Content
Midges on tomatoes worsen the health of vegetable bushes and negatively affect harvest volumes. Before you start fighting a pest, you need to study its types and characteristics.
Reasons for the appearance of small midges on tomatoes
Midges on tomato seedlings are a very common problem. They usually appear due to several reasons:
- in conditions of high temperature and humidity in the absence of wind;
- with thickened planting of tomatoes;
- when using low-quality organic fertilizers infested with pests.
The likelihood of midges occurring is especially high when growing tomatoes in a greenhouse. But even in open ground, bushes can suffer from small insects.
Types and signs of infection
The presence of midges on tomatoes becomes especially noticeable if the pests have had time to breed properly. In this case, when you touch the leaves, a whole cloud of insects rises from the bushes. In the early stages, additional signs allow you to recognize the midge, namely:
- yellowing of leaves and their deformation;
- plaque on tomato plates;
- discoloration of bushes;
- uneven ripening of fruits.
It is recommended to start processing plantings as early as possible. The fewer midges there are on the leaves, the faster you can get rid of them.
White midges on tomatoes
Most often, tomatoes in greenhouses and in the ground are damaged by white midges or whitefly butterflies. Insects have a small body up to 3 mm in length and light wings. Midges lay larvae on the underside of tomato leaves, which feed on plant sap. As a result, the tomatoes begin to wither, the plates become stained, turn yellow or black.
The white midge has increased endurance and easily survives cold snaps
Black midges on tomatoes
Black midges are soil pests and breed in the upper layers of the soil. They appear especially often in fertile areas with tomatoes. They have a body up to 4 mm in length and eat mainly the roots of tomato bushes. In the absence of therapeutic treatments, tomatoes begin to lag behind in growth, the ovary does not form well, and productivity indicators decrease.
Black midge often affects young tomato seedlings
What harm do they cause?
White and black midges are dangerous pests for tomatoes.If no treatment is carried out, small insects actively reproduce and settle in large colonies on vegetable bushes. The larvae extract juice from the leaves and stems, the crop weakens and begins to wither.
It is especially dangerous if midges fly out from tomato seedlings. At the initial stages of development, the bushes are very vulnerable and can quickly die if infected with a parasite.
The midge also causes considerable harm to adult tomatoes. Insects not only feed on the leaves, but also leave a transparent and sooty black coating on them. The plates become twisted and deformed, and photosynthesis processes are disrupted. Tomatoes grow worse and begin to wither. Fruiting volumes are reduced, the few tomatoes become smaller and become watery.
What to do if midges appear on tomatoes
There are several ways to treat tomato seedlings against midges. Which one to choose depends on the stage of the growing season and how badly the bushes are damaged.
Chemicals
Chemical agents are considered the most effective when treating midges. However, they are recommended to be used only when the bushes are seriously infested with pests. The drugs not only eliminate parasites, but can also cause some damage to the tomatoes themselves during processing - for example, lead to the accumulation of toxins in the fruits.
Decis
The chemical preparation contains deltramethrin, a substance from the peritrocide group. The toxin enters the body of insects through the integument and along with food, causing paralysis and leading to the death of parasites.
To process tomatoes, you need to dilute only 5 ml of the drug, or one ampoule, in 15 liters of water. The resulting solution is used to spray 300 m2. Treatment is carried out in the morning or after sunset, the weather is warm and dry.
Treatment of tomatoes with Decis is carried out 2-3 times as necessary at intervals of two weeks.
Intavir
The chemical drug belongs to the group of pyrethrins, the active substance in the composition is cypermethrin. The toxin inhibits the nervous system of midges on tomatoes and leads to paralysis and death of insects. The first effect becomes noticeable a day after spraying.
To prepare a solution for treatment, you need to stir a tablet of the drug Intavir in 7 liters of warm water. Spraying is carried out in warm and dry weather, the product is distributed over the tomato bushes as evenly as possible. It is advisable that there is no rain in the forecast for the next few days after treatment. If the bushes grow in open ground, precipitation will partially wash the drug off the leaves, and the duration of protection will be shortened.
