How to spray red currants against aphids. We save currants from aphids using folk remedies and medications

With the onset of summer, many pests appear in the garden that can cause significant damage to fruit plants. This is both a leaf roller and spider mites, and scale insects. Aphid colonies on currants cause particularly harmful damage, so you need to figure out how to deal with them in advance. You can recognize her visit by curled leaves, characteristic swellings on them, and premature drying of the crown. In addition to the main damage, aphids lead to infection with vector-borne infections.

The harmful effects of aphids can be seen by curled and swollen leaves.

Twisted foliage when attacked by a pest

It is quite difficult to fight aphids due to the fact that most species do not lay eggs, but are viviparous. Per season at favorable conditions Up to 10 generations are born.

Types of aphids and signs of their appearance

There are more than 4 thousand species of aphids in nature, 8 of which are dangerous for currants and other fruit and berry crops. Each species is recognized not only by external characteristics, but also secondary signs of their vital activity.

The following are considered harmful for currants:

red gall aphid;
bird cherry;
beet;
blackberry;
green;
currant-salad;
peach

The result of harmful activities gall aphid

The red gall type has winged and wingless varieties. The first is larger in size and richer green color. Winged representatives have a watery-yellow body and a pair of transparent wings. The pest can be recognized by reddish swellings in the central part of currant leaves. The branches of an infected bush are dotted with galls - red-brown growths in which aphids breed. When damaged, insects patch up the holes with their own bodies and milk, as a result of which they die.

The bird cherry type is distinguished by its brown color and is the main carrier of vector-borne infections. When it appears, the leaves of the plant dry out and curl into a tube.

The beet (bean) type has an oval shape and a black (less often olive) color. It rarely affects currants, as it specializes in legumes and root vegetables. Signs of infestation include yellowed punctures on young shoots and curled foliage.

Blackberry aphids are yellow-green in color. It feeds on the fruiting buds of plants, causing their productivity to suffer. Identified by drying tops and yellowing buds. It attacks not only blackberry bushes, but also settles on currants, raspberries, grapes, and apple trees.

Currant - green aphid, period active work which falls in June and July, in 4-5 generations it gives birth to winged forms that can migrate to neighboring bushes and branches. Belongs to the oviparous species. The breeding season falls in September. Females lay eggs under the currant bark and cover the laying site with milk. Overwintered larvae are capable of reproduction on the 2nd day of life. Signs of the appearance of this type in spring, summer, and autumn are curled leaves and slow growth of the bush.

The currant-lettuce aphid differs from the one above in its orange color and ability to transmit Gooseberry virus.

The peach form has a light green color and small dimensions. It is most dangerous for currants, since one puncture can transmit up to 120 types of infection to the bush.

Biological products and chemicals against aphids

Chemical preparations against the pest are most often used before the appearance of fruit ovaries on red, black and golden currant. In case of severe infection, the bush is treated 7-10 days before harvesting.

The most effective chemicals are:

Kalash,
Tanker,
Spark double effect,
Aktara,
Aktellik,
Decis,
Intavir and others

Jaguar – effective remedy against aphids and weeds based on ethyl fenoxaprop-P. Sold in 5 liter containers. It is characterized by rapid absorption. The effect lasts from 3 to 4 weeks. Treatment is carried out in dry, lightly windy weather, at least 3 hours before precipitation. Optimal temperature for spraying from +25°C. The solution is prepared in a ratio of 1 part Jaguar to 10 parts water.

Dosages of the most popular chemicals are given in the memo.

Biological products that help with aphid infestations include:

Acrofit,
Fitoverm,
Lepidocide,
Bicol,
Bitoxibacillin and others.

Biological drug Fitoverm

A product based on aversectin C, produced in ampoules of 2.4, 5 ml, or bottles of 20 ml. Has a prolonged action. The poisoned insect dies 4-5 days after spraying.

The treatment is carried out in dry, clear weather. During the dry period, the drug remains effective from a week to three. When dew or rain occurs, spraying must be repeated. During the flowering period, Fitoverm is prohibited for use. The berries are edible after 5 days from the date of processing, since active ingredients the drug provokes poisoning.

It is forbidden to combine with alkaline solutions.

A test must be carried out before any planned combination treatment. Fitoverm is mixed with other drugs and the appearance of sediment is monitored. When this occurs, chemical combinations are prohibited.

