How to get rid of whitefly on strawberries?

Strawberry gardeners know how capricious this crop is and how much effort and patience it takes to harvest healthy, fragrant berries. A lot of trouble in this difficult matter is caused by harmful insects, which are also not averse to feasting on the juice and fruits of garden strawberries. One of the worst pests is the strawberry whitefly. The fight against these scanty insects must be started as early as possible - at the first signs of their reproduction, otherwise the plants will not be able to develop fully, the bushes will wither, and it will not be possible to harvest a good harvest.

Why is the whitefly dangerous?

Outwardly, the whitefly looks like a tiny moth. The length of the largest individuals is no more than 5 mm. This flying insect got its name from its whitish wings, as if covered with a wax coating. The whitefly feeds on the juice that it extracts from the leaves of plants, so if such a pest has settled in the garden, do not expect anything good.

The insects are so small that it is almost impossible to find individual specimens without a magnifying glass. Moreover, the pest hides on the back of the leaves, carefully avoiding sunlight. If you run your palm over the strawberry foliage inhabited by parasites, thousands of whitish butterflies will fly up like dust particles.

Important!

Whitefly can be found if you look closely at the leaflet from the back side, or by traces of vital activity in the form of transparent tracks left on the leaf plate.

Adult insects manage to breed several times in one season, and before the onset of winter they lay their eggs in the stems of herbaceous plants located near the strawberry bed. Due to the small size and complete transparency of the body, it is extremely difficult to detect the eggs and larvae of the insect. One can only guess about the presence of parasites along the paths of whitish plaque left on the leaves of plants.

The danger of the pest lies in the fact that not only adults, but also the larvae actively suck the juice from the leaves of strawberries. In addition, an adult butterfly secretes a sticky secretion, which is a favorable environment for the development of a sooty fungus, which negatively affects photosynthesis. As a result, the plant grows poorly in green mass, the number of berries decreases, and their taste deteriorates.

Whitefly harms not only the plantings of garden strawberries, but also many other garden and indoor plants. In addition, it is an active disease vector. Therefore, it is necessary to take the most decisive measures to combat this parasite.

How to deal with whitefly?

Experienced gardeners, knowing what irreparable harm to plantings of strawberries the whitefly can cause, do their best to prevent the appearance of this pest in their area. There are many ways to do this, one of which is to plant odorous plants near strawberry beds.

If harmful insects have just appeared, homemade traps will help save the crop. It is very easy to make them. A piece of plywood should be painted bright yellow or orange and applied with honey or petroleum jelly on top. Butterflies, attracted by the bright color, flock to the trap and stick.

In the case when winged insects have already managed to breed more than one offspring, it will not be possible to get rid of them with the help of traps - more drastic measures must be taken.

There are several ways to fight parasites:

• chemical;
• biological;
• with the help of folk remedies.

It is especially difficult to control whitefly when growing strawberries in greenhouse conditions. Indeed, in the greenhouse, the female lays eggs all year round, and during this time more than 15 generations of insects have time to appear. In addition, difficulties in the fight against a winged pest are associated with the fact that insecticides act exclusively on adults and do not harm eggs and larvae.

Whitefly Control Chemicals

Chemicals are used when there are too many pests or more and more gentle means have been tried and did not give the desired result. Whitefly on strawberries quickly gets used to and adapts to the pesticide used, so experts advise treating the plants several times in a row, alternating insecticides of different groups.

Here is a list of the most effective drugs used to kill whitefly.

