Content
Growing a peach on your own plot is quite difficult. The seedling may not be suitable for climatic conditions or soil quality. However, even when the tree takes root, the danger of being left without a harvest does not pass. Peach pests can cause irreparable harm. Gardeners are always worried about how to deal with them, how to prevent their invasion. Below are the most effective ways to control insects.
What harm do pests cause to peach trees?
Insects cause irreparable damage to green spaces, namely:
- destroy the trunk of the tree;
- spoil the fruits;
- cause massive leaf fall;
- eat peach buds and inflorescences.
Below is information about peach pests, their descriptions and methods of treatment.
Pests of peach trees
Peach is susceptible to attack by various pests. The greatest danger to a tree are insects such as:
- eastern codling moth;
- weevils;
- peach bark beetle;
- aphid;
- scale insect;
- fruit mite;
- fruit moth.
Gardeners must treat green spaces in a timely manner to avoid insect infestations.
For example, aphids are small insects that suck sap from bark and shoots. In the autumn, you can use a 2% solution of Bordeaux mixture to combat it. And after the fruits have appeared on the tree, you can use “Aktofit” or “Bi-58 New”.
Eastern moth
The eastern codling moth belongs to the butterflies of the leafroller family. In cases where the codling moth is found in peaches upon import, the fruit must undergo disinfection or be destroyed. The insect's wings reach 15 mm in length. Females are slightly larger than males. The front wings have dark gray-brown tones, and the light scales form transverse, wavy lines. The rapidly reproducing codling moths develop quickly and cause irreparable damage to peach trees in a short period of time, depriving the gardener of a harvest.
Having made passages in the fruit, the insect leaves its excrement there, making the peach unsuitable for consumption. In the case when the pest attack is aimed at a young ovary, it quickly rots and falls off. If young peach shoots are damaged, you can expect them to dry out quickly.
In the fight against the eastern codling moth, any of the methods is aimed at reducing the number of insects. Below are tips to help fight peach pests:
- It is important to plow the row spacing deeply, and the soil around the circumference of the trunks must be loosened in a timely manner. Such measures make it possible to get rid of wintering codling moth pupae and prevent mass flight of butterflies in early spring.
- Dead bark should be promptly removed from trees and burned so that the moths have nowhere to hibernate.
- Fallen, wormy peaches must be collected and buried in the ground (about 55-60 cm deep). It is best to collect carrion before sunset. This will not allow the caterpillars to have time to crawl onto other peaches.
- Shoots damaged by the eastern codling moth must be pruned, which will help to significantly reduce the number of pests.
Weevils
Weevils belong to a large group of beetles. An adult weevil is capable of piercing buds, buds and inflorescences. Insects eat up stamens and pistils, green foliage and petals. In addition, weevils damage fruits by gnawing small holes in them and laying eggs there. Pests spread a large number of fungal diseases.
You can cope with insects using:
- chemical treatment of plantings, which is carried out until the buds swell;
- catching belts, which are applied above the trunk;
- trimming and removing buds with brown tops;
- cleaning branches and stems from dying bark;
- morning collection of bugs by shaking off insects onto pre-covered oilcloth material;
- whitewashing the stem part with lime mortar.
At the end of spring, it is effective to use preparations with entomopathogenic nematodes (for example, Nemabact or Antonem-F). The product is dissolved in water and the resulting liquid is poured over the root part of the peaches. Nematodes that enter the soil along with water kill insect pests.
Peach bark beetle
The bark beetle is one of the most dangerous pests that live on peach trees.Bark beetles live in wood, feed on it and find a place to reproduce in it. The main signs of a bark beetle attack include the presence of:
- round holes on the trunk from which wood flour or shavings spill out;
- light crackling sound that comes from beetles eating wood;
- woodpeckers on peach trees, which feed on bark beetles, extracting them from under the bark;
- traces of gum, which appears when the peach tries to repel the attack of pests on its own.
Peach trunk pest control involves:
- Treating peach against pests with insecticides. The special chemical composition contained in the preparation kills the bark beetle. You should spray not only the stem part, but also the branches of the plantings.
- Treatment with insecticides is carried out in several stages. The interval between treatments should be 10-11 days. At this time, peaches need to be nourished with immunostimulants. As soon as resin appears on the plant, you can be sure that the tree begins to fight the bark beetle on its own. It is best to use a drug made on the basis of bifenthrin for treatment.
- Treatments with fumigating poisons that can paralyze the respiratory system of pests. After bark beetles experience difficulty breathing, they try to crawl to the surface.