To prepare the solution, use 5 ml of Fitoverm per 600 ml of water with a neutral pH. Liquid consumption is 10 l/100 m2. The treatment is carried out in a special suit with protection respiratory tract, mucous membranes and skin. Repeated spraying is carried out after 20 days.

Fufanon with fast-acting effect

Organophosphorus emulsion, produced in 10 ml bottles and 5 ml ampoules. Main component drug – melation. Has a fast-acting effect. When contacted with aphids, it causes complete paralysis after 2 hours of action and death after 24 hours.

Before treating currants with this product, it is necessary to wait at least 15 days from the day last feeding. It is completely incompatible with other chemicals. For cooking aqueous solution use 5 ml of substance and 5 l clean water. Spray currants on a cloudy day in the early morning or at sunset. The duration of action does not exceed 4-7 days; after the specified time period, the bushes must be sprayed again.

Acrophyte in the fight against aphids

Acrofit is a concentrated solution of aversectin C with paralytic action. Sold in 40, 200 and 900 ml packaging, as well as in 4.8 liter bottles. When caught on the body of an aphid, it causes instant paralysis. The infected insect dies within 48 hours after treatment. The drug is resistant to precipitation and remains in the plant for 2-3 weeks. Pests drinking the juice of treated currants die out after 2-3 days. Acrofit is not addictive.

Acrophyte is not used during flowering.

The optimal time for spraying is dry, windless weather at a temperature of +20 °C. For spraying, 8 ml of the substance is diluted in 1 liter of water. Ready solution bushes and berries are processed. The fruits are edible after 2-3 days. Repeated spraying is carried out after 2 weeks. The solution is not suitable for storage; the active substance avesectin decomposes in water.

Folk remedies to combat aphid colonies in spring and during fruiting

Folk pest control measures are numerous. Treatment in the spring against aphids is reduced to the destruction of larvae and overwintered individuals. For these purposes, insecticides, pesticides or boiling water are used. In April, marigolds are planted around an infected currant bush, Dalmatian chamomile, garlic or onion. The smell of these plants repels not only aphids, but also ants.

In April, the stems of the bushes are wrapped in rags soaked in tar, and also sprayed with a solution of laundry soap. You can also process currants during fruiting folk remedies. They are safe for people and bees, but effective against insect pests.

When folk remedies help, and in what cases you cannot do without chemistry, is described in the video.

Laundry soap, tobacco, esters

If young shoots and berries are eaten by aphids, and the gardener does not risk using chemicals, soap solution is an effective replacement. To prepare it use laundry soap dark color and warm water. Soap is grated, then 4 tbsp. l. The mixture is diluted in 200 ml of water, mixed, and poured into a spray bottle. The resulting mixture should be sprayed onto the affected bushes.

Tobacco is harmless to bees and humans. Currants can be watered with infusion in June, during the period of active flowering of the bush. To prepare, take 100 g of shag or tobacco leaves, pour in a liter of boiling water, and let it brew for about 8-12 hours. The cooled infusion is sprayed onto the crown once every 2 weeks, no earlier than 7 days before harvest.

Tobacco infusion can be used throughout the summer until the aphids are completely destroyed.

Citrus fruits, spruce needles, onions and garlic contain high concentration phytoncides. Their pungent aroma repels insect pests and helps fight not only aphids, but also ants.

15 drops essential oil add to 100 mg of cream and stir in 400 ml warm water. The mixture is sprayed on currants in the morning and evening for 10 days. The number of aphids will be reduced by 1/3 already on the 3rd day; after a week, the vectors will also leave the plant. Repeat treatment as necessary.

Trichopolum and tar

Trichopolum is an oral drug based on metronidazole used to treat bacterial diseases. They are often used to treat currants during aphid infestations. Trichopolum instantly penetrates the body of insect pests and causes paralysis. The solution is prepared from 20 tablets per 10 liters of water. The treatment is carried out in dry weather and, if necessary, repeated daily for 1 week.

Tar tires applied to currant trunks prevent ants from entering the crown and the spread of aphids. To prepare the splint, birch tar and gauze bandages are used. The fabric is generously moistened in liquid, and the trunks are wrapped at a level of 10 cm from the ground. The soil around the hole is spilled with a water-tar solution in a ratio of 5:10. After precipitation falls, the bundles are again moistened with tar. To do this, draw concentrated liquid into a syringe and inject it directly into the bandage. The pungent odor repels ants.

