No garden can be imagined without onions. This he althy vegetable is included in the recipe of many dishes, and is also an excellent medicine that has no contraindications and side effects. Onions can, with good care, give an excellent harvest, because they are resistant to adverse weather conditions and are not too picky about the soil.
The only thing that can prevent a summer resident from growing high-quality and he althy onions is diseases and pests. The latter, according to experts, pose a greater threat than infections, because it is they who can not only spoil the largest bulbs with unsightly wormholes, but also provoke allergic reactions in humans to their metabolic products. In addition, even a slight damage to the bulb contributes to the ingress of various pathogenic microorganisms into it, which can remainunnoticed for a long time, and then suddenly destroy the entire crop.
Signs of pests in onion plantings
Whatever onion pests are (flying or moving exclusively under the surface of the soil), traces of their activity can be seen quite easily. First, the feather will signal their arrival by yellowing and/or wilting. Secondly, plants damaged by various insects begin to noticeably lag behind in growth. Thirdly, the above-ground part of the culture is deformed, swells or bends. Gardeners often do not pay attention to such metamorphoses, and onion pests, photos of which will be shown below, continue their destructive procession through the beds. If the necessary measures are not taken, the harvest of a he althy vegetable will be completely lost. So, it's time to get to know these insects better.
Onion fly and hoverfly
The very first to start their procession through plantings are the early onion pests - onion flies. Their years begin in late May or early June. The fly itself does not threaten the landings, this role went to small white insect larvae with a dark head. Laid at the base of the onion stalk, they go deep into the soil and gradually bite into the upper part of the bulb. Since damage to the underground part of the plant by the onion fly occurs at the initial stage of growth, yield losses can be 100%.
Hoverflies are onion pests that can destroy most of the crop. Just like an onion fly, it'sthe insect lays eggs on the beds, after which they sink into the soil. Already there, larvae appear from them, gnawing passages inside the bulbs. For a long time, the symptoms of damage remain invisible, as the feather continues to grow due to the nutrients present in the bulb. Only from the beginning of August, a summer resident can find a completely rotten onion in the garden.
Flies are very dangerous onion pests, and the fight against them should begin from the first days after planting the crop. First you need to mulch the beds with peat. When laying eggs of an onion fly and a hoverfly fly, irritants can be used, such as tobacco dust and slaked lime with fine sand in a 1: 1 ratio. You can also scare away insects from landing mothballs. If onion pests nevertheless penetrated into some plants, they must be carefully removed from the garden, and the place where they grew should be sprinkled with a mixture of ash and slaked lime.
Sneaky Trunk
Another insect whose activities can lead to large crop losses is the secretive proboscis, a small beetle from the weevil family. These onion pests and the fight against them are not much different in the way they spoil the onion from the aforementioned flies. The only thing that is characteristic of secretive proboscis is the way their larvae are delivered inside the bulb. The beetles gnaw small, rounded holes in the above-ground green part of the plant and lay their eggs inside them. Tiny insect larvae penetrate the underground part of the onion from above and begin to gnaw insideit cavity.
You can scare off adults from landings with the help of strongly smelling substances. For example, you can scatter sand mixed with powdered mustard and ground pepper, as well as mothballs or tobacco dust in the aisles.
Onion Moth
The onion moth itself does not damage plantings, but its larvae are malicious onion pests. They feed on the tissues of the plant, penetrating inside its leaves. As a result of this, the aerial part of the plantings turns yellow and eventually dies off completely. After that, the bulb also stops growing, having received less nutrients and plastic substances from the feather. In order not to decide how to treat the onion from pests, it is worth making sure that the moth cannot lay eggs on the surface of the plants. To do this, many experienced gardeners during the summer of the insect build a shelter over the beds from the thinnest non-woven material or equip the beds with various repellers.
Thrips
Thrips are microscopic insects that feed on plant sap, including onions. The surface of the onion feather affected by this pest is covered with silvery spots, on which black dots can be seen upon closer inspection. Over time, the onion feather dies, and bulbs that do not receive the necessary amount of nutrients from the aerial part lag behind in growth.
These pests winter well in the soil, and also remain in the planting material. That is why it is important to followcrop rotation and before planting, treat the seed with special means or warm it up at a temperature of no more than 50 degrees for 15 minutes.
Potato and winter scoops
Caterpillars of the potato or winter cutworm feed on the roots and aerial part of the onion, gnawing young seedlings at the soil surface or eating away large cavities inside the bulbs. In a word, they do not disdain anything. Before treating onions from pests, it is important to carefully inspect all beds and remove plants damaged by caterpillars. Experienced gardeners advise not to pull out the gnawed onion, but to carefully remove it from the garden with a seedling scoop along with a clod of soil. In this case, the caterpillars are guaranteed to be removed from the garden.
General recommendations for pest control
So, what should a summer resident do if onion pests appeared on his beds, and the fight against them begins to turn into a protracted battle for the harvest? The first thing that comes to mind for every owner of six acres is to pickle the entire garden in order to prevent the spread of insects. Here it is worth saying right away that this method most often turns out to be the most ineffective, because chemicals for each type of insect are selected individually.
Onion flies and hover flies, as well as their larvae, can be destroyed by double treatment of plantings with Fufanon and Bazudin preparations, potato scoops and onion moths - with a solution of Iskra M from caterpillars, secretive proboscis and its larvae - karbofos solution. Microscopic pests (aphids, mites and thrips)practically indestructible with conventional pesticides. They can only be destroyed with a solution of colloidal sulfur.
Folk pest control methods onions
There are several recipes for onion pest control that are easy to prepare at home. For example, flies (onion and hoverfly) can be scared away from beds with onions with the help of infusions of tobacco and black pepper. Experienced gardeners also use a saline solution to protect against their larvae, which is poured directly under the roots of plants. It helps to cope with the invasion of insects and repeated dusting of the beds with tobacco dust, hot red pepper (ground) and ash, taken in equal proportions. Diseases and pests treated in this way are bypassed.
How to prevent damage to onions by pests
No matter how effective the methods and means of controlling insects are, it is still better to prevent their appearance in the beds. First, every gardener should remember about crop rotation. Onions should not be planted in the same place for several consecutive seasons. In autumn, it is important to thoroughly clean the area of all plant debris in which pests can overwinter, as well as dig deep into the area where onions grew. This will help to get rid of insects and even nematodes that have survived in the ground. Secondly, pay attention to the combination of plants in neighboring beds. It is best to grow carrots next to onions, as they repel many of its pests with their smell. Thirdly, it is important to properly prepare planting material:warm it in hot water (50 degrees) and pickle with special compounds. Thus, onion pests and the fight against them may not cause any inconvenience at all, and even experienced summer residents will envy the resulting crop.
