Probably everyone has heard about the flower beetle. At the same time, many people do not even guess that they saw him on their trees.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – May 6, 2021 – Agriculture
These inconspicuous insects cause enormous damage to fruit trees, first damaging the buds, then the buds, laying eggs in them. The buds dry up without even blooming. Seeing such flowers, some believe that frost is to blame. In fact, it is enough to cut off the dried crown from the petals, and immediately the culprit will be noticeable – a white fat caterpillar.
A florist can eat almost all flowers in one meal. It creates huge damage: in some years the whole crop dies. It does not save even multiple excesses of the number of flowers, which are armed with apple trees to feed the florist and give fruit. Therefore, it should be poisoned every year. It is very important.
Pink bud
The buds on the apple trees are covered with drops and are in no hurry to bloom – the florist worked. The buds dry up without opening – the culprit is to blame … Therefore, it is important to spray at the stage of the pink bud in apple trees. Drugs can be different: Kinmix or Fufanon, Iskra or Confidor … Many drugs can kill a beetle, the main thing is to use them in time. Pink bud – a signal for urgent spraying.
Most often the pest affects apple trees, less often – pears and hawthorn.
When they crawl out
As soon as the temperature rises to + 5 ° С, beetles crawl out of wintering grounds (cracks in the bark, fallen leaves, the top layer of soil …) and crawl on trees. At this time, the installation of hunting belts on trees can be of great benefit. It is better if they are impregnated with a solution of Aktara or Regent.
This is important because one insect spoils up to a hundred buds. After 4-10 days, a larva emerges from the egg and gnaws the contents of the bud. Then it pupates, and from the bud appears an adult beetle, which hides in the ground until next year. Some beetles move to fallen leaves or cracked bark in the fall to overwinter better.
Shake like a pear
Given the low number of pests, it can be shaken from the trees in the morning while it is cold, spreading a film or tarpaulin. In the morning, beetles do not fly, and they can be easily collected. Caught pests are sent in saline solution or in diesel fuel.
Follow these simple rules – and you will save your harvest
in autumn collect and burn fallen leaves, clean the trunks of dead bark;
in November-December, whitewash tree trunks;
carry out sanitary pruning, removing and burning dead and diseased branches;
in the spring install hunting belts;
loosen the soil in the stem circles;
carry out preventive treatments against pests and diseases.
We hope that now you will be armed and the flower beetle will not spoil your harvest.
Read also: Millet Fertilizer for Bell Peppers to Reap a Rich Harvest
Source: Ukrgate
