How to identify a pest on tomato seedlings and how to destroy it?

Growing tomatoes is fraught with various difficulties: correct planting, caring for tomato seedlings, correct planting in a permanent place. It would seem, what else can prevent you from growing a good plant with perfect fruits? Do not forget also about possible pests who are trying with all their might to lay their eggs on seedlings. Fighting them involves not only treating the plant after their invasion, but also certain preventive measures. What parasites can damage tomato seedlings and how to fight them?

Seedling pests

There are a large number of harmful insects that attack tomato sprouts. Among them you can find whitefly, Colorado potato beetle, aphids, as well as other insects that feed on plant sap or plant parts. In order for the fight against them to end in victory, it is necessary to have complete information, including not only a description of the pest, but also methods of its destruction, as well as preventive measures.

Whitefly

It is capable of infecting more than 300 varieties of tomatoes. For seedlings, the greenhouse species of this butterfly, which most often hides under the leaves, is more dangerous. She also lays a large number of eggs there. Whitefly larvae feed on plant sap, taking nutrients from the bush. This leads first to wilting of the foliage, and then to the complete drying of the tomatoes. This butterfly is capable of carrying viruses that infect a plant.

The main sign of the appearance of pests is a shiny bloom on the upper part of the leaf blade. Also, a symptom of the defeat of the bush is the appearance on the leaves of yellowish spots, gradually increasing in size.

Advice

You can find insects by moving the bush - small white flies will appear around it.

Whitefly fighting although difficult, it is possible. You can get rid of it both with the help of folk methods and by using chemicals.

• Chemicals will help: "Confidor", "Commander", "Karbofos";
• Watering tomatoes with cold water in warm weather. Pests are afraid of a sharp change in temperature, they will fall to the ground, after which it is necessary to loosen the soil well, sprinkling the fallen insects with soil.
• To get rid of adult butterflies, you can use special glue traps.
• You can destroy the whitefly by spraying with garlic broth (3-4 cloves per 500 ml of water) or infusion of yarrow, taken in the amount of 100 g per 500 ml of boiling water.

Colorado beetle

The American parasite is not only harmful to potato crops. It feeds on the foliage of nightshade crops, which include tomatoes, and lays eggs on the seamy side of the leaves. After hatching, the Colorado potato beetle larva begins to actively eat green foliage.

To get rid of the invasion of the Colorado potato beetle, you can use the following methods:

• to treat tomato sprouts with insecticides, for example "Mospilan" or "Aktara";
• before planting tomato seedlings, you can spread out a number of peelings of potatoes, on which pests will crawl, after which it is necessary to burn all peels with Colorado beetles;
• one of the popular methods is the collection of a beetle in a basin of ash, for this the bush is slightly tilted into it, and then lightly beat on it with a broom; you can collect pests manually;
• spray the bushes to prevent the appearance of the Colorado potato beetle with a mixture of ash and soap diluted with water.

Garden scoop

The nocturnal insect prefers young bushes.It lays more than a thousand eggs on the back of the leaf, from which larvae begin to form after a day. It is the larvae of the garden scoop that cause great harm to the plants: they feed not only on tender tomato foliage, but also on fruits.

To combat the pest, plants need to be treated with insecticides "Fitoverm", "Bitoxybacillin", "Dendrobacillin" and other preparations. It is also necessary to take preventive measures by removing all the weeds that the butterfly can use as feed for the caterpillars before the first tomato sprouts appear.

Melon aphid

The weakest and at the same time widespread parasite, which arranges egg-laying on the seamy side of the leaf. The basis of nutrition for larvae and adults is foliage, ovaries and plant stems. Soon after the appearance of these pests, the leaves begin to fall off, and then the entire bush dries. After the death of the sprout, the females fly to neighboring plants and lay eggs on it. Thus, aphids can destroy all tomato seedlings.

One of the reasons for the appearance of this pest is ants feeding on its secretions. In the autumn, they bring aphids into the anthill, where they live safely throughout the winter season. To get rid of aphids, you need to destroy all the anthills that are nearby.

Also, the following methods are used to destroy harmful insects:

• treatment with chemical agents such as "Fitoverm", "Aktellik", "Karate", "Confidor";
• experienced gardeners advise growing nearby plants, the smell of which aphids cannot stand: garlic and mint, fennel and coriander;
• traditional methods include the use of infusion of onion peels and other mixtures.

Sprout fly

Refers to the main and more dangerous pests of tomato sprouts. Her egg-laying is located in the upper layer of the soil, where it falls when fertilizing, with the onset of heat, larvae appear from them, damaging delicate shoots.

The fight against these insects includes a number of activities:

• avoid heavy watering;
• remove the top layer of soil before transplanting sprouts;
• Steam the soil prepared for sowing seeds.

Thrips

Small butterflies up to 1 mm in size. Both adults and larvae, whose diet is based on vegetable juice, harm tomato seedlings. Insects settle at the top of the stem, where they crawl into the inflorescences and infect the ovaries and young fruits. When damaged by thrips, spots of a silvery shade appear on the surface of the foliage, gradually increasing in size.

Since this butterfly appears as a result of non-observance of the rules for disinfecting the soil and seedling containers, preventive measures consist in disinfecting the earth and containers used for planting seedlings. Fitoverm can be used to combat thrips. In order to prevent the appearance of thrips, you can use tobacco (80 g per liter of water) or garlic (1 tsp. Chopped garlic per 200 g of water) infusion.

Pest control

Early pest control helps to avoid the negative consequences associated with infection of a large number of tomato sprouts and loss of yield. Before using insecticides, you must first read the instructions and only then begin to act against the Colorado potato beetle or other insect.

Advice

It is advisable to use chemicals before the appearance of fruits on tomato seedlings.

However, do not forget about the rapid recovery of the number of insects, which will have to be encountered more than once in the course of growing tomatoes. Constant insecticide treatments negatively affect both the plant itself and the future tomato harvest. Therefore, the best methods of confronting harmful insects are preventive measures, which consist in maintaining optimal conditions for grown tomato seedlings, disinfecting the soil and following the recommendations for fertilization.It is also necessary to get rid of weeds before planting seedlings, as well as periodically loosening the soil in order to destroy egg-laying and young larvae of pests.