Content
- 1 What does a whitefly look like?
- 2 Pest signs
- 3 What makes a whitefly start on a strawberry
- 4 How to deal with whitefly on strawberries
- 4.1 Whitefly preparations on strawberries
- 4.2 Biological control methods
- 4.3 How to deal with whitefly on strawberries with folk remedies
- 4.4 How to treat whitefly strawberries in spring
- 4.5 How to get rid of whitefly on strawberries in summer, in August
- 4.6 How to process strawberries from whitefly in the fall, after fruiting
- 5 Prevention and protection measures
- 6 Conclusion
Fighting whitefly on strawberries, as well as on other crops, is quite difficult, since this pest has an increased level of vitality. And to cope with the problem, you need to apply comprehensive measures to destroy the insect. Otherwise, the bushes will not be able to fully develop, produce crops and freeze in winter. Therefore, every gardener should know how to deal with this pest throughout the season, depending on the stage of development of the strawberry.
Whitefly belongs to the Aleurodida family
What does a whitefly look like?
Whitefly is a flying insect that looks like a moth, but much smaller in size. Her body length is 3 mm. A distinctive feature is the white color of adults, for which the insect got its name. The pest has four wings, which are covered with a light dusty coating.
Insect eggs are light green in color. Their length is 0.2-0.25 mm. After 7-13 days, transparent larvae of the first generation emerge from the eggs. They are quite active, move around and are distinguished by increased gluttony. After two weeks, the flattened body of the larvae thickens, and they turn into motionless nymphs. And after another 16 days, adults appear from them, which are already independently capable of breeding offspring.
The whitefly creates entire colonies. Therefore, if timely measures are not taken to destroy it at the initial stage of appearance, then in a month these insects will be able to spread to the entire garden bed with strawberries and neighboring crops. In this case, you can forget about a good harvest.
Pest signs
A whitefly on a strawberry lays eggs on the back of the leaves, as seen in the photo, where they can be found if you look closely. After the larvae appear, they begin to intensively feed on strawberry cell juice. This negatively affects the appearance of the bushes. Plants significantly slow down the growth rate, the surface of their plates loses its natural shine, the edges of the leaves begin to curl downward, the general appearance becomes depressed.
You can determine that whiteflies have appeared on strawberries by simply touching the bush. As a result, a whole swarm of these insects flies up.
Also, in the course of their vital activity, pests on the leaves and shoots of strawberries leave a sticky shiny coating - honeydew. Over time, it turns into black spots, as it is a favorable environment for the development of a sooty fungus. All this in a complex disrupts metabolic processes in leaf tissues, interferes with photosynthesis and leads to yellowing, wilting of the plates.
The female whitefly lays up to 130 eggs throughout her life.
What makes a whitefly start on a strawberry
The pest appears with a combination of high humidity and air temperature from +25 ° C. These are the optimal conditions for its reproduction. Therefore, most often the insect attacks strawberries in the greenhouse.
A decrease in the regime to +10 ° С has a detrimental effect on adults and larvae, but does not harm eggs, which are able to hibernate in plant debris. Therefore, in order to destroy the whitefly on strawberries, you need to apply complex methods of struggle in spring, summer and autumn.
How to deal with whitefly on strawberries
When the first signs of a pest appear, urgent measures must be taken. The sooner the fight starts, the less harm the whitefly will do to the bushes. For this, you can use chemicals, as well as biological and folk remedies. Moreover, you need to apply different methods of dealing with whitefly on strawberries, since toxic agents cannot be used during flowering and fruiting.
Whitefly preparations on strawberries
The use of chemicals is justified during the period of active vegetation of bushes and during mass reproduction of the pest. In this case, you need to act quickly in order to dramatically reduce the number of insects and their larvae.
Fitoverm from whitefly on strawberries
Processing strawberries from whitefly can be done with Fitoverm. It belongs to the category of insectoacaricidal biological products of intestinal action. The active ingredient blocks the transmission of nerve impulses from the brain to the limbs, which causes paralysis of adults and larvae, and then death. Spraying the bushes should be repeated after five days, since the drug is not able to penetrate the protective shell of the eggs.
For processing, it is necessary to dissolve 2 ml of the drug in 1 liter of water. Spraying should be done in the evening or in the morning in dry, calm weather.
