter. Pests can hibernate in dried up stems, which is why they burn all tops, leaves and branches in autumn. Various decoctions of medicinal herbs, for example, chamomile or yarrow, also help well.
Solanaceous miner. This is a fly that tries to lay the larva on young tomato seedlings, more precisely, on their leaves. The fly itself does not eat the green mass, but feeds on plant liquid, injuring the seedlings. When the miner fly succeeds in laying eggs, they begin to develop inside the tomato leaf, destroying the plant, slowing down growth. If the larvae of this parasite eat up tomatoes, then the easiest way is to spray the infected leaves with organophosphate compounds or preparations with pyrethrum in the greenhouse. If the necessary drug is not at hand, the infected leaves are simply removed.
Output
Protecting plants from parasitic insects is not so difficult. You should always start with prevention and inspection. It happens that in the season the seedlings are not at all exposed to adversity. But you don't need to forget about pests either. Remember that everything has already been invented and tested before us, which means that you can protect the crop using simple household methods.
Of course, it is easiest to resort to chemistry, but experienced summer residents practice this method only in extreme, catastrophic cases. Only where there is no alternative, concentrates are used to combat annoying pests.
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