What to do if a strawberry tick has appeared on the site? Overview of control methods

If the planting of strawberries or strawberries began to be smaller in size, and their appearance can not be called prosperous, then this is a sure sign that they were struck by a strawberry tick. This pest common in temperate latitudes is capable of destroying the entire berry plantation in a few years. Avoiding this will help knowledge of information about this type of tick and ways to deal with it, leading to a positive result.

Pest Description

The Latin name for the strawberry tick is Phytonemus pallidus. It belongs to arthropods. This creature has microscopic dimensions: the body length of adults does not exceed 0.2 mm. This additionally complicates its detection on garden plantings: it is impossible to make out a tick without a magnifying device.

Individuals have a vitreous body, so the strawberry transparent tick is excellently masked for its environment. It has the shape of an oval, divided by a groove into two parts: front and back. Females are smaller than males - their length is 1-1.5 mm, while males are much more common. Their number is 85% of the entire population.

The strawberry tick lives in Europe and North America, causing irreparable damage to the garden. Its main danger lies in the fact that it causes harm to plants not only this year, but also violates the planting of flower buds in the next. As new individuals emerge, the infection and damage of strawberries and strawberries takes on grandiose proportions in 3-4 years.

Strawberry Mite Life

A favorite habitat for larvae and adult strawberry mites is young and juicy leaves of strawberries or wild strawberries that have recently blossomed. At the same time, pests attack the underside of the leaf blades and the soil around the base of the bush, sucking out useful substances from the plant along with the juice, which is harmful to the plantings. Ticks love warm weather and high humidity, so the peak of their activity comes on a rainy summer. They get to the bush with seedlings, as well as through garden tools, shoes or human clothing.

Strawberry ticks reproduce very quickly: it takes from 2 to 9 weeks for one generation to be born. The exact time depends on weather conditions. In just one season from April to October, 7–9 generations of ticks appear. Increased activity occurs in the second half of summer, when the moisture content in the soil becomes low: the pest has to suck it from the plants.

When autumn colds come, the death of the males begins, while the females seek shelter from the coming frosts. They hide behind stipules, at the base of the bushes, sometimes climb into young folded accordions.

Landing damage

Every gardener should know the danger of strawberry mites on strawberries and how to deal with the scourge. The consequences of planting infection by this pest are quite specific, therefore an experienced lover of growing berries can notice the danger in time on the following grounds:

1. The appearance of young and old leaves is changing.They acquire a yellowish tint and are deformed, becoming folded and wrinkled. An oily structure appears on them. Then the leaves die off altogether.
2. Bushes are slowing down. In advanced cases, it stands still, after which the death of the plant begins.
3. Every year the number of flowers is getting smaller. Consequently, the yield falls.
4. Decrease in frost resistance. If before planting, they experienced winter cold perfectly, then after infection with a strawberry mite, more and more weakened plants die due to subzero temperatures.

The fight against strawberry mites should begin immediately after the appearance of a suspicion of infection. Trying to “revive” the plants and save the crop in such ways as hilling or top dressing is not worth it - precious time will be lost. During this period, ticks will move to new bushes, eventually filling all the beds.

Ways to fight

The destruction of the strawberry tick begins in early spring immediately after the snow melts. It is necessary to remove plant debris from the bushes in which the females survive winter frosts. So that they do not return to the garden, all residues are burned or sent to a compost pit, be sure to pre-disinfect.
To consolidate the result and destroy the individuals hiding on the soil, each strawberry bush or strawberry is shed with hot water. Its optimum temperature is 80 ° C. After that, you can proceed to the standard spring care: loosening, hilling, watering and fertilizing.

There are types of strawberries that are resistant to defeat by this pest: for example, forest, small-fruited, varieties: Omskaya Rannaya, Torpedo, Zenga-Zengana, Zarya, Vityaz.

Autumn also requires the processing of beds, which is important to approach with responsibility. After harvesting, it is worth cutting off the green part of the plants. An additional benefit from this will be the rejuvenation of the bushes.

Since the strawberry tick falls on the site mainly with planting material, this should be taken into account when planting. New seedlings need to be warmed up in water at a temperature of 45 ° C. Plants are lowered into a container for 15 minutes and wrapped in warm clothes. After this time, the planting material should immediately be placed in cold water. Drying is carried out in the shade, which takes about an hour. After this, the seedlings can be considered safe - with a high degree of probability, the tick or its larvae died during such manipulations.

Special tools

There are effective chemicals for strawberry ticks: insecticides and acaricides. They include toxic compounds. Therefore, worrying about the safety of this crop, it is better to carry out treatments in early spring, until the leaves have just begun to grow, or at the end of summer, after harvesting.

Strawberry mites are fought with:

1. In the spring - “Arrivo” and “Karate”.
2. “Mitak”, “Neoron” and “Omayt” should be used in the second half of summer, when antennae are formed.
3. Karbafos is used to treat seedlings before planting on the site. To do this, it is bred in water: 75 g per 10 liters. Young outlets are dipped in such a composition with their roots up so that they do not get a solution.
4. Isofen and Chlorethanol are excellent options for treating strawberries from ticks in the fall. They are dissolved in water (60 g per 10 l), and the green portion of strawberries or strawberries is sprayed with the resulting solution when fruiting has ended.
5. Colloidal sulfur in the form of a powder with a concentration of the active substance of 70% is used for severe damage to plantings. Its solution (50-100 g per 10 l of water is used every 2 weeks during the development of leaves, before the appearance of flowers, during the formation of berries.
6. Bordeaux liquid (3%) is applied before the start of the growing season by spraying.

Using any chemicals on the site, it is important to read the instructions in advance and follow them. It is also necessary not to forget about your own safety and wear protective equipment (gloves, respirator)

Folk methods

Among gardeners, folk remedies for strawberry mite are popular:

1. Infusion of peel of onion. A bucket of warm water will need 200 g. Preparing an infusion of 5 days. After that, it is filtered through cheesecloth and used to spray the beds at the beginning of the growing season. The next time for processing comes after the harvest: then you need to repeat the procedure twice with an interval of a week.
2. Infusion of fresh garlic. To do this, you need to grind 200 g of peeled cloves and insist them in a bucket of water for 5 days. The consumption of such a tool is 0.5 liters per bush. To enhance the effect after spraying, the plants are covered with a film for 2 hours.
3. 50 g of soda ash and 50 g of laundry soap diluted in 10 l of water. Stems of tomatoes and peppers can be added to them. This infusion of planting is treated in the spring or after picking berries.

Folk remedies are effective, but weaker than chemicals. But gardeners love them for the harmlessness and naturalness of the composition.

Preventative measures

To prevent the tick from disturbing plantings, you need to follow simple rules:

1. When choosing a place for strawberries and strawberries, avoid wetlands and too wet areas.
2. Treat planting material with warm water.
3. Weed and loosen the beds regularly.
4. Cut off the mustache, old leaves.
5. Dig and destroy completely affected bushes.
6. Maintain plants by applying organic or mineral fertilizers in a timely manner.

The fight against strawberry mites can not be called simple. But if you follow the recommendations, you can cope with the pest without harming the plants and the future crop. The main thing is to take measures in time and try to avoid re-infection.