We continue our section on pests of the garden. Today we will consider all ways to combat whitefly using the example of growing mint at home.
Everyone who loves peppermint always wants to have a smelling plant at home. And it is possible! Seeds, I must say, can be purchased everywhere, but the best, especially hybrid varieties, are often at the so-called autumn exhibitions. Then your collection will be replenished not with simple mint, but with a plant with the aroma of mojito, grapefruit, pineapple and even oriental spices! Surprisingly, it is really mint!
New varieties of mint, which are bred in modern times, have several advantages: they grow low, are very resistant to powdery mildew. In addition, they can grow at home!
Arriving home, you need to inspect your beauty, do not put off in the long box this procedure!
It can be noted with surprise that one or two flies are sitting on leaflets, such miniature and still very young. After some time, the larvae begin to appear, so quickly that you will not have time to come to your senses. Yes, Aleirodides overtook this mint, or simply whiteflies.
Who are whiteflies?
Whiteflies suck the juice from the plant, but in such quantities that it is not able to process it. Naturally, droplets stand out on the leaves of the victim, and these droplets develop a fungal infection. As we notice this: a dark area appears on the sheet plate, and then the sheet falls off. Why? The plant can not fully breathe - it dries out its individual parts, and then - he himself.
This misfortune is very serious. In some cases, you will have to throw away all the plants, and after that - also change the soil in your pots. It is especially sad if the time is approaching summer, you need to deal with seedlings, and then such an enemy settled. Whitefly is a lover of vegetable plants, but it will not bypass a beautiful petunia. And in enclosed spaces it is incredibly difficult to fight a pest, often - the whitefly wins.
But what to do if you don’t want to retreat? How to save the plant and protect the future crop?
Chemicals
Like it or not, we can’t do without chemistry. Here we either select this, or immediately send all the plants to the trash.
So, the list of drugs:
- Intestinal insecticide - Ankara. Well established, very popular among summer residents. Processing is carried out both on a leaf plate, and by means of watering under a root. It acts especially strongly after the second application, the pest dies after 4-6 hours. Both larvae and adults are destroyed.
- Contact-intestinal insecticide - Spark. No less popular, acts on a long basis. It happens in the form of aerosols, gel, sticks, powder. Acts as a nerve agent, killing the victim within 30-120 minutes. However, remember that some enemies may be indifferent to it, therefore, the drug is used in combination with others.
- Also, an intestinal insecticide - Akarin. It affects not only whiteflies, but also aphids, spider mites (which we wrote about in the first issue of our column on pests). Not addictive, defeating the pest by 95%. Effective for 8-16 hours, with gnawing insects - even faster. The entire plant should be carefully treated. about all the leaves that are curled up in a tube, delete immediately - and they will be stored pests.
- Fitoverm. It is the most effective and safest intexicide of biological origin.It should be applied from 3 to 7 days, it acts 12 hours after the enemy enters the body. It will still take 5 days to defeat the whitefly, therefore, all treatments must be carried out in a respirator.
- Rapeseed-based rapeseed oil. It is effective together with Fitoverm and will help to avoid population growth if there are too many pests.
Sometimes a defeat with a soot fungus begins already, then no means can help.
Folk remedies
Still want to not buy chemistry? Then there are several folk remedies:
- The most harmless that will help in the embryo, when a whitefly has just been discovered, they will remove dead plates and wash the leaves with a sponge and water. The method, it must be said, practically does not work if the pest has begun reproduction.
- Tinctures: tobacco tincture (strong tobacco (can be extracted from cigarettes) + hot water, we insist 5 days) - we spray the plant several times a day. Also popular is garlic tincture (pour 3 cloves with water, leave for 24 hours) - spray several times a day, repeat after a week.
- You can also try ammonia, which is diluted with water (1 tablespoon per 9 liters of water). The sheet plate is processed. But the method is good in greenhouses, otherwise not only whiteflies, but also the owners will be evicted from the house.
If you have time and desire, you can also make traps for whiteflies. Write your comments if you are interested in how to make them. And we will tell you about them.
Have you had such pests at home?