Mechanical processing and use of boiling water until the buds swell

Sanitary cleaning is an effective method of controlling aphids. Using pruning shears, cut out all affected leaves from the crown. Branches and shoots are cleaned of insects and coated with garlic juice. After cleaning is completed, the affected foliage is burned.

Video about processing with boiling water.

To finally get rid of gall and green aphids on currant bushes, it is necessary to destroy the clutch of eggs. To do this, in early March, before the buds swell, the crown is doused with hot water repeatedly. It is important that the stream of water is sprayed and hits the cracks in the bark. The acceptable temperature for spraying is +80...90°C. It is worth considering that by the time the gardener reaches the desired shrub, they will take such indicators, and during processing a few more degrees will be lost.

After spraying with boiling water, the trunks are whitened slaked lime. Lime helps destroy the remains of the colony, fill voids in trunks and under the bark, preventing the spread of pests.

Fighting aphids on currants is a responsible undertaking that cannot be delayed, as you may be left without a harvest or, in the worst case, lose the entire bush. Therefore, preventive measures are the key to healthy fruit plants and abundant harvests.

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Currants are a healthy plant, the taste of whose fruits has been known to everyone since childhood. Healing properties shrub and its berries have provided it with widespread use in folk medicine. But not only people, but also insect pests are fans of currants. The most active and aggressive is the aphid.

Aphids are small insects (up to 5 mm). Its shades range from green to black. With the arrival of spring, female aphids emerge from overwintered eggs and begin to actively reproduce, infecting the bush. The pest pierces the leaves and shoots of the plant with its thin proboscis and feeds on its juice as much as possible. Having exhausted the plant, the aphids move on to more and more bushes. One of her faithful companions are ants. Therefore, when you start fighting the pest, also take care of the adjacent anthill.

Stages of combating aphids on currants

Having discovered affected plants, the destruction of the pest should be started immediately. Diseased bushes give small harvest not very high quality.

Means for killing aphids on currants

Both organic and chemical compounds are used to treat affected bushes.

Chemical exposure

Organic compounds

Add 200 g to 10 liters of water onions. The resulting composition is left for a day, and then the currants are processed.
200 g of onion peels are kept in 10 liters of water for 4 days. Next is processing.
Combine 100 g of hot pepper in pods and 1 liter of water. Boil the composition, let it brew for 2 days and squeeze out. Before spraying the bushes, dilute the composition with water in a ratio of 1:7.
Pour 1 kg medicinal chamomile 1 bucket of water. The resulting solution should be left for 12 hours and filtered. Before applying to currant bushes, dilute the mixture in a ratio of 1:3. To enhance the effect, you can add laundry soap.
Collect 3.5 kg of fresh celandine and place it in a container with 10 liters of water. Leave the composition for a day, and then apply it to diseased plants. Dry herb is suitable for smoking.
Pour 100 g of dried citrus peel into 1 liter of water. Insist for a day.
Place 400 g of shag or tobacco in a bucket of warm water. Leave for 24 hours and strain. Before treatment, the solution is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:2 and 50 g of soap is added.
Dilute 1 tbsp of soda per 1 liter of water. It is recommended to add a little soap.

The optimal processing frequency is 1 week.

Prevention of aphids on currants

As with any disease, prevention is easier to cure. What measures will reduce the likelihood of an aphid attack?

The aphid family is very extensive. The number of its representatives reaches 4 thousand. Currant bushes with red and white berries are most often inhabited by leaf gall aphids. As a result of the life activity of the pest, the leaves of the plant become covered with swellings and growths of yellowish and cherry color. They may also appear on its branches. Black currants are more attractive to gooseberry shoot aphids. Eating cell sap tiny insects cause curling and wilting of leaves, deformation of buds. Young shoots of currant bushes infested with pests become distorted and their growth slows down.

But this is not the only reason leaf aphids and other types of aphids are dangerous. A large colony of insects weakens the plant, making it vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. The natural result of their appearance in the garden is dangerous diseases. Unable to process all the juice they suck, pests secrete a sweet substance (honeydew, or honeydew). Sticky film on the plant prevents it from breathing, and besides, they quickly settle in it and actively develop various kinds fungi. It is because of aphids that white and red currants begin to suffer from black sooty mildew.

Contrary to popular belief, ants do not fight pests, but contribute to their dispersal, transferring slow and clumsy wingless insects to shoots that have not yet been colonized by them. The reason for this is the same honeydew. Ants love to feast on sugary substances. The appearance of hordes of these insects on currant branches is a reason to sound the alarm. Measures to combat aphids necessarily include the destruction of anthills located near infected plants.