Intavir can be used to treat tomatoes three times per season.
Biological products
You can treat tomatoes against midges in the open ground with biological preparations. Such agents have a rather mild effect on the crop and do not accumulate in ripening fruits or in the soil. But their effectiveness is usually slightly lower than that of chemicals.
Lepidocide
The biological insecticidal preparation is intended for the treatment of tomatoes and other crops against midges, leaf rollers, cutworms and moths. Contains endotoxins that damage the digestive system of parasites. After treating the bushes with Lepidocide, insects lose the ability to feed and die within a week.
To spray tomatoes with a biological agent, you need to dilute 10 ml of concentrate in 2 liters of water. A homogeneous solution is used to treat 100 m2 landing
It is recommended to use Lepidocide against midges on tomatoes several times at intervals of 7-8 days.
Aktofit
The biological drug belongs to the group of natural neurotoxins. Demonstrates a good effect when treating tomatoes against midges, moths, cutworms, codling moths and other pests. When ingested by insects, it destroys their nervous system and causes the death of parasites.
To process tomatoes, it is necessary to prepare a solution at the rate of 80 ml of the drug per 10 liters of liquid. The product is used for spraying in calm, dry weather in the evening or in the morning after the dew has dried. The drug works best at temperatures between 25-28 °C.
The advantages of Actofit include its effectiveness, environmental safety and affordable cost. Even with frequent treatments of bushes with this drug, pests do not develop resistance.
It is allowed to use Actofit for processing tomatoes, including two days before harvesting
Folk remedies
You can spray midges on tomatoes with home remedies. The advantage of such preparations is their complete safety for vegetable bushes. But the effectiveness of homemade solutions is not the highest, so they should only be used for treatment in cases of mild infection.
Soap solution
You can get rid of midges on tomato bushes using laundry soap. The solution is prepared according to the following scheme:
- Grind the soap bar on a grater.
- Dilute the shavings in warm water in a ratio of 1:6.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Before treatment, beat the solution until foam is obtained.
The resulting viscous liquid is generously sprayed onto the bushes. The solution can be used at any stage of tomato development; treatments are usually carried out at intervals of ten days.
Yarrow infusion
An infusion of yarrow leaves helps to cope with a small number of midges on tomatoes. The processing tool is done like this:
- Grind the greens in a volume of 1 kg and place them in an enamel bucket.
- Fill to the top with hot water.
- Sent to a warm place for two days.
- After time, the resulting infusion is filtered.
The product is used for spraying tomatoes in dry, sunny weather. The drug is suitable for both treating greenhouse plants and bushes in open ground. Irrigation with yarrow infusion is performed 2-3 times per season at weekly intervals.
Dandelion infusion
If midges in domestic tomatoes and on bushes in the ground have not had time to multiply significantly, a dandelion decoction will help to cope with them. The recipe for preparing the product looks like this:
- About 1 kg of fresh flowers is poured into an enamel container.
- Pour 10 liters of boiling water over the raw materials.
- Leave covered for about a day.
After time, the drug is filtered from the sediment. If desired, you can add 30 g of soap shavings to the liquid to increase the stickiness of the solution. The treatment is carried out in dry weather in the absence of bright sun.
Dandelion infusion can be used for spraying tomatoes and for watering at the root
Fumigation of greenhouses
For white midges on tomatoes in a greenhouse, you can use the method of fumigating the plantings. The procedure is carried out as follows:
- An iron sheet is laid on the ground in the center of the greenhouse.
- Tobacco, dry newspapers and wood chips are poured over it.
- The walls and windows of the greenhouse are lubricated with Vaseline or another viscous product.
- They set the tobacco on fire and close the greenhouse for a while.
