How to deal with spider mites in a greenhouse?

The spider mite, despite its small size, can cause big problems for the gardener.

The spider mite, which is often found in the greenhouse, is a small eight-legged insect without wings and whiskers that consumes the juices of the plant. The females of the pest hardly reach 0.6 millimeters, and the males are even smaller - about 0.45 millimeters. Larvae and eggs are practically invisible without a magnifying glass.

Spider mites are found everywhere except Antarctica, in trees and grasses. When the tick begins to drink juice, it injects an enzyme synthesized inside its own salivary glands. As a result, the cell structure is destroyed, the plant becomes sick and gradually dries up. Often, arachnids are also carriers of a variety of infections.

It should be added that in greenhouses and hotbeds, an ordinary spider mite, red, Turkestan, which prefers watermelons, cucumbers and peppers, date, loves eggplants, is usually active.as well as a variety called petrobia polyphagous. The pest is not afraid of the cold, but prefers humidity with heat - that is, the conditions that are created in the greenhouse. The insect lives from 30 to 50 days, and after laying the eggs, the larvae hatch within 3-5 days. Most often, cucumbers suffer from spider mites, although other crops can also become a target for arachnids.

Where the spider mite comes from in the greenhouse is actually quite difficult to figure out. The fact is that it gets inside on clothes, on fresh soil or seedlings. Of course, he appears in the greenhouse and due to improper care. Since the pest primarily attacks the extreme leaves of plants, it can be very difficult to detect it in a timely manner. The first signs of a problem are microscopic yellow dots on the back of the leaf plates - evidence of piercing the surface and sucking out the contents of the cells.

but after about a week, the pest begins to actively multiply, crawl through the bushes and leave a spider web trail behind. Yellow formations appear on the upper side of the sheets, their sizes gradually increase. Dark spots also appear, which are waste products of insects. After some time, whitish zones form on the infected plant, the culture stops blooming, and its immunity drops significantly. The buds of the plant dry up, its parts fall off, and, as a result, the amount of harvest is reduced.

The choice of a method that allows you to destroy spider mites in the greenhouse is determined depending on the degree of infestation of the crops.

The most effective is the use of chemicals, but it is customary to turn to them only in those cases when the situation is already neglected, and environmentally friendly means do not give the desired results. For example, you can fight the pest with the help of "Plant-Pina". This drug is available in the form of sticks, which you just need to stick into the ground near the plant stems. When water gets on the stick during irrigation, the insecticide will dissolve and penetrate the soil.

It will also be possible to get rid of the spider mite thanks to the use of the universal "Etisso". The substance literally in a couple of days copes with the pest, and also additionally feeds growing vegetable crops. This drug is recommended to be used as a prophylaxis during active fruiting. Gardeners also choose Actellik. This drug is diluted with water in accordance with the instructions, and then used for spraying. Killing pests, the insecticide retains its protective properties for another 8 hours, but the next 4 days after the procedure, it is not recommended to use the fruits in food.

Of course, Fitoverm cannot be ignored either. The only drawback of the tool is that the spider mite gets used to it pretty quickly, but for the first couple of treatments, an inexpensive insecticide is ideal. Effectively acting acaricides are also "Akarin", "Kleschevit", "Vertimek", "Green House", "Substral" and others.

Before using chemicals, the soil is usually abundantly irrigated. If the product requires dilution with water, green potash soap can also be added for better coverage. As a rule, processing is repeated about 5 times with an interval of 10 days.

For some, a gardener, the best means against pests are still biological products, whose ecological compositions are absolutely safe for both humans and the future harvest. For example, these include "BTB", "Bicol" and others. The action of these funds is based on fungi that live in the soil. The biological methods of control also include planting crops that can scare away insects - onions or garlic, as well as adding predatory insects that eat spider mites in a greenhouse.

Traditional methods of getting rid of pests are based on the use of drugs, herbal decoctions and infusions. Usually, such drugs are cheap and affordable, since all the components are usually at hand. So, you can irrigate the beds with potato tops with the addition of soap shavings. The spider mite will die, but the eggs will be intact, so the procedure will have to be repeated several times. Infusions of strong-smelling herbs show themselves quite well: dope ordinary, onion husks, garlic extract, yarrow, horseradish or alder. In principle, it will be effective to irrigate plantings with vinegar, ammonia, ammonia or hydrogen peroxide.

The use of various folk remedies has its own specifics. For example, in black henbane, you can use only the aerial part collected during flowering, as well as the roots of an annual plant, extracted in the fall. Potato tops can be either fresh or dried, but they must be healthy. The husks of the dried heads are taken from the onions, and from the garlic, you will need to select mature teeth and pass them through a meat grinder.

Agrotechnical methods of tillage in the greenhouse, rather, play a preventive role. In the autumn-spring period, the beds are necessarily dug up, weeded and freed from plant debris and debris. In the fall, after harvesting, insects are smoked out of the greenhouse thanks to sulfur bombs. A similar disinfection should be carried out at the beginning of the season. Checkers should be used strictly according to the instructions and do not enter the greenhouse for a couple of days after processing. It is important to follow the rules of crop rotation, that is, to alternate the planting of seedlings with those crops that are not afraid of spider mites.

Pest control differs slightly from season to season. In the fall, after harvesting, it is better to completely change the soil or cover it with snow before wintering. After that, it is important to thoroughly process the greenhouse, not only washing it with a brush and soapy water, but also disinfecting it. It is better to do the latter using insecticides, concentrated potassium permanganate, five percent copper sulfate, or a five percent solution of bleach. Greenhouse cleaning starts from the roof and then continues along the walls.

It is important to pay close attention to the joints and corners, not forgetting about the subsequent washing off of the soap residues. In the autumn months, the use of sulfur bombs is also considered appropriate. With the help of a manganese solution, it will also be correct to process inventory and various accessories for plants. Small objects can be directly soaked in liquid for 35 minutes. Wooden elements of the greenhouse are either stained or whitewashed with a solution of bleach. It will be possible to prepare the latter if you combine 500 grams of the substance with 10 liters of water and leave them to infuse for about 3 hours.

The film inside the greenhouse should be changed in the spring. Some kind of special treatment during this period is not needed only if the pests have not previously attacked the site, which means they have not hibernated nearby. If earlier the spider mite was active on the territory, then you will have to destroy the old film, carry out abundant irrigation and flush the walls of the greenhouse. During this period, it makes sense to process the plantings with "Akarin", "Vermitek" and "Nero". In the summer, insects can be removed by any means, but if possible, it is also worth replacing the contaminated soil.

An important part of protecting the greenhouse from spider mites is timely prevention:

• the room should maintain a humidity level of 80-90%, as well as a temperature below +25 degrees;
• shrubs should be located at a distance from each other so as not to provoke the appearance of thickening, and it is good if plants are placed between them that scare off pests, for example, marigolds;
• growing crops it is important to regularly check for white spots;
• the arachnid is afraid of ultraviolet radiation, so a couple of times a week it makes sense to irradiate the area with an ultraviolet lamp;
• before planting new specimens, the soil is necessarily etched and the seeds are disinfected.

For methods of getting rid of spider mites, see below.