Gentle methods of control

There are different ways to get rid of pests on currant bushes. When choosing a remedy, you must first take into account the degree of damage. If there are few plants affected by aphids, and the colony of insects has not yet had time to grow on them, folk recipes will come to the rescue. Infusions made using them are safe for humans and animals, and they can be made from improvised means.

Wood ash.
Add 3 liters of hot water to 2 glasses of the substance and dissolve 1 tbsp in the resulting mixture. l soap (liquid or laundry soap will do). You can spray currants with the resulting composition within a day, having first filtered it. The ash will perform two functions at once: it will repel aphids and provide the plants with nutrients.
Liquid soap (you can use any dishwashing detergent instead). 2 tbsp. l of viscous substance is dissolved in 1 glass of water. The composition is used immediately after preparation. To destroy pests, currants are sprayed with them daily. The product acts on the respiratory organs of aphids, clogging them and causing the death of insects. Tobacco dust (shag).
After pouring 1 liter of water into a container, add 100 g of dry mass to it. The mixture is placed on the stove, brought to a boil and kept over low heat for 1 hour. The cooled product is filtered and diluted with water, adding 300 ml of tobacco infusion to a bucket of water. It is better to spray currants with it from a spray bottle. Repeated treatment is carried out after 2 days. To enhance the effect, you can mix tobacco with wood ash. For 10 liters of water take 400 g of each substance. Soda ash.

To prepare a remedy for aphids, the drug is dissolved in water (1 tablespoon of the substance per 1 liter), adding a little soap to it. Currant processing brings good results herbal infusions

. Some common plants repel aphids.
Dandelion. Its roots (200 g) or leaves (400 g) will help get rid of insects. In a container with vegetable raw materials add 10 liters of warm water. It will be possible to treat bushes affected by aphids with dandelion infusion within 2 hours.
Onion. Insects are repelled by the smell of its husk. An infusion from it is prepared for 4-5 days. Take 200 g of husk per 10 liters of water. Green feathers will also come in handy. A means for spraying currants is prepared from them in the same way, but the volume of plant raw materials is increased to 3-4 kg.
Hot pepper. Having crushed its pods, they are filled with water (1:10) and, after boiling for 30 minutes, left for 2 days. Then the composition is filtered. Before treating currants with it, the infusion is diluted (100 ml per 1 liter of clean water). An aphid repellent can be prepared from orange or lemon peels, wormwood, tansy, yarrow. They use the same recipe, but with one difference: there is no need to dilute the resulting composition.
Potato tops. After finely chopping it and pouring boiling water over it (the proportions should be the same), let the mixture brew. After 2 days, it is filtered and the currants are sprayed with it. An infusion of marigolds and tomatoes is prepared in the same way.

To save the garden from aphids, you will have to try. Insects live on the lower part of the leaves, so you need to spray currants so that the toxic compounds fall on them. The use of a spray bottle will increase the effectiveness of the procedure. Don't forget about safety rules. A mask on your face and rubber gloves on your hands will protect your skin and respiratory organs from harmful substances.

To prevent and combat infection, professionals fumigate black and red currants with dry stems of celandine. The tobacco-ash mixture will also repel aphids. The lower part of the leaves is powdered with it. It is recommended to do this when high humidity(after rain or watering). Ash is also poured under bushes from spring to autumn.

Biological and mechanical methods

On early stages infection, as well as after flowering, when the berries have already set and it has become dangerous to use chemicals, experienced summer residents prefer to fight against aphids on currants mechanically, removing pests from plants. For this

Carefully trim and burn damaged (twisted or blistered) leaves and shoot tips.
Wash off the insects with water by pointing a hose at the bush under strong pressure.
Squeeze aphids on a plant with your hands rubber gloves.
In the spring, infected buds are picked off and destroyed. This must be done while they have not yet blossomed. The buds in which the pest eggs laid in the fall overwintered differ from healthy ones in being larger in size and round in shape.

Despite the effectiveness of these measures, they have a significant drawback - they are labor intensive and require repeated treatments. Using them, you will have to carefully inspect the blackcurrant every day. When the young insects hatch from the eggs, the fight against aphids will begin again.

To protect plantings from pests, summer residents attract their natural enemies to their plots. Aphids have a lot of them, they are exterminated:

small birds;
ladybugs;
lacewings;
earwigs;
hoverflies.

