One of the most dangerous pests that can cut the crop by almost half is the gooseberry moth. In order to effectively destroy the pest, you need to know what it is and know the conditions of its habitat. It is a small butterfly with gray front wings with brown stripes. Butterfly females in spring time lay their eggs in flower buds, and then in the ovary itself. The caterpillars that appeared later eat the flowers first, and then eat the pulp of the fruit. The berries begin to change color prematurely and dry up.
Caterpillars are green in color and slightly smaller than butterflies. Around the middle of June, they climb into the topsoil and pupate right at the base of the bushes. That is why, when such a pest as the gooseberry moth appears, control measures include in their list and a point according to which it is necessary to carry out autumn digging of the soil not only under the bushes, but also near them. Many of the pupae will end up on the surface and freeze.with the onset of cold weather. In addition, the bushes need to spud. Land should be taken away from the bush. This process is quite laborious, since hilling must be carried out by 10-15 cm. Even if one of the pupae remains in the ground, it simply cannot get out from under a layer of such thickness.
Those pupae that still managed to survive spend the winter in the top layer of soil. In the spring, during the appearance of buds, butterflies begin to appear on the bushes - the gooseberry moth. Control measures during this period are quite important. After all, if you use some kind of chemicals, you need to have time before flowering, otherwise the gooseberry moth will destroy some of the flowers. What to do during this period? It is necessary to spray the soil under the bushes with hexachloran. Butterflies, crawling on such soil, will die. A weak solution of anabazine sulfate, nicotine sulfate has a similar effect. For greater effect, a small amount of soap can be added to the solution.
But that's not all the drugs that can destroy such a pest as gooseberry moth. Control measures include many procedures. During the years of the mass invasion of this pest, the soil surface was dusted with a 12% dust solution. Plus, 50 grams of the drug was poured under the bush a week before flowering. During the formation of buds for spraying, it is recommended to use a preparation such as Kinmiks. In addition, immediately after flowering, you can use the biological preparation "Lepidocid"or "Bitoxibacillin".
However, many gardeners try not to use chemicals. What to do in this case when a pest called gooseberry moth appears on a shrub? There are measures to combat without chemicals, and there are quite a few of them. Spraying of bushes can be done on the fifth day of flowering with infusions of chamomile, onion, mustard, tansy, yarrow, shag. To obtain the greatest effect, the treatment can be repeated 3-4 times with an interval of about a week. During the formation of ovaries, spraying can be done with a soap-ash solution.
The fight against gooseberry moth includes in its list the mechanical collection of damaged berries. Using this method, you will protect the rest of the fruits. Damaged fruits include not only withered fruits, but also painted or braided with cobwebs. In addition, it is necessary to remove and destroy the nests from the cobwebs that the gooseberry moth wove in the bushes. One of the simple ways to scare away this pest is a tomato bed located in close proximity. If you do not know how to deal with gooseberry moth, you can turn to folk methods. If the area of \u200b\u200bthe garden plot is small, install original traps - containers with fermenting juices. You can also purchase an electric trap or a light trap from specialized stores.
