Experienced summer residents must include preventive and therapeutic treatments against diseases and insects parasitizing on them in their plan of care for garden plants. The main cucumber pests that most often cause damage to plants in open ground conditions are melon aphids. If you miss the moment of their settlement in your beds, you can lose most of the harvest of juicy cucumbers.
Signs of gherkin damage by aphids
The first sign that your cucumbers are suffering from aphids is the curling of the upper leaf blades with the edges inward and deformation of the apical growing points. If you unfold such leaves, then on the reverse side you can find a cluster of black-brown insects and a sticky coating (honeydew is a waste product of insects that ants feed on).
Internodes on seedlings affected by pests are shortened, and the growth of new shoots stops completely. The main danger of the presence of aphids on cucumbers is piercing young shoots and leaves to extract plant juices, which adults and their larvae feed on.Since plants spend all their energy fighting insects, the processes of forming new ovaries are completely blocked.
Rapidly spreading colonies of voracious aphids can quickly destroy all the gherkins in the garden if no steps are taken. During the warm season, aphids can produce up to 17 generations. In addition, pests often carry viral diseases, from which it is practically impossible to cure cucumbers at the stage of active fruiting.
Three ways to control aphids on pumpkin vegetables
1. There are several ways to get rid of insects. The easiest and fastest way is to spray the plantings with a solution of modern insecticides, for example, “Aktara”, “Kinmiks”, “Inta-vir”, “Commander” or “Aktelik”. However, harvesting fruits from plants treated with pesticides can begin, at best, after 3 weeks, otherwise the presence of toxic substances in the gherkin pulp cannot be avoided.
2. The second option is to treat the cucumber vines with a solution of modern biological insecticides (Fitoverm, Bitoxibacillin, Entobacterin, Strela, etc.), which are safe products for plants, humans, pollinating insects and domestic animals. Their active components are destroyed in 5 days, after which you can safely begin harvesting.
3. Well, the safest way to get rid of aphids on cucumbers is to use home remedies prepared on the basis of natural products and pharmaceutical compounds. Most often, solutions against parasites contain the following components - laundry soap, vegetable oil, wood and grass ash, ammonia. Here are just two popular folk recipes for minimizing the presence of aphids on cucumber plantations.
Ash-soap infusion
To kill aphids, prepare a strong infusion of plant ash. To do this, 2.5 kg of sifted ash is poured into a bucket of hot water (temperature about 80°C) and left for 2 days, stirring occasionally with a wooden stick. Add 40 g of grated laundry soap (72%) to the filtered infusion, previously dissolved in half a glass of hot water.
The liquid poured into a garden sprayer is used to treat the cucumber vines, paying special attention to the back of the leaves. The procedure is repeated several times in a row with an interval of 2-3 days until the dangerous insects are completely destroyed. In addition to the fact that this solution has powerful insecticidal properties, it is an effective foliar feeding of cucumbers, providing seedlings with additional portions of potassium and phosphorus salts, as well as calcium and valuable microelements.
Ammonia solution
For a bucket of water you will need 50 ml of ammonia (aqueous ammonia solution 10%), 3 tbsp. l. sunflower oil and 5 tbsp. l. liquid green or laundry soap. All components are dissolved in 10 liters of lukewarm water, previously settled to avoid the presence of chlorine.
After irrigating the cucumber vines with a solution of ammonia with vegetable oil and soap, the leaf plates are covered with an oil film, which hinders the movements of insects and blocks the flow of oxygen. After 2-3 days, most of the insects die. Treating plantings with this product improves the nitrogen nutrition of bushes, since ammonia is a complete source of nitrogen, quickly absorbed through the leaves.
According to reviews from experienced summer residents, the maximum effect in pest control can be achieved by alternating the treatment of cucumbers with an ash-soap infusion and a solution of ammonia.The interval between sprays is usually 2-4 days, depending on the number of pests on your plants.
The use of ammonia solution and ash-soap infusion is permissible at all stages of fruiting. After spraying the plantings, you can start collecting fruits the next day. Before the procedure, it is recommended to pick all the fruits present.
Let your cucumber harvests this season be record-breaking!
