Photo, description and means of grape pest control
The vineyard attracts the attention of dozens of pests. Around the world there are about 800 species of insects that can harm the crop of this crop. Moreover, not only berries suffer, but also roots, perennial and green shoots, inflorescences and leaves.
Without a well-built plant protection system, preventive and therapeutic treatment of grapes from diseases and pests, there is a risk of losing from 30 to 50% of the harvest, and some enemies of this crop are able to completely destroy the plantation.
Grape mites and methods of dealing with them
If you do not stop the reproduction of insects in time and do not start using methods to combat grape mites, their vital activity negatively affects the ripening of shoots, the quality and quantity of berries, and colonies of bacteria and fungi, including pathogens of such serious diseases as mildew and powdery mildew.
Mite females wintering on weeds or inside buds begin to feed and lay eggs in spring, already at a temperature of about 7–8 ° C. As a result, the rudiments of inflorescences and shoots are damaged, the formed brushes are smaller than before the tick injury, and the growth is weaker. If a tick infects buds, they turn red, become dense and crumble.
The harm from the insect, which gives 6 to 11 generations per season, increases in the summer months, when the grape itch is fed by the juices of the green part of the bush.
Traces of the presence of a pest look like a deformation of the outer side of the sheet plate, the appearance of noticeable tubercles on it, which correspond to small depressions covered with a pile similar to felt or cobwebs.
The stronger the damage to the leaf, the weaker the metabolic processes in its tissues. If you do not take urgent measures to combat grape itch, felt spots on the back of the leaves merge, the leaf plate folds, practically falling out of the photosynthesis process. The leaf weakens and dries up. Sometimes ripening brushes appear under the felt cover.
If at the beginning of the season the tick settles on the lower tier of the vine, then, without proper control, it can also spread to younger shoots. The spread of the tick is facilitated by dry hot weather, gusty winds, from diseased parts of the plant to healthy insects during pruning, planting or grafting. To minimize the risk of crop loss from the grape mite, methods of controlling this pest should include agricultural techniques and spraying with modern insecticides and acaricides.
Shoots weakened or frozen in winter must be removed. In autumn or early spring, when the grape buds have not yet begun to grow, the vine and potential places of accumulation of grape itch are treated with a 2% DNOC solution. A 3% nitrafen solution will be effective against hibernating female ticks. Since insects are often hidden by the formed felt covering, special attention is paid to the back of the leaves when treating grapes from diseases and pests.
A long-proven measure to combat grape itch is considered to be a two-fold treatment of plantings with sulfur preparations. It is important that the air temperature is above 20 ° C, and there are 10-14 days between procedures.
When plants were attacked by a tick, chemical treatments, including Fufanon, Neoron and Aktara, Actellic or Tevit Jet, are chosen not only for their effectiveness, but also for safety in relation to bees and humans.
Grape aphid or phylloxera
An extremely dangerous pest for rootstock and European grape varieties is the grape aphid, which damages plantings in all existing forms, be they larvae, nymphs, winged and soil insects.
Having appeared in Europe in the middle of the 19th century, this pest caused devastating damage to the most famous vineyards, calling into question the cultivation of this crop in France.
During the season, the aphid gives 7-8 generations, as a result, plants infected with the root form of phylloxera noticeably weaken, their root system turns out to be underdeveloped, and without treatment of grapes from diseases and pests, the vine dies in several years. To cope with this form is possible only by completely removing the affected bushes. The leaf form, characterized by the appearance of galls containing aphid eggs on the back of the leaves, is usually detected in the second year.
Since this dangerous pest is a quarantine pest, the control measures are to prevent the spread of aphids, as well as to use phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. Actelik, Dilor, Confidor Maxi and Etaphos are used against the leaf form. The first treatment is carried out when the buds are massively blooming, and the second at the stage when there are already 9-12 leaves on the shoots.
Leaf rollers and other grape pests affecting greens
Caterpillars of bunchy, grape and two-year-old leaf rollers feed on buds, delicate flowers and buds of grapes, as well as on the ovary and already ripening berries. As a result, the affected parts of the vine rot or dry out and die off. Caterpillars of scoops and moths, feeding on buds and leaves, also parasitize on grape bushes. Without proper attention, serious damage to the green parts of the plant can be caused by the miner moth, whose larvae developing in the leaf tissue feed on it and make winding passages.
