There are many recipes for treating cucumbers against aphids. Pests settle on vegetable crops in mid-summer and can leave them without a harvest. Therefore, it is important to carry out preventive measures, and if a problem is detected, immediately begin the fight. All ingredients are tested, effective and safe.
Brief information about the pest
The melon aphid on cucumbers is a common pest that attacks leaves, stems, shoots and other parts of the plant.The wingless type of adult individual is green-yellow in color, winged individuals are black or dark green in color. White, almost transparent aphids are also found on cucumbers.
Black aphids live in colonies on cucumbers. Therefore, as pests spread, black spots on the leaves and stems of plants become clearly visible.
The size of insects is very small, about 1-2 mm. They live on cucumbers at the bottom of the leaves. At temperatures above +6 degrees they begin to actively reproduce. They feed on the juice of the leaves of watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons, significantly weakening them. The poison secreted by insects is destructive to cucumbers. In addition, aphids are carriers of various infections.
Curled leaves appear on the affected cucumbers, spots can be found on them, and the ovaries and flowers begin to fall off. Cucumber plantings look lethargic and begin to turn yellow. At this stage, you can still save the crop. There are many ways to deal with aphids on cucumbers.
How to fight aphids on cucumbers, recipes with herbal ingredients
The fight against aphids on cucumbers in a greenhouse or in an open area can be carried out using herbal infusions. If you plan to get rid of aphids using folk remedies, you need to prepare the compositions correctly, observing all the recommended proportions. This will avoid burns and deterioration of the plants.
- Withdraw pests on cucumbers You can use celandine. You will need to pour 400 g of the plant with a liter of water and leave to infuse for 2 days. Then the broth must be boiled for 30 minutes.
- Dry yarrow herb helps remove aphids from cucumbers. The grass is poured with 2 liters of water and kept in a water bath for 40 minutes. After which it is left for two days in a dark place to infuse.
- Regular spraying with dandelion infusion will help eradicate aphids on cucumbers. Roots and shoots are useful, which are filled with water, left for a day and then filtered. It is recommended to spray the plant, especially the back part of the leaves, four times at intervals of one day.
- An infusion of potato or tomato tops helps control aphids. The greens are infused in hot water for several hours. For 10 liters of water take approximately 1 kg of tops. The resulting infusion should be sprinkled on all the greens of the cucumbers.
- Garlic infusion is powerful against aphids. Place 500 g of peeled garlic cloves and a dry sprig of celandine into a glass jar and fill with warm water. Leave to infuse for 3-4 days. To spray, you need to take 25 ml of the resulting infusion and dilute it in a 10-liter bucket of water.
All these methods of combating aphids in one procedure will not be able to destroy all insects. Only regular cultivation of the beds can lead to the desired results. The treatment must be carried out before the scorching sun appears. If the bed is watered in the middle of a hot day, the leaves turn yellow, curl and dry out.
How to fight aphids on cucumbers using folk remedies
If aphids appear during the fruiting period, then the use of chemicals is prohibited. Folk remedies prepared at home will help solve the problem. All destructive components that are part of folk remedies are safe, inexpensive and can almost always be found in every home.
Recipes for folk remedies for aphids on cucumbers.
- Spraying with a solution of vinegar helps against black aphids.200 ml of table vinegar is dissolved in 10 liters of cool water and the product is ready for use. Aphid vinegar can be used after three days.
- Often aphids appear due to ants, so you need to get rid of these insects in a timely manner. Dry mustard will come to the rescue against aphids on cucumbers in a greenhouse, which is recommended to be scattered in the habitats of ants. A solution for spraying cucumbers also helps. Pour 100 g of dry mustard powder into 10 liters of water.
- If aphids appear on cucumbers in a greenhouse, a pepper-tobacco mixture will help. Finely chop 30 g of hot pepper, add 200 g of tobacco dust and fill with water (10 l) for a day. Before use, add wood ash and soap shavings.
- Many known methods of pest control involve the use of wood ash. Ash not only helps to cope with aphids, but also enriches the plant with nutrients. Dissolve 200 g of wood ash in 10 liters of water and add 200 g of crushed laundry soap. You need to spray cucumbers three times every five days.
- A proven and effective remedy for aphids on cucumbers is ammonia. Dilute 50 ml of alcohol and 25 g of soap in 10 liters of water. You can wipe the leaves with the solution or spray all the greenery of the cucumbers. Spray 1-2 times a week.
- Hydrogen peroxide helps control pests in greenhouse conditions. Hydrogen peroxide can get rid of not only aphids, but also other pests, as well as many diseases. Add 50 g of sugar and 50 ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide to a liter of water. Treatment is carried out no more than once a week.
If aphids appear on cucumber seedlings, then hydrogen peroxide can help in this case too.Reviews from gardeners about this method are positive: “I treated the cucumber beds once every 10 days. It was possible not only to destroy the insects, but also to enrich the plant with oxygen, nutrients and give them strength. I diluted 40 ml of H2O2 in a liter of water.”
How to fight aphids on cucumbers, preventive measures
Prevention should be carried out several times throughout the cucumber growing season. Proper and careful care of vegetable beds will help prevent the spread of pests.
- Be sure to weed the beds. Since aphids like to overwinter on weeds, they should not be allowed to grow near the beds. It is better to burn the torn tops or take them away from the beds.
- Inspecting the plants will allow you to identify insects at an early stage, when you can still remove the leaves with them.
- If vegetables are grown in greenhouse conditions, the room must be regularly ventilated.
- It is important to organize the correct watering regime.
- Replacing the top layer of soil in the greenhouse, which is carried out every autumn after harvest, will help protect the beds from aphids.
- You can choose cucumber varieties that are highly resistant to pests.
- Protection of cucumbers is provided by the natural enemies of aphids - ladybirds and lacewings. Therefore, you can catch these insects and bring them to your site. The method will be especially helpful in a protected area.
- It is useful to plant garlic, onions, mint, coriander, and marigolds next to cucumbers. Pests do not like the smell of these plants.
It is recommended to begin preventive measures to combat aphids on cucumbers before planting the seeds. Planting material is disinfected and soaked in special solutions that help resist diseases and pests.
Aphids on cucumbers, how to fight them in other ways
If aphids appear and folk remedies do not help, you can use biological preparations. Cucumbers can be safely eaten 4-5 days after processing the plants. Effective preparations with a natural base:
- Entobacterin helps to poison aphids. It is necessary to dissolve 10 g of powder in one liter of water, the resulting solution is poured into a spray container. You can harvest after a week.
- To get rid of aphids, you can choose the biological product Tanrek. It is available in the form of a water-soluble substance. Dissolve 5 ml of the drug in 10 liters of cold water. For better adhesion to cucumber leaves, it is useful to add crushed laundry soap. The protective composition has a validity period of about a month, provided that there is no heavy rain.
- Arrow is available in 50 g sachets. One sachet is diluted in 10 liters of water. Re-processing of cucumbers must be carried out after two weeks. Can be used for preventive purposes. In this case, treatment is carried out once a month.
Other effective biological products for getting rid of aphids on cucumbers include Fitoverm, Aktofit, Iskra. They can be used to treat vegetable beds at any time of the growing season. They do not harm either humans or bees.