Installing drinking bowls and feeders will help lure tits and sparrows. If you create beds with tomatoes and dill or a flower garden with marigolds, calendula, nasturtium, and cosmos next to currants, their smell will both repel aphids and attract beetles that eat them. A bad neighbor for a bush is corn. Pests love its succulent leaves. Having destroyed the corn plantings, they will attack the black currants.

Insects that hunt aphids can be placed on plants artificially. They are sold in stores specializing in organic farming, or at farmers' markets.

Useful in the fight against aphids and weeds. Insects love quinoa. If you leave several plants under the currant bushes, they will take the blow. Once the aphids are infested, the quinoa is pulled out and burned.

Chemical attack

At large area it is more expedient to use lesions special drugs from aphids.

You can treat currants with insecticides:

"Aktaroy";
"Wofatox";
"Inta-Virom";
"Kinmiks";
"Confidor"
"Karbofos";
"Rovikurt";
"Fufanon";
"Fury."

Due to the high toxicity of these products, you should work with them wearing a protective mask and rubber gloves. To achieve a sustainable result, 3 treatments are carried out:

before buds open;
after the appearance of young leaves;
in summer (at least a month before the berries ripen).

Fighting aphids chemicals can only be safe if the manufacturer's recommendations are strictly followed. The duration of action of the product must also be taken into account. If the waiting period is more than 2 weeks, at the budding stage it can no longer be used against aphids on currants. In this case, it is better to use drugs of biological origin (Fitoverm).

Chemicals are a salvation for summer residents whose plots are attacked by aphids every year. By treating blackcurrants with them at the beginning of the growing season and after another 2 weeks (the exact timing is specified in the instructions), you can forget about pests. Since aphids are capable of developing immunity to poisons used against them, the preparations must be changed. It's better to do this annually.

Prevention of infection

The appearance and rapid spread of aphids is a reason to wonder whether currants are being cared for correctly. Strong and healthy plants resistant to pests. The short proboscis of aphids are unable to penetrate their hard leaves, so insects do not settle on them, preferring to look for easier prey.

Prevention of aphids on currants comes down to the following measures.

Timely watering and fertilizing of bushes with low nitrogen content compounds.
Annual pruning, which involves removing old, dry, diseased, damaged, excess branches and root shoots;
Mulching the soil under plants.
Removing weeds.
Cleaning the trunk of exfoliated bark in which aphid eggs can overwinter.
Extermination of ants living under or next to a bush. Regular boiling water will help here. Having filled the bucket with it, it is poured onto the anthill. It is recommended to do this in early spring. A shallow trench dug around the currant bush and filled with a sticky substance will limit the movement of ants.

Aphids do not like strong-smelling plants: mint, garlic, onions, parsley, coriander, basil. If you plant them next to currants, you don’t have to worry about insect invasion.

In autumn, the soil under the plants is slightly loosened, and with the arrival of spring, their trunks are whitened. For preventive purposes, you can treat bushes with buds that have not yet awakened. systemic insecticides, and spill the remaining solution onto the ground underneath them. This will enhance plant protection.

Getting rid of aphids that have settled on currant bushes will take time and patience. The best results in this difficult task are achieved by summer residents who use A complex approach. Correct agricultural technology, implementation preventive measures, attracting natural enemies of insects, planting around the berry garden useful plants will protect currant bushes from infection. If it was still not possible to avoid it, initial stages you can make do with more environmentally friendly physical, biological and traditional methods destroying the enemy. If they are insufficiently effective, they switch to heavy artillery - drugs with insecticidal action.

Aphids appear on currant branches in early spring, when the leaves just bloom. Sure Signs gall aphid - reddish or orange swellings of galls, black and green aphid cause severe deformation of the leaves, they curl into a lump or roll into a tube.

If you have the opportunity and enthusiasm, you need to take care of currants from early spring, and in warm regions from the end of winter.

Scalding currants with boiling water

How preventative measure Scalding the bushes with boiling water helps to some extent against aphids and bud mites. As soon as the snow begins to melt, there are already thawed patches, and the trees and shrubs are still sleeping, as soon as the circle of earth at the base of the trunks is freed from snow, you can prepare for the procedure.

We heat boiling water in an iron bucket, pour it into a metal watering can and go water it. Water needs to be prepared in advance, because one currant or gooseberry bush takes from 5 to 10 liters of hot water (it will cool down by the time you bring it to the berry plant). A shower head is required for the watering can so that irrigation occurs in thin streams and not in a wide stream of hot water.