The protective effect of Fitoverma lasts up to two weeks
Aktara from whitefly
Aktara also helps to fight the whitefly pest of strawberries. This Swiss drug has a systemic complex effect, causing paralysis and death of adults and larvae of the pest. To prepare a working fluid, it is necessary to dissolve 1.4 g of the product in 5 liters of water. Such an increased concentration has a detrimental effect on pests, but at the same time does not harm the plants.
The resulting solution should be poured over strawberries from the whitefly. In this case, the active ingredient initially penetrates the roots and then spreads to all parts of the plant. As a result, together with the cell sap, it enters the gastrointestinal tract of the insect and causes its death. The treatment should be repeated three times with an interval of seven days.
The waiting period after using Aktara is three weeks.
Biological control methods
This method of struggle is based on the destruction of the whitefly by its natural enemies. To do this, you need to add encarzia pupae to the greenhouse, which can be purchased in a specialized store. The peculiarity of this insect is that the female makes egg-laying directly on the body of the whitefly. Subsequently, the larvae penetrate the body of the pest, thereby causing its death.
However, the disadvantage of the biological method is that it can only be used in a greenhouse. Encarasias do not survive in open ground conditions.
The number of entophages that are able to cope with this pest also include a ladybug, a lacewing fly, a horse-riding beetle, and a macrolophus bug.
How to deal with whitefly on strawberries with folk remedies
You can cope with whitefly on strawberries during flowering and fruiting with folk remedies. However, they have a short-term effect and are washed away by rain. Therefore, processing should be carried out regularly to prevent mass reproduction.
Whitefly ammonia on strawberries
This component has a repellent effect on the whitefly. To spray strawberry bushes, dissolve 35 ml of ammonia in a bucket of water and mix thoroughly. Carry out processing in the morning or in the evening. You need to repeat it every three days until the signs of the pest completely disappear.
Whitefly tobacco dust on strawberries
To cope with whitefly on strawberries with berries, you can also help tobacco dust. This component thinns the unpleasant smell for the pest and scares away from the garden with a fruiting crop.
To prepare a working infusion, it is necessary to pour 100 g of tobacco dust into 1 liter of warm water and insist the remedy for five days. After the waiting period has expired, the solution must be filtered and used as directed. It is advisable to do whitefly treatment on strawberries every three days.
Tobacco dust can be alternated with ammonia
How to treat whitefly strawberries in spring
During the active growing season in spring, it is recommended to spray the bushes with chemicals, which will prevent the mass reproduction of the whitefly. Therefore, Fitoverm and Aktar can be applied before the buds appear. It is recommended to process the bushes every week so that the larvae that emerge from the eggs cannot harm the strawberries.
How to get rid of whitefly on strawberries in summer, in August
Only folk remedies are among the permissible measures to combat whitefly on strawberries during flowering. At this time, it is highly undesirable to treat the bushes with chemicals. Therefore, you can spray whitefly strawberries with ammonia or tobacco dust. This control method should be applied before harvesting.
How to process strawberries from whitefly in the fall, after fruiting
After fruiting, it is necessary to fight the pest with chemicals. They will help reduce the number of adults and larvae. You need to spray the bushes every seven days until the signs of pests completely disappear. The lack of control measures in the fall leads to the fact that the weakened bushes do not have time to recover before the arrival of frost and freeze out in winter.
When processing bushes with toxic agents, precautions must be taken
Prevention and protection measures
The pest is able to attack plants that have weakened immunity. This may be due to a lack of nutrition. Therefore, as a prevention of infection of strawberries, it is recommended to regularly feed the bushes, depending on their stage of development. To do this, at the beginning of the active growing season, fertilizers with a high nitrogen content should be used, and during flowering and fruiting, with potassium and phosphorus.
Other preventive measures:
- avoid thickening of the landings;
- remove weeds in a timely manner, loosen the soil between the rows;
- sprinkle tobacco dust on the soil at the base of the bushes;
- in autumn and spring, treat plants with acaricides;
- before winter, collect all plant residues and burn them;
- when growing strawberries in a greenhouse, regularly ventilate the room and lay mulch.
Conclusion
Knowing how to properly deal with whitefly on strawberries, you can count on a good harvest. However, it should be understood that chemical agents cannot be used during the flowering and fruiting period of the crop, so as not to harm your health. Therefore, control measures must correspond to the stage of development of the bushes.