1. "Iskra", "Decis", "Caesar", "Cypermethrin". The main group of insecticides against winged pests are pyrethroids, which are characterized by contact-intestinal action. Getting into the body through the mouth and the smallest pores, the poisonous substance settles in the stomach and blocks nerve impulses, which leads to the death of the insect. Pyrethroids are effective and fast. They are non-toxic to humans and other warm-blooded organisms. The main disadvantage is the quick addiction of pests to the insecticide.
2. "Actellik", "Fufanon". Organophosphorus preparations are toxic to bees and fish. They must be used with extreme caution.
3. "Aktara", "Mospilan", "Confidor". The neurotoxic systemic insecticides are effective against a range of pests and can be used for root and spray applications.
4. Fitoverm, Vertimek. The preparations belong to the group of insectoacaricides and combine a wide spectrum of action with low habituation in insects. They fight pests regardless of their location (on the front and back of the leaf).
5. Rovikurt. The drug is available in the form of an oily liquid and is used when whitefly appears in significant quantities.

Advice

Sprays and shampoos for lice, in which finpronil is the active ingredient, can be used as an aid in the fight against a winged pest. Leaves are sprayed with shampoo diluted in water, and the soil around the plant is treated with a spray.

To strengthen the plant's immunity and increase resistance to stress, insecticide treatment for whitefly can be combined with the use of growth stimulants. For these purposes, the drug "Bud" is perfect.

When treating a strawberry garden with chemicals, the following rules should be observed:

• strictly adhere to the dosage indicated by the manufacturer on the package;
• spray plants only in dry, calm weather;
• change drugs to exclude the possibility of addiction of the pest to the chemical;
• the treatment is best done early in the morning or in the evening, after sunset, since the sun's rays on leaves with drops of a poisonous substance will cause a serious burn;
• the frequent and excessive use of pesticides leads to their accumulation in the soil, which makes the use of berries harvested from this area unsafe.

To get rid of adults and whitefly larvae, it will be enough to carry out four treatments with an interval of 5 days. Moreover, each time it is necessary to lower the concentration of the chemical. Only in this way will it be possible to completely get rid of the parasite and get fruits that are harmless to human health.

Biological way

Fighting the winged pest of strawberries using biomaterial is a worthy alternative to the chemical method. The biological method consists in the deliberate settling of macrolophus or encarsia bugs on berry beds, which feed on whitefly larvae, without causing any harm to green spaces.After completing their mission, the cleaning bugs go to another place. You can buy such biological material in large garden farms or laboratories.

No less effective biological agent is the drug "Verticillin Zh", which contains fungal spores. Having penetrated the body of an insect, the fungus infects its organs and leads to death.

Folk remedies for whitefly

It is not always and not always possible to apply chemical methods of fighting whitefly. In such cases, proven folk recipes come to the rescue, based on the properties of the most common products: onions, garlic, lemon.

• If there are not too many butterflies, and the plantings are not very extensive, you can simply wash the leaves on both sides with warm water and loosen the ground near the plants, where the larvae are probably already deposited.
• Garlic tincture, which you can cook with your own hands, will help scare off parasites. To do this, grind 100 g of peeled garlic, pour 1 liter of water and infuse for 7 days. The resulting mixture is filtered and poured into a tightly closed container. To process strawberries, 10 ml of garlic infusion is diluted in 1 liter of water and sprayed on the strawberry bed. Processing should be carried out once a week.
• Planting garden strawberries can be treated with a decoction of lemon peels. To prepare a deterrent, the peels collected after cleaning 5 lemons are boiled in 1 liter of water for an hour. The solution is cooled and sprayed with strawberry leaves.
• Laundry soap is an effective and fast-acting remedy for getting rid of whitefly. Once a week, the stems and leaves of plants are treated with soapy water.

Important!

Winged pests are most likely to appear in hot and humid weather. As soon as the air temperature drops to + 10 ° С, the entire insect colony dies.

To prevent whitefly from appearing on strawberries, plants should not be planted very close to each other, as the plantings should be well ventilated. In wet weather, it is better to refuse watering and spraying, so as not to create conditions favorable for the reproduction of parasites.

Having found a whitefly on a strawberry, you must immediately take all possible measures. Otherwise, the pest will quickly spread throughout the site and the danger will threaten not only strawberry plantings, but also other cultivated plants.