Before watering, make sure once again that the dormant buds are not swollen.

What does watering with boiling water give: aphids lay some of their eggs directly on the branches, if you take a magnifying glass you can see them - small grains near the buds. And it overwinters inside the kidneys kidney mite, scalding with boiling water helps to significantly hit this pest. If you see that some of the buds are thickened (currant bud mite), immediately pluck them out and add them to the fire. By the way, scalding also protects well from powdery mildew!

To water or not to water currants with boiling water? For a long time I doubted whether I was doing the right thing with scalding; for some years I did not scald, and there were always more aphids and mites during these seasons. The problem is that when the pests go on a rampage, it is still very cold outside, and any chemical solutions have temperature restrictions, only folk remedies remain, but they are effective only with repeated spraying, sometimes this is too tedious and time-consuming.

The scalding procedure itself is actually not easy - you need to heat a lot of water (like at lightning on bricks or a barbecue), and it is also somewhat annoying to walk around the garden with a watering can of boiling water, this is a job for a man. To water large currant bushes, we stand on a bench to process everything completely. Therefore, everyone must decide for themselves whether this procedure is suitable for them or not.

Fumigation

Gardeners often practice fumigating bushes against aphids by burning various means. They burn rubber, tobacco and a raincoat mushroom.

All fumigations help well, but you need to start not before the buds open, but precisely at the moment when the buds begin to swell and are ready to open.

The easiest way is to put a piece of a set fire to a bicycle tire or car tire in an old pan and place it under each bush to smolder.

For mushrooms and tobacco, beekeepers' smoker is used; only large, ripe mushrooms are suitable.

How much does all this help: fumigation, which lasted three hours, gave real results. We fumigated with tobacco from 7 pm to 10 pm (in calm weather), the aphids died almost completely. Once was enough. After that, it was enough to follow the anthills.

Disadvantages of this method: the easiest way is to fumigate with rubber - put it under the bushes and leave, it smolders, there is a lot of smoke. Fumigation with mushrooms and tobacco in the beekeeper's smoker is very slow, you cannot move away, you need to walk around the currant bushes and fan the furs. The smoke is thick and acrid. You can spread damp tobacco leaves to smolder in a small grill, but this is impractical - you need to control the wind and for a very long time (if there are a dozen currant bushes).

Conclusions: I think that fumigation is not worth wasting time and your health; combustion products are too toxic for humans.

Inspecting the bushes

Spring has begun, the buds have turned green, and then young leaves have blossomed. We inspect the currants, especially the tips of the shoots; if suddenly the leaves begin to curl into clumps, corrugation appears, immediately cut them off and put them in the oven.

In the future, you need to monitor the shape of the leaves; it is rarely possible to get rid of aphids 100%, but you can restrain their rapid reproduction.

Do not forget to prune the currants in a timely manner, cut out old branches and partially young ones if the bush is thickened.

How to treat currants against aphids

Young currant branches bend well and they are not as prickly and branchy as gooseberries, so you can not only spray them, but also dip the branches in a solution of insecticide chemicals or any folk remedy for aphids prepared according to a recipe.

I do this: I dilute the insecticide solution, usually in proportions to a bucket of water, always warm (not lower than 20 degrees). I am preparing a shoulder pump sprayer (not a hand sprayer).

I go up to the bushes and dip all the branches in turn, trying not to miss a single one. By that time the leaves had barely blossomed, the size of a ruble coin. She dipped it in, gurgled, and let go.

And so every bush. Then I pour it from the bucket into the sprayer, and spray all the bushes, now from the base of the branches to the tips and always the soil under the bush.

When treating a garden for aphids, patience and thorough spraying are important.
It is important to guess the weather - in the morning or evening, always calm.
It is important to choose an insecticide that can work at a certain temperature (some are effective in the heat, others in the cold).
It is important not to poison bees with chemicals; we really need pollinators in our gardens.
It is important to predict the rains so that all the spraying work is not in vain the next day.
When spraying, insert the sprayer tube deep into the bush and direct it towards different sides, this way the underside of the leaves is better wetted.

Onion from aphids on currants

I also have own secret- a decoction of onion peels helps very well, but you need a lot of raw materials. Half a bucket of well-compacted onion peels per bucket of water.

