Whitefly in a greenhouse on cucumbers
Whitefly on cucumbers in a greenhouse is a lot of hassle. Timely measures taken can prevent the rapid reproduction of the pest and save the cucumber plantings until irreparable harm is done to them.
Whitefly in a greenhouse on cucumbers
Signs of a whitefly
Whitefly is a white pest insect in length no more than 1.5-5mm. its larvae are lumpy with a green tint, up to 0.2-0.3 mm long.
It is rarely possible to confuse the signs of the presence of a harmful insect with damage to cucumber plantings by other varieties, the causes of which are the weakening of plants and their diseases. It leaves a characteristic trail by which gardeners will find out that this pest has settled on the cucumber bushes:
- a sticky bloom appears on cucumber stalks and foliage,
- cucumber leaves begin to curl, on the inner side of the leaf blade there are many larvae and the characteristic bloom of white color that comes with it, some leaves turn yellow, becoming covered with spots with blurred edges,
- upon sharp contact with the surface of cucumber foliage, disturbed insects quickly fly off the plants in a flock of white small flies.
Harm
An adult and its faces cause significant damage to cucumbers when grown in a greenhouse, posing a serious threat. The pest is able to increase its population in a matter of days, laying up to 100-130 eggs per day. Each individual individual lives for 30 days. This time is enough for so many insects to destroy all cucumber plantings, feeding on plant sap and damaging cucumber stems and foliage.
In addition to the fact that the insect for cucumbers independently carries a threat, it also carries many infectious fungal diseases, among which the most dangerous for vegetable crops is a sooty fungus, which manifests itself in the form of a dark plaque in sticky places formed during the life of the pest and larvae.
Mechanical protection methods
When a whitefly appears on cucumbers, each summer resident decides how to fight, based on the least harm to the cucumber culture. Among the more accessible methods of dealing with it for the gardener are mechanical ones that do not harm vegetables.
- The first, the simplest and much more laborious, is collecting the insect by hand. With this method, the adult and its larvae are removed from the plants with a sponge soaked in soapy water.
- The second method to get rid of it is to remove the insect from the cucumber foliage and stems using a watering hose with a strong pressure of water and then treating the cucumber bushes with solutions prepared on the basis of laundry soap.
The simplest mechanical methods of fighting whitefly on cucumbers lead only to temporary results and do not effectively get rid of the pest in full.
Traps
Many summer residents use traps that are environmentally friendly for the harvest, purchasing them in specialized stores or making them on their own:
- the plastic material for the trap is painted yellow or orange that attracts insects,
- from above, the trap is covered with sticky entomological glue or a self-prepared composition of petroleum jelly and detergent (soap) mixed in equal parts,
- in the trap, they make a backlight and weigh it at the height of the cucumber bushes.
At night, summer residents often leave a trap with an orange or yellow light bulb mounted in a box. A container with water is placed at the bottom of the box. Insects flying into the light hit the light bulb and fall into the water.
A mechanical trap can kill up to 80% of the whitefly population.
Biological methods
Attracting ladybirds to the site will help in the problem
Natural enemies of the white pest act as a biological control method. In nature, other insects like to hunt for this insect, including the ladybug and lacewing. It is their summer residents who are trying to lure them to their personal plot.
To attract beneficial insects that eat whitefly larvae, marigolds are often planted along cucumber beds.
The encarzia parasite can effectively fight the pest, which is planted in the soil where cucumbers grow, at a distance of about 3 m at the rate of 20 parasites per 1 square meter of greenhouse area. Encarsia lays eggs in the larva, thereby destroying it.
The encarsia parasite is able to detect whitefly larvae even at a distance of up to 20m.
The biological preparation verticillin, which contains a live fungus in its composition, which poses a danger to larvae and adults, is effectively used by summer residents and does not pose a danger to plants, domestic animals and humans.
Traditional methods
In order to avoid harming the cucumber culture, many summer residents, among the measures how to deal with whitefly on cucumbers in a greenhouse, prefer to use folk remedies that effectively help against the pest in the initial tapas of plant damage.
Soap
Aqueous solutions based on household or tar soap, diluted in a 6: 1 ratio, are used both for spraying the green parts of cucumber bushes and for wiping foliage.
Garlic
Against the pest, cucumbers can be treated with infusions of garlic, which are made from 2 cloves per liter volume of water and kept in a dark place for 24 hours. Processing is carried out 2-3 times at weekly intervals.
Yarrow
Infused for two days in a liter of water, yarrow (80-90gr) is used in the same way as the infusion of garlic.
They need to process the planting by spraying, repeated 2-3 times every week.
Dandelion
Dandelion roots and leaves (40 g each) are infused in a liter of water for 3-4 days and cucumber plantings are sprayed with a strained working solution at least 2 times in a weekly interval between them.
Chemical methods
With a large-scale defeat of cucumber plantings, one cannot do without the use of chemicals.
- Providing a long-lasting effect, Aktara can create protection against whitefly for cucumbers for a period of at least a month. The chemical can affect adult insects and larvae. Its main application is root watering or spraying of cucumber greens.
- One treatment with Acarin is sufficient to get rid of the pest or significantly reduce its number. The chemical drug gets inside the insect along with food - cucumber juice, having a detrimental effect on its body.
- Spark tablets are suitable for spraying cucumber bushes in the fight against whitefly.
- Confidor and the Admiral allow to destroy in large numbers adult insects and their larvae in a short period of time.