Aphids on honeysuckle: how to treat so as not to destroy the crop

Aphids cause a lot of trouble for gardeners and gardeners. Insects feed on plant juices and do not differentiate between cucumbers and fruit bushes. Small bugs spread like lightning. Whole colonies of insects are visible on the back of the leaves and on the shoots. We will tell you in this article how to fight aphids on honeysuckle and how to prevent the spread of the pest.

How to treat honeysuckle against aphids

Perhaps every gardener is familiar with the problem of aphids appearing on a plot. Small insects with black or green bodies are real gluttons. They attack fruits and vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs.

Previously, it was believed that honeysuckle was not susceptible to aphid infestation, however As the shrub spread in different regions, the crop lost its ability to resist the pest.

The plant infects several species of aphids:

1. Apical attacks the upper foliage, causing it to curl and dry out. Aphids often attack Tatarian honeysuckle. Signs of damage are visible to the naked eye: shoots stop growing and begin to branch. This phenomenon is called the “witch’s broom”. The bush takes on a sloppy appearance and loses its decorative value, not to mention the loss of health.
2. Honeysuckle-spruce actively eats foliage, causing it to turn yellow, dry out and acquire a brown tint. Most often it affects the branches of blue honeysuckle, Tatarian and Ruprecht.
3. Honeysuckle-cereal damages young branches.Soon they become deformed, stop growing, and the internodes shorten. The leaves turn yellow and curl downward or curl obliquely across. Insects attack all varieties of shrubs.

The main source of food for aphids is plant juices.. Without them, the bush cannot fully develop and quickly loses its former beauty. To combat insects, gardeners use a whole arsenal of effective means. Chemical and biological preparations are used, as well as folk remedies based on plants and improvised materials.

Folk remedies after flowering and during fruiting

What to do if honeysuckle attacked by aphids? Folk remedies are the safest way to treat bushes. They do not harm humans, bees or birds. Maximum effectiveness is shown at the beginning of infection. The products are allowed to be used during the period of flowering and active fruiting of the crop.

Let's give recipes for the most effective folk remedies according to gardeners:

1. 100 g of tobacco shag per 1 liter of warm water. Leave for 24 hours, then boil for 40 minutes. Filter the broth through gauze folded in two layers and add 40-50 g of laundry soap for better stickiness. Spray the bushes 3-4 times with an interval of 10 days.
2. Finely chop 300 g of garlic or garlic arrows and leave in 1 liter of warm water for 2-3 hours. After this, filter the infusion, dilute with 10 liters of clean water and add 40 g of soap shavings. Use the prepared solution for spraying bushes in the evening. The frequency of treatment depends on the degree of damage to the plant. The interval between spraying is 10 days.
3. Chop 1 kg of tomato tops and pour warm water overnight. In the morning, filter the infusion through cheesecloth and dilute it by half with clean water.Use the solution to treat bushes, especially the back of the leaves. Number of treatments - 3-4 every 10-12 days.
4. Pour 200 g of wood ash into 10 liters of water, leave for 24 hours and strain through cheesecloth. Mix 50 g of soap shavings into the solution and immediately use it to spray the bushes. The product is allowed to be used during the period of fruit formation; it does not affect taste qualities and the appearance of the bushes. Treatment frequency: 3-4 times every 10 days.
5. Pour 500 g of dried marigolds into 10 liters of warm water and leave until a putrid smell appears. Mix 50 g of laundry soap shavings into the infusion and use the solution to spray the bushes. Gardeners recommend wiping the trunks with the solution to enhance the effect. Treatment frequency: 2-3 times every 14 days.
6. Chop 700 g of potato tops and pour in 10 liters of hot water, leave for three days and filter. Before use, mix in 50 g of soap shavings. The frequency of spraying is 2-3 times every 10-12 days.
7. Finely chop 200 g of onions with peel and add 10 liters of warm water. Leave for 24 hours, filter and add 40 g of soap shavings. Treatment frequency: 3-4 times every 10 days.
8. Pour 300 ml of vinegar or 100 ml of ammonia into 10 liters of water, add 25 ml of liquid soap (cosmetic or tar) and treat the bushes twice with an interval of 7 days.
9. Dissolve 50 g of table salt, 50 g of baking soda, 100 g of laundry soap shavings in 10 liters of warm water and immediately treat the honeysuckle. Spraying frequency: 2-3 times every 14 days.

Some gardeners collect aphids by hand or wash them off with water pressure. from a watering hose.

Chemicals

How to treat aphids on honeysuckle? Chemicals used to destroy pests on bushes in early March until buds open. The most effective drugs:

• "Aktellik";
• "Confidor";
• "Rogor";
• "Karbofos";
• "Trichlorometaphos 3";
• "Keltan."

Their action is aimed at destroying aphid eggs that overwinter in the soil and on the lower branches. Mature individuals die instantly. Contact insecticides retain their effect for 25-30 days.

Important! Irrigate the bushes in the evening after sunset to prevent burns. To increase efficiency, the bush is covered with plastic wrap and removed in the morning.

Biological products

Biological drugs have a strong effect and are safe for humans and the environment. They can be used after the leaves appear, during flowering and fruiting. The fruits of edible honeysuckle can be eaten no earlier than five days after processing.

Reference. Biological drugs penetrate the digestive system of insects and completely deprive them of the ability to feed. This leads to the inevitable death of pests.

Most effective:

• "Lepidocide";
• "Bitoxibacillin";
• "Iskra Bio";
• "Entobacterin";
• "Fitoverm";
• "Inta-Vir".

The effect occurs a week after treatment. The number of insects on shoots and leaves decreases, and new individuals do not appear. Repeated treatment is performed after 10-14 days. The bushes are sprayed after sunset in dry and hot weather.

How to deal with ants on honeysuckle

The main distributors of aphids on the site are ants. They feed on sweet honeydew - a liquid that appears as a result of the activity of pests. Crawling from place to place, the ants carry aphid larvae on their bodies, infecting new bushes.

Anthills are poured with boiling water or with the drug “Aardeater”, loosen the soil in the tree trunk circle. Ants do not tolerate interference in their daily life and begin to look for a new place to settle.

Honeysuckle branches are wrapped in cotton cloth and thickly smeared with birch tar. It is difficult for ants to overcome such an obstacle, so the risk appearance of pests decreases significantly.

Prevention measures

In order to prevent the spread of aphids on honeysuckle, the following actions are used::

• repel or destroy ants;
• planted next to mint, marigolds, mallow, nasturtium, wormwood, poppy, parsley, garlic, onion, elderberry;
• attract ladybugs, lacewings, linnets, sparrows, robins, tits, and warblers to the site;

• prune damaged branches in autumn And in early spring;
• collect plant debris and burn it away from the site;
• after the snow melts, the bushes are watered with boiling water;
• in early spring, spray the bushes with a solution of Actellik, Rogor, and Confidor;
• soil they dig around the honeysuckle in early spring and spill it with a steep solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate;
• in autumn large branches are whitened with slaked lime;
• Do not forget to feed the plants with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.

Conclusion

Experienced gardeners recommend combating aphids on honeysuckle in a comprehensive manner. In early spring, preventive spraying with chemicals begins and plant debris is removed after loosening the soil. Until the buds bloom, the bushes are sprayed with chemicals, then they switch to folk remedies and biological products that are safe for humans and the environment. At the same time, they get rid of anthills using boiling water and chemicals.