Content
- 1 Why do ants appear on an apple tree?
- 2 Symptoms of appearance
- 3 Ants on an apple tree: harm or benefit
- 4 How to deal with ants on an apple tree
- 5 How to get rid of ants in the roots of an apple tree
- 6 How to spray an apple tree against ants during fruiting
- 7 How to treat a blooming apple tree against ants
- 8 What to do if there are ants on a young apple tree
- 9 How to protect an apple tree from ants
- 10 Conclusion
You can get rid of ants on an apple tree using traps, folk remedies and special chemicals. In order to choose the right control method, it is necessary to assess the degree of damage to the fruit crop.
Why do ants appear on an apple tree?
Ants very often appear in garden plots near fruit trees. They usually enter into close symbiosis with aphids, as they feed on their sticky secretions, protect the pest from other insects and promote the reproduction of the parasite. In addition, the fruit crops themselves are of interest to the ants. During the ripening period, insects gnaw through apples and feed on their juicy pulp.
Ants are not capable of causing serious damage to apple trees, but they make the trees more vulnerable to fungal infections.
The following factors especially contribute to the spread of ants in the area:
- the presence of last year's rotting debris at the roots of trees;
- excess organic fertilizers in the soil;
- abundant blossoming of apple trees, during which the trees emit a sweet aroma.
At the same time, ants in the garden can also bring benefits; in particular, they significantly increase the phosphorus content in the soil.
Symptoms of appearance
If there are relatively few ants in the garden, it is quite difficult to notice them. Insects do not eat leaves and fruits like other pests. However, the following signs will help indicate the presence of ants in a summer cottage:
- the presence of small bites on ripening fruits;
- holes and deformed areas on young buds;
- numerous passages in the old bark and wood of the apple tree.
You can suspect that ants have appeared in your summer cottage, first of all, by the presence of aphids on the leaves and young shoots of the apple tree. If you carefully examine the branches of a tree and its root area, you will notice adult insects of both species.
Ants on an apple tree: harm or benefit
Ants in general are considered more of a beneficial insect. Their activity enriches the soil, which is especially valuable if the soil in the garden is poor.
However, when growing fruit trees or berry crops, it is recommended to get rid of insects urgently. First of all, ants are the harbingers of aphids. They lure the parasite and provide it with favorable conditions for reproduction. Aphids, in turn, cause serious damage to plantings and can completely destroy young plants. Insects also directly feed on the buds and juicy fruits of the apple tree.
How to deal with ants on an apple tree
There are several ways to eradicate ants from an apple tree. Both chemical and gentle folk remedies can cope with pests. Which drug to choose depends primarily on the degree of damage to the plantings.
Chemicals
Chemical agents allow you to quickly and effectively destroy ants on an apple tree. Among the most popular, several drugs can be listed:
- Aktara. The complex product helps against both ants and accompanying aphids. To prepare the solution, you need to dilute 2 ml of the drug in a bucket of water and spray the trees.
The beneficial effect of the drug Aktara becomes noticeable within a day
- Ant. The insecticide is supplied in the form of granules. In case of insect infestation, it is necessary to scatter the drug under trees in a volume of 30 g per 10 m2 soil.
The main active ingredient of the drug Muraviin is the toxin diazinon.
- Muratsid. A reliable remedy allows you to get rid of ants on an apple tree forever or for quite a long time. It is necessary to dilute only 1 ml of the drug in 10 liters of liquid and water the soil around the fruit trees.
The drug Muracid gives a pronounced effect on the third day after treatment
Since chemical compounds have a certain toxicity, they are recommended to be used only in cases of severe infection.
Biological products
You can save an apple tree from ants in the spring using biological preparations. They have a milder effect on pests, but do not cause damage to fruit trees:
- Fitoverm. The biological preparation is useful against both ants and aphids.To spray an apple tree, you need to dilute 8 ml of the product in 1 liter of liquid.
Treatments with Fitoverm are performed up to four times in a row at intervals of 3-7 days.
- Lepidocide. To eliminate ants and other pests, you need to dilute 5-30 ml of the drug in 2 liters of water and treat 100 m with the resulting product2 landing
In total, up to five sprayings with Lepidocide are performed per season at intervals of 7-8 days
- Bitoxibacillin. This proven product helps against most parasites on fruit trees. To remove ants from an apple tree, you need to stir 80 g of the drug in a bucket of water and spray the plants along the crowns.
Treatments with Bitoxibacillin are carried out twice from spring to autumn at weekly intervals.
It is especially recommended to use biological agents to combat ants in the spring and shortly before harvest. Such compositions do not cause harm to trees; when used correctly, they do not disrupt flowering and do not have a negative effect on the quality of fruits.
Ant traps on an apple tree
If ants have attacked an apple tree, the use of special traps can have a good effect:
- Resin belt. To make a trap, you need to wrap the trunk of an apple tree with cling film at a height of about 30 cm above the ground and coat the material with tar, grease or resin. If ants get into a sticky trap, they will not be able to get out of it and will die.
The resin trap needs to be renewed from time to time as it dries out when exposed to air.
- Gate. At a height of about 50 cm, the trunk of the apple tree is wrapped with a rubber strip, the structure is secured and the edges are turned up so as to make something like a collar. The inside of the trap is lubricated with toxic insecticidal glue.
