After planting radishes and looking forward to the abundance of the harvest, after about a few weeks you notice that someone has thoroughly worked in your garden: gnawed the leaves of plants to holes and thereby caused considerable damage to your crop…
The cruciferous flea is the very first pest of young plants faced by gardeners. Small bugs, 1.8-3.5 mm in size, have the most diverse color: from black to metallic with a brilliant sheen, sometimes there is a cruciferous flea with stripes. Coleoptera cruciferous flea beetles belong to the family of leaf beetles. There are several varieties of this pest: wavy, light-legged, notched, black and blue. They parasitize practically throughout Russia, except for the edge of the cold North. The length of the larvae reaches 4 mm. The body of the pupae is yellow, and they feed on small roots. They got their name due to their physiological characteristics. These insect pests jump very well, which contributes to their migration in early spring from the soil to cultivated cruciferous plants (cabbage, radish, swede, watercress, etc.)further damage: fleas scrape off the top layer of the plant to small sores. The harmfulness of bugs is observed in the phase of plant sprout and the growth phase of 3-4 leaves under comfortable weather conditions (18-25C). When the temperature drops, the cruciferous flea leaves the plant and hides in the soil. A gnawed plant noticeably lags behind in development, the eaten leaves dry up, and, as a rule, the culture dies. Older plants, unlike young ones, can still withstand the destructive effects of beetles due to their full rooting.
The proposed methods will help protect the future crop and will be effective not only in early spring, when the cruciferous flea appears. The fight against it is most effective during the entire summer period:
- covering young seedlings with non-woven material;
- complete eradication of cruciferous weeds: shepherd's purse, colza;
- regular weeding and loosening the soil, especially in autumn, helps to destroy pests that have settled in the ground for the winter;
- constant irrigation by sprinkling;
- the use of insecticides: "Decis" at the rate of 3 ml of the drug per 10 liters of water (the solution is enough to treat 100 sq.m), "Karate" - 2.2 ml per 10 liters of water;
- treatment of the site with such biological products as Actellik, Bankol -20 ml per 10 liters of water (1 liter of solution is enough for 10 sq. M);
- pollination of seedlings with ashes with careful processing of the upper and lower leaves at least 3 times with breaks of 4-5 days;
- protectionplants with a special mixture of wood ash and tobacco powder, keep the ratio 1:1;
- spraying with vinegar in dry weather: dilute 1-2 tbsp. for 10 liters. l. 70% vinegar essence or half a liter of regular 9% vinegar.
The cruciferous flea has no love for odorous fragrances. Between the beds, you can pour naphthalene (30-50 grams of the product per 10 sq. M). Plants such as dill, coriander, marigolds, garlic, etc. emit odorous substances that repel pests, so they can also be used, for example, planted next to affected plants. It is desirable to provide active resistance to pests everywhere, calling on the owners of neighboring gardens to participate and jointly inflicting a powerful blow to eliminate the enemies of the future harvest.