- Fumigating poisons are sprayed onto the stem parts under high pressure. The poison begins to act 30-40 minutes after treatment. It is recommended to repeat the spraying procedure after a couple of weeks.
- Mechanical method, which involves inserting a steel wire into the holes made by the beetle and removing the insects manually.The treated passages should be filled with insecticides and treated with garden varnish.
Shchitovka
The scale insect belongs to the family of hemipteran insects that suck sap from the bark, lay eggs in it and overwinter there. The Californian and mulberry scale insects are the most dangerous for peach. As a result of the pest's invasion, the shoots begin to curl and wither, the bark becomes loose and porous, and fruiting is absent. In some cases, peach fruits may become covered with red dots.
To combat scale insects, experts recommend using:
- manual removal of pests when they are found on a tree;
- systematic thinning of the peach crown.
In addition, it is necessary to promptly destroy root shoots and infected shoots. A product prepared as follows is ideal for treating peach trees:
- 350 g of tobacco is infused in 900 ml of water for 24 hours.
- After this, the infusion must be brought to a boil and 45 g of laundry soap added.
- Now you need to boil the liquid for 5 minutes, then add another 10 liters of water.
The prepared product must be sprayed on trees in the spring. In summer, it is best to use insecticides, namely:
- "DNOC" 40%;
- "Iskra-M";
- "Fufanon";
- "Aliot."
You can see what scale insects look like on a peach in the photo above.
Fruit moth
Fruit moth is a pest that destroys peach buds and young shoots. After eating the core, the shoots wither and die, and the plant sheds its leaves. Each caterpillar is capable of destroying more than 5 shoots. Having reached adulthood, the caterpillar hides in dry foliage or in the soil around the trunk.In order to protect peach plantings from fruit moths, it is important:
- promptly cut and burn damaged shoots;
- collect carrion and bury it in the ground to a depth of 55 cm;
- remove root shoots;
- regularly loosen the soil around the trunk;
- apply trapping belts to the standard.
Photos of peach pests will help you understand exactly what an insect that harms peach trees looks like.
Fruit mite
Peaches are most often attacked by brown fruit and peach leaf mites. The spindle-shaped body of the tick reaches 200 mm in length. On the triangular shield one can see a well-developed visor with two spines. In the spring, mites reach the inside of the buds, settle on the foliage buds and lay eggs.
Ticks, by sucking the juice from the leaves, contribute to the disruption of water balance, reducing the synthesis of chlorophyll and disrupting the processes of photosynthesis. The peach stops bearing fruit abundantly, and the quality of the fruit leaves much to be desired.
Peach leaf mites, through their activity, cause the appearance of small yellow spots on the surface of the foliage. The outermost part of the foliage begins to bend inward.
Set of preventive measures
Timely preventative measures will help get rid of pest infestations. Information about peach pests, their control, and photos of parasites will help you develop a competent strategy for preventive measures. Below are the most effective prevention methods to help avoid pest attacks:
- During the annual mass attack of pests, it is recommended to use chemicals such as “Karate”, “Neorona”, “Fitoverma”, “Agrovertina”.
- Fallen leaves and leaves should be collected and destroyed in a timely manner. weeds, which grow near the trunk of a peach. It is better to burn leaves, weeds and branches in a fire, and the resulting ash can be used as fertilizer.
- In autumn, it is recommended to carry out sanitary pruning of the crown. Removed shoots should be disposed of.
- In mid-November, it is important to dig up the soil near the trunk, turning over the layers of earth. Pests overwintering in the soil will thus remain on the surface of the earth and die from frost.
- Trunks and skeletal branches should be whitened in spring and autumn with lime mortar. To prepare it, you will need to add 3% copper sulfate to the slaked lime solution. In addition to lime, special garden paint is used for whitewashing.
- Carrying out annual spring spraying of the crown with a solution of Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate) will get rid of most pests.
- In early spring, it is recommended to install fishing belts that you can make yourself.
Peach treatment against pests with insecticides must be carried out once before flowering begins and 2 times after it ends (interval - 2 weeks). The best drugs in this category were Confidor and Calypso. It is very important to strictly follow the dosage indicated by the manufacturer in the instructions.
Conclusion
Peach pests often prevent the gardener from getting a good harvest. Peach is susceptible to most fungal diseases and is susceptible to insect attacks. Peach pest and disease control is a labor-intensive, but still doable process. However, by following preventive measures, you can avoid insect invasion and plant death. It is very important to systematically inspect trees so as not to miss the appearance of pests.
For more detailed information about peach pests, watch the video:
