Spider mite is a dangerous pest that can destroy currant plantings, as well as many other fruit and berry crops in the garden in a short time. Pest identification is the first step in combating it, followed by knowledge of how best to fight parasites and protect plants. The article will introduce a description of the spider mite and methods for its destruction.

Signs of appearance and description

It is difficult to see the spider mite on the plant due to its small size, so it is easy to skip the initial stage of infection. More often, gardeners observe the destructive effects of pest activity - a thin spider web has appeared on the leaves of currant or neighboring crops, the leaves wither, turn yellow and fall, the growth of bushes shackled by a gray spider web is weakened.

If you see such signs - it means that currants suffer from the attack of spider mites

There are a number of tick families with 1270 species. They are arthropods with 4–8 legs (sometimes with 2–6 at different stages of life).

Did you know? Spider mites are not insects, as is commonly believed - they are representatives of the arachnid class (a subclass of Ticks - lat. Acari).

Agricultural pests in these groups cause damage by eating plant sap and releasing toxins in their tissue. The most famous and widespread spider mite with two spots. In addition to it, yellow and red ticks are found. They use the web as a means of moving their large colonies and as protection against predators.

Tick ​​development cycle:

• in March-April and October at + 15 ° С it is 4 weeks;
• in May and September at + 20 ° С - 3 weeks;
• in summer at + 30 ° С - only 1 week.

Especially fast pest breeds in dry and warm conditions. Depending on weather conditions and location, the number of tick generations is 10-15 generations. In spring and summer, their activity is destructive, but before winter, population growth is reduced, and they do not cause such damage in late autumn

Female ticks hibernate under loose bark or in organic debris at the base of plants and on weeds. In spring, they appear, disperse, and each lays about 100 eggs of 0.14 mm on the underside of the leaf (usually in the recesses and along the veins).

After a week, larvae hatch from the eggs, and after 2-3 weeks new reproductive individuals appear, and a new seizure of territories begins. At this stage, during the movement of pests, chemical control agents may be most effective. When the mites find a suitable location, they dig into the parts of the plant with their jaws, starting to feed on its juices, the contents of the cells along with the chlorophyll grains, and stop moving.

Also learn how to deal with currant glass.

Infection usually begins on the lower leaves of plants, then spreads upward. The oldest leaves should be examined for spotting, and the larvae and ticks themselves can be found on their underside.

The body length of an adult tick is 0.4–0.6 mm; females are slightly larger than males. The body is soft, elongated, the back is convex, the abdomen is even. Dark spots on the sides are transparent, blind intestinal sacs. Adults have 8 legs, young - 6.

The larvae are transparent, and the color of adult pests varies from light green to brownish red depending on the plants on which they feed and the environment. Wintering females are orange-red or bright red.

The small size of ticks allows them to migrate among plants with the help of wind on the web, on the feet of birds and insects. They cause the greatest harm in hot and dry periods in the southern regions of the non-chernozem zone.

Important! For people, pets, birds, the spider mite does not pose any danger, does not bite and does not cause allergic reactions.

What is dangerous tick for currant

With a high population of ticks, marble discoloration of the leaves occurs, they eventually become brown and dry out. At first, the photosynthetic surface of the leaf is reduced and thereby the physiological balance is violated, then the currant loses its leaves and shoots, the yield decreases and the winter hardiness of the plant worsens.

Ticks that feed on juice can be carriers of viral and bacterial diseases of currants. In addition, the web degrades the aesthetic appearance of the bush.

Tick ​​Remedies

When choosing drugs, it should be remembered that the tick is not an insect and most insecticides do not act on it. For the fight, it is necessary to choose acaricides or insectoacaricides.

Because spider mites breed very quickly, early identification is critical for further effective treatment and population reduction . Reproduction of the pest occurs in April-May, when the buds open and young foliage appears. During this period, the pest is vulnerable to the action of acaricidal drugs.

We advise you to read how to get rid of the spider mite in the greenhouse.

But keep in mind that the use of chemical pesticides actually contributes to the spread of spider mites, killing beneficial insects that prey on them. It is also known that ticks quickly develop resistance to various chemicals. For these reasons, it is important to use effective natural and organic methods.

Biological products

The use of natural enemies of ticks (bacteria, fungi, viruses) contained in biological products is very effective. Examples of such tools include:

1. "Aktoverm" is a biological product -insecticide for the destruction of spider mites and kidney mites.
2. “Bitoxibacillin” is a bio-insecticide of intestinal action, does not cause addiction in ticks and works quickly, can be used in any phase of plant development.
3. Phytoseyulus and amblyseus are predatory mites for biological control of spider mites of berry crops. Packages with biopredators are hung on bushes. After the destruction of all parasites, predators die.

There are also biochemical preparations - Fitoverm, Akarin, Aktofit, Haupsin. The latter remedy contains 2 strains of bacteria in its composition and is effective against a number of pests and some pathogenic diseases.