You can pour vegetable oil or other viscous and sticky mixture inside the collar
Traps do not help completely eliminate ants from an area. However, they make it possible to protect a specific tree from insects or at least reduce the number of pests.
Folk remedies for ants on an apple tree
If the trees are slightly infested, you can treat apple trees against ants in the spring using home remedies:
- Kerosene solution. To prepare the product, you need to dilute 30 ml of carbolic acid in a bucket of water. After this, 150 ml of kerosene is added to the solution and the ingredients are mixed, and then sprayed.
Kerosene solution has a characteristic odor, so it is not recommended to use it during the flowering period
- Soda solution. If the apple tree is attacked by ants, you can mix 5 g of baking soda and 30 ml of linseed oil in 1 liter of liquid. The product is used for spraying.
Baking soda doesn't kill ants, but it does make the apple tree unattractive to pests.
- Clay chatter. If insects have attacked the trunk of an apple tree, you can mix clay and wood ash in approximately equal proportions, dilute the components with water and coat the plant bark with a thick paste. It is recommended to process mainly the lower part of the trunk.
The ash-clay mixture does not allow ants to gnaw through the bark, make passages in the wood and feed on the juices of the crop
When using folk recipes for ants on apple trees, it is necessary to take into account that home remedies do not bring much effect when there are a large number of insects. It is better to use them at the stage when pests have just appeared on fruit trees.
Mechanical method
Treating fruit trees against insects will not bring much results if you do not take care to destroy anthills. The pests will simply return to the apple tree a few days after spraying, and they will have to be removed again.
To completely eliminate ants, it is customary to use a mechanical method. The diagram looks like this:
- They carefully inspect the garden and find anthills or areas of soil from which insects are actively scattering.
- They destroy the structure erected by the pests, or dig up the soil to the required depth if the parasites live underground.
- Mix the soil with lime and ash to prevent the ants from returning.
You can also spill the soil in the desired areas with boiling water or insecticidal solutions. This will get rid of the main accumulations of pests on the site.
How to scare ants away from an apple tree
In some cases, ants on a property are beneficial, and removing them can lead to new problems. But fruit trees still need protection. There are several ways to repel insects from an apple tree:
- Carbolic solution. A long piece of gauze is soaked in a liquid with a pungent odor and wrapped around the trunk. The belt is valid for three days; you can use the method up to five times during the summer.
- Double sided tape. To prevent ants from climbing up the trunk of the apple tree, you can wrap it with wide adhesive tape. Insects will get stuck on its surface, over time they will remember the dangerous place and begin to avoid a specific tree.
When using repellents, it is still recommended to regularly inspect the apple tree for aphids.If the insect that often accompanies ants does appear on the leaves, you will have to resort to chemical compounds and completely eliminate both pests.
How to get rid of ants in the roots of an apple tree
Ants can accumulate not only on young shoots of an apple tree, but also in the roots of the plant. To get rid of pests, it is recommended to use granular preparations with an insecticidal effect, for example, Ant. Treatment should be carried out in the autumn after harvesting the fruits.
If ants are crawling along the trunk of an apple tree, you need to inspect the tree and, if necessary, seal the hollows. Rotten bark along with pests are first removed.
Before sealing, the cleaned hollow is treated with insecticides based on the substance diazinon.
How to spray an apple tree against ants during fruiting
It is necessary to spray apple trees against ants during the fruiting period with extreme caution. Chemical insecticides cannot be used; it is better to use folk remedies. In particular, they help eliminate pests:
- tobacco infusion;
- a solution of vegetable oil and soda;
- soap infusion;
- yarrow decoction;
- infusion of wood ash.
All of the above products are safe for humans, do not impair the quality of the fruit and do not change the taste of ripening apples. But for ants, homemade preparations remain dangerous, causing the death of insects or repelling them from trees for a long time.
How to treat a blooming apple tree against ants
Ants on apple flowers must be gotten rid of immediately before they cause serious damage to the fruit crop. But it is impossible to use aggressive insecticides, since beneficial bees and bumblebees can also suffer.Treatment is usually carried out using a soda solution and spraying is repeated 3-4 times at intervals of 2-3 days.
What to do if there are ants on a young apple tree
Ants are especially dangerous for apple trees at a young age; they slow down the development of seedlings, prevent the formation of buds and buds, and attract aphids. Even before the start of the growing season, immediately after planting, it is recommended to carry out preventive spraying of the crop with copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture.
When the first leaves appear on the apple tree, you should use folk or biological preparations against pests. Spraying is carried out in dry but sunny weather so that there are no burns left on the plates of the seedlings. As the culture develops, treatments are periodically repeated.
How to protect an apple tree from ants
Fighting ants on an apple tree is associated with certain difficulties. First of all, it is recommended to pay attention to preventing the appearance of the pest:
- in early spring, place special collars, glue belts and other traps on the trunks;
- promptly destroy anthills near the area with apple trees;
- for protective purposes, treat plantings with biological products or folk remedies;
- remove aphids immediately at the first symptoms of the pest.
Every autumn, it is recommended to treat the soil at the roots of apple trees with therapeutic and prophylactic insecticidal agents. It is necessary to regularly dig up the soil and promptly remove plant debris from the site.
If one apple tree is infested by ants, treatment should also be carried out for neighboring plants.
Conclusion
Traps, chemicals and folk remedies help get rid of ants on an apple tree. You need to start removing insects immediately after they are discovered, before the pests have time to proliferate and bring aphids with them.