I found a way out in the preparation of raw materials - all winter I go to the vegetable department of the store, there very often customers sort out the onions, and there is a lot of husk left in the trays and baskets, which is usually thrown away. I ask permission and collect entire packages for free.

Pour boiling water over the onion peel and cook for 10-15 minutes to destroy the spores of harmful microorganisms in the peel. Then I leave the broth until the morning.

I strain and add a tablespoon of green soap. I pour it into the sprayer and go ahead with the song of war on aphids. I'm starting to spray onion skins as soon as possible. I repeat at least 3-4 times.

I would like to note that there is no special recipe for processing bushes and trees; besides onions, you can process them with other means, in this case it is important to have good tool. The entire success of the enterprise depends on the sprayer. If the device is good, just pour the solution, fix the button and stand near the bush, or rather, slowly walk around it in a circle.

Plants that repel aphids

There are plants that can repel aphids from currants and other berries. These are catnip, marigolds, mustard, coriander, chives, fennel, garlic, mint.

It must be said that such plantings do not guarantee getting rid of aphids. I planted garlic, catnip and marigolds near the currants, it didn’t help much, perhaps it was necessary to enclose the currant bush in a tight circle of defenders so that neither ants nor aphids would get close, but I didn’t want to fly around like Carlson with a bowl in my hands, picking berries.

Therefore, do not particularly rely on the protection of these plants, although most of them are attracted to the garden beneficial insects, not only bees, but also hoverflies and ground beetles that eat aphids.

Folk remedies for aphids

In my gardening history, I have tried various means to get rid of aphids. And I compiled my rating, periodically testing one method, then another. I'm not making any claims, I'm just sharing my impressions:

In my garden, spraying with yarrow and chamomile turned out to be completely useless: I prepared a solution of 100 g of dry grass per 1 liter of water, boil, cool, strain, add soap.

The aphids did not like it, but spraying the tops of tomatoes, leaves and roots of dandelion (500 g of leaves + 200 g of roots, leave in boiling water for 24 hours) was not statistically significant.

Citrus infusions helped against aphids: I froze the peels rather than drying them. Grind the peel of one orange and steam with 1 liter of boiling water, when it cools down, add 2 drops detergent for hands. But then I checked, not all citrus fruits help, there are varieties of tangerines and oranges whose peels are very vigorous - if you chew, it stings your tongue - these are what you need.

Another effective remedy: steamed leaves of celandine, if it grows in your area. I have plenty of it, it even grows under currant and gooseberry bushes, and in this form it doesn’t scare aphids at all. But an armful of chopped leaves and steamed in a bucket of boiling water significantly reduced the number of aphids.

This method helps against aphids: in warm weather, when the water is not cold, water the currant bushes under strong pressure from a hose; some of the aphids are simply knocked off with water. Then sprinkle the powder from the mixture over the wet leaves: 1 cup of ash (finely sifted), 1 teaspoon of mustard powder. The method is effective before the leaves become severely twisted and deformed, when the leaves are still small and the skeletal branches are clearly visible.

But you shouldn’t delude yourself about folk remedies, especially when, in addition to currants, aphids have chosen plums, cherries, and rose bushes - with a massive pest infestation, you simply can’t stock up on folk remedies - they don’t reach the aphids in curled leaves. System specialists can help here: Aktara, Konfidor - they saturate the leaf right through, and the aphids die in any case.

Fighting ants

Anyone who hasn't tried it yet should know what to expect - long war. Ants nurture aphids, nurture them, some even claim that they milk them - they tickle the aphid's sides until it pees in sweet syrup. I didn’t see it myself, I won’t lie.

I tried both chemicals and various infusions herbs, skirts and Velcro on the trunks, they, by the way, helped on plums and cherries, but you can’t provide such protection for currants; you need to eradicate anthills in the area.

What helps against ants: pee in the anthill from the heart, and pour boiling water with acetic acid (for 1 liter of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of 9% vinegar). Urine and acid are absolutely disgusting to them.

I only fight ants in the spring and early summer; the rest of the time all useful living creatures in the garden fight them. I don’t know who exactly eats the ants, except hedgehogs, but even without my efforts their number is sharply reduced, and along with them the number of aphids.

If you want to use chemical poisons industrial production, then please note that the drug is intended specifically for the destruction of garden black ants. Remedies for domestic red ants do not work.

Keep the garden clean, do not grow waist-deep weeds; when mowing, inconspicuous anthills will be visible.

Yulia Reshetnikova, Vladimir