Chemicals

Chemicals in the fight against spider mites on currant:

• "STOP tick" - acaricide of contact action, the maximum number of treatments per season when pests occur - 2, apply 3 weeks before picking berries;
• “Anti-Mite” is a bio-insect-acaricide, after 2-3 hours the pests are deprived of the opportunity to eat and damage the plant, and after a few days they die. The product is dangerous for fish and bees, during flowering is not used;
• "Sunmight" - an insect-acaricide, acts at all stages of development, is not phytotoxic;
• "Envidor" is a contact action acaricide, harmless to bees, resistant to rainfall by sticking to leaves, apply no more than 2 times per season.

The insecticidal preparations Neoron, Aktara, Fufanon, Actellik, Karbofos have proven themselves well.

Folk remedies

The most affordable, cheap and environmentally friendly ways to combat ticks are folk remedies:

• ordinary water - at the initial stage of infection, pests can be washed off the bushes with water pressure, and constant sprinkling cleans the leaves of dust and creates increased humidity in which they do not survive;
• household (50% enough) or liquid soap for washing dishes - add ash, soda (25 g per 1 l) or insecticides to the soapy water solution and spray the infected bushes, the soap component ensures adhesion of the product and prolongs the period of protection;
• a mixture of alcohol and water in equal amounts - spray the composition of the leaves. Alcohol kills pests without harming plants;
• colloidal sulfur - inhibits the activity of ticks and stops their spread, effective in humid conditions, spray bushes on dew early in the morning or after watering;
• water-oil emulsions that bind spider mites, but do not harm plants and beneficial predators - for example, rosemary oil, soap, kaolin are used as an emulsifier;
• infusions of herbs - wormwood, onion husks, tobacco, garlic, dandelion, yarrow, marigolds, solanaceous tops, celandine. Herbs in various combinations are crushed and insisted a day before spraying.

Features of the fight

To protect currants from spider mites, it is important to take into account the vegetative period of the plant, the time of mass reproduction of the pest and the choice of means of control.

Before flowering currants

If you do not get rid of the spider mite before the appearance of the ovary, you can not get a crop of currants at all, and weakened plants become susceptible to damage by fungal diseases. Therefore, the fight against the pest must begin when the females leave hibernation in early spring. For this, the shrub at the stage of kidney formation is treated with acaricidal preparations, which are not dangerous for fish, birds, predator insects and bees. The protection of currants from ticks lasts for 3 weeks.

Important! Avoid the use of insecticides during the flowering of currants, which reduce the population of beneficial insects, and can also get into the berries and harm a person.

Try to maintain the hygiene of the bush by washing off the dust - ticks like dry and dusty places.

During fruiting currants

During the fruiting period, it is advisable to control the spider pest only with the help of predatory mites phytoseyulus and amblyseius, or use biological products. With minor lesions, mechanical removal of pests from the leaves is possible with a toothbrush soaked in liquid soap.

You can not spray currants during the ripening of fruits, the last treatment with chemical preparations should be carried out 3-4 weeks before harvesting. When spraying bushes, it is necessary to process the lower side of the leaves, the trunk, as well as the trunk circle

Preventive measures

The cobweb and twisted leaves on the shrub make it difficult to control the accumulation of spider mites, so the best remedy against these pests is prevention.

To avoid the spread of pests, you should perform the following actions:

• weed control - it is on weeds that mites can breed in the summer and winter;
• the installation of bait traps to control the number and destroy pests;
• minimizing branch damage to avoid creating entry points for pests and pathogens;
• regular cutting of problem branches with pruning to ground level in autumn or early spring every 5–7 years, which allows you to remove infected bushes and thus eliminate sources of further infection;
• constant monitoring of plants - allows you to identify the first signs of pests and take appropriate measures in a timely manner;
• ticks prefer dry and dusty habitats, so sprinkling and regular spraying significantly reduce the population;
• cleaning the garden area from fallen leaves and plant debris, in which pests can winter;
• in the process of preparing the site for winter, the berry should be dug up with the overturning of the earth so that the pests wintering in the soil would freeze during frost;
• selection of pest resistant varieties and purchase of planting stock in specialized nurseries.

Pest resistant currant varieties

Plant resistance is the simplest form of pest control. Breeders usually try to use morphological (surface wax, viscosity and pubescence) or biochemical (excretion of certain substances) characteristics. However, relying only on this is risky, since the rapid reproduction of some pests leads to overcoming resistance as they adapt. Plant resistance needs to be combined with other control strategies.

We recommend reading about the treatment of currants with Bordeaux liquid in the spring.

When purchasing seedlings, you should be interested in whether the variety is resistant to ticks. Blackcurrant varieties resistant to spider web pest:

• Bagira - resistant to spider mites, but susceptible to kidney;
• Binar (In memory of Pavlova) - integrated resistance to spider mites;
• Dove - resistance to spider mites is average.

Almost all varieties of red currant are resistant to spider mites:

• White fairy;
• Versailles white;
• Viksne red;
• Dutch red;
• Cascade;
• Yonker van tets;
• Smolyaninovskaya;
• Natalie.

Did you know? Spider mites are omnivorous, about 200 plant species are included in their diet. But the predatory tick Phytoseiulus persimilis is a natural enemy of the spider mite, preying mainly on it.

The fight against parasites is ongoing - pesticides are changing and improving, and breeders create and use new resistant varieties. A small and inconspicuous pest can destroy the harvest of an entire garden, so wisely use all the knowledge and recommendations to protect currants from spider mites and avoid further infection.