Midges on tomatoes cannot tolerate smoke, so during the fumigation process they are removed from the leaves, rush to the windows to get out, and stick to the Vaseline. At the end of the procedure, all that remains is to wash the walls of the structure and properly ventilate the greenhouse.
After harvesting, you can also fumigate the greenhouse with sulfur bombs. It is not recommended to use this method during the fruiting period; the acrid smoke will harm the tomatoes themselves.
Planting repellent herbs
To basically prevent the appearance of midges on tomato seedlings, you can use some herbs that repel pests. In particular, it is recommended to plant between the rows and along the perimeter of the beds:
- dill;
- tobacco;
- calendula;
- marigolds and pyrethrum;
- chrysanthemums;
- yarrow and cornflower;
- narrow-leaved lavender.
If you plant flowering herbs in a sufficiently large quantity on your site, you will be able, in principle, to avoid the appearance of most pests. Some plants emit an unpleasant odor for insects, while others simply distract the attention of parasites and help protect the tomatoes.
Mechanical method
With a small number of midges, mechanical methods or the installation of traps can be used to control pests. Usually the method is used in a greenhouse, since it does not give really good results outdoors.
Sticky tapes designed to catch flies should be hung throughout the greenhouse. They need to be placed at a low height, level with the tomato bushes.The tapes are changed every few days so that the effectiveness of the protection does not decrease.
If midges often appear on tomatoes in a greenhouse, you can place a light trap in the greenhouse. A reddish or orange lamp is hung at a height of about 1.5 m. Place a container with a soap or sweet solution under it. At night, midges flying towards the light will hit the surface of the light bulb and fall into the viscous liquid.
If a small number of midges appear in open ground, tomatoes can simply be washed with low pressure water
How to deal with midges on tomato seedlings
It is necessary, first of all, to combat midges on tomato seedlings preventively. When growing tomatoes you need:
- disinfect seeds before planting in the substrate;
- follow the watering schedule and do not overwater the seedlings;
- ventilate containers with seedlings daily;
- Make sure the tomatoes receive enough light.
If midges do appear on seedlings at home, you need to carry out urgent treatment with biological products or folk remedies. It is not recommended to use chemicals on young seedlings.
How to deal with midges on tomatoes in a greenhouse
For greenhouse tomatoes, the same processing methods are used as for bushes growing in open ground. In this case, you need to take into account several nuances:
- After therapeutic spraying, the humidity in the greenhouse increases significantly. The greenhouse with tomatoes must be thoroughly ventilated after each pest control treatment.
- White and black midges love warmth and do not reproduce well in cold conditions.At night, it is allowed to open the windows in the greenhouse to lower the temperature. But the difference should not be too sharp, otherwise the tomato bushes will also suffer.
- The humidity in the greenhouse decreases slowly after spraying, even with good ventilation. On the day of processing, tomatoes should be shaded from the bright sun with a light cloth so that they do not overheat in greenhouse conditions.
Every autumn, the soil in the greenhouse must be carefully dug up. If midges caused a lot of problems last season, it is better to replace the entire top layer of soil in the greenhouse.
When growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, it is recommended to minimize fertilizing with organic matter - manure and compost.
Prevention
Getting rid of white midges on tomatoes can be difficult. It is necessary to pay attention to the prevention of pest occurrence, namely:
- maintain stable temperature and humidity when growing tomatoes in a greenhouse;
- every fall, disinfect the inside of the greenhouse;
- keep indoor and outdoor ground clean and promptly remove plant debris;
- monitor the condition of the soil - it should be constantly moist, but not swampy;
- do not allow the plantings to become too thick.
To protect against midges and other pests, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil in the beds and pull out the weeds. Compost should not be stored near tomatoes outdoors or in a greenhouse.
Conclusion
Midges on tomatoes damage the crop and generally weaken vegetable bushes. There are several ways to get rid of parasites, but priority is given to prevention.