To protect the crop from leaf rollers and scoops, the treatment of grapes from diseases and pests with insecticides is carried out during the period when butterflies fly out.
If eggs and caterpillars are found on the grapes, it is important to carefully remove the damaged parts of the plant, preventing the pests from spreading. You can protect the crop through three consecutive treatments with Fozalon, Ambush, Sumicidin, or modern biological products.
Thrips: description of the pest of grapes, photos and methods of treatment
The grapes parasitizing on the green part of plants are small, reaching 0.6–2 mm in length, insects pierce the covers of foliage and shoots and suck out juices, leading to a delay in the development of the bush in spring.
On leaves affected by thrips, first at the edges, and then on the entire plate, brown areas appear, the surface is deformed and gradually curled.
Similar damage can be seen on young shoots, antennae, and later on berries. As in the case of the grape mite, the methods of controlling these insects are to use Phosphamide or BI-58, Carbamil and Methomil.
Scabbards and mealybugs
Grape shoots attract many pests. Small scale insects and mealybugs leading a sedentary lifestyle, settling on the vine, suck the juices. Which leads to the weakening of the affected parts of the plant, their drying out and a decrease in yield. The presence of scale insects betrays glossy spots of honeydew secreted by these insects.However, the damage to the plant from this kind of pests is not limited to the weakening of shoots and foliage, fungi soon develop in the habitats of scale insects and scale insects, and pockets of dangerous grapes appear diseases... Where do these pests of grapes, presented in the photo, live, and how to treat the bush affected by them?
In autumn, young scale insects are concentrated on the basis of one-year-old shoots, attach and hibernate. In the spring, matured insects give life to a new generation, which appears from under the shields of dead females.
Mealybugs with a whitish, loose waxy mass as a coating can cause serious damage to grapes. Hibernating in the form of larvae under the bark of adult shoots and even on the supports of the trellis, with the onset of heat, pests move to the green parts of the plant, to shoots and leaves, where they become adults. Mealybugs and various types of scale insects are fought by processing all above-ground parts of the bush, as well as trellis details. Spraying is carried out in early spring, before the buds open and, necessarily, under great pressure, so that the drug penetrates into the layers of the bark.
Skosari or weevil beetles
Vineyards are damaged by several species of weevils, which gnaw the buds and leaves of young foliage, and their larvae can seriously damage the root system.
Adult beetles and larvae of this pest hibernate in the ground at a depth of 15 to 30 cm. Insect activity begins with the arrival of spring, when the air warms up above 10 ° C. The treatment of grapes from diseases and pests, including weevils, is carried out using insecticides, from April to May, when the beetles are actively feeding, and also in June, when young individuals emerge from the ground. The vineyard is sprayed twice with an interval of 10 days, using chlorophos and fosalon, the soil in the aisles is loosened to a depth of at least 15 cm.
Protection of grapes from wasps
If most of the summer the colony of wasps is actively increasing its numbers and looking for protein food to feed the offspring, then in August the insects begin to prepare for winter and their diet changes radically. The harvest of many horticultural crops, including grapes, suffers from wasps, now interested in exceptionally sweet things. Moreover, due to the thin skin of grape berries, these pests can seriously reduce the yield and negatively affect the quality of the brushes.
Therefore, protecting the vineyard from wasps is a top priority for the grower.
Dealing with wasps is not easy because the use of insecticides becomes dangerous when the berries ripen.
The best result can be achieved if you start fighting the pest in advance and use all existing methods. Destruction of hornets' nests is best done in the evening, when insects gather for the night. When planning to perform such a task, they must take all measures of personal safety. The place of concentration of pests is treated with a fast-acting insecticide that is active against wasps.
The use of industrially manufactured and homemade traps will not help get rid of insects, but with a systematic approach, it will significantly reduce their numbers. At the beginning of summer, the trap is equipped with meat or fish bait, and in August and September the vessel is filled with syrup or other sweet product. As it is filled, the device is cleaned and hung out near the vineyard.
When the brushes begin to ripen, they are covered with mesh or non-woven covers to protect the grapes from wasps, other insects and birds. Such a shelter should be free enough so as not to interfere with the pouring of berries and to prevent the appearance of condensation inside and the development of rot.