Why does aphid appear on cherries and how to get rid of it?

Their productivity directly depends on the health of plants. Therefore, you should always take good care of your garden. As soon as aphids appear on the cherry, you need to get rid of it immediately.

To begin with, it is worth deciding what are the reasons for the appearance of these insects. Basically, adult females with wings are responsible for the distribution of their offspring. In June and July, they begin to move over large areas and lay eggs in hard-to-reach places.

In the warmth, adult wingless females quickly emerge from the eggs, which are already able to reproduce without fertilization. It is they who produce most of the insects that attack the crop. Aphids appear, as a rule, in weed-overgrown gardens and on weakened trees.

These pests are also spread by ants. Honeydew, which is constantly emitted by aphids, is one of their main food sources. Therefore, the ants take care of the aphid colonies.

It is quite easy to recognize that a tree is affected by aphids. The main thing is to regularly inspect trees, especially young shoots. There are the following signs of plant damage by aphids:

• leaves on a tree twist in a spiral, turn black, wither or dry out;

• the tree slows down its growth;

• leaves become sticky to the touch;

• fruits develop slowly and are very small in size;

• flocks of aphids fly near cherries, and a large number of ants live;

• young shoots are covered with insects, which makes them appear black.

Aphids themselves can be distinguished from other insects by their appearance. She has a small plump body on thin legs and a head with large eyes and a barely noticeable antennae.

You can fight aphids in different ways. The easiest way is to kill these insects together with ants by hand. Physical methods of struggle are good because they are environmentally friendly. In this case, the person does not harm the plant.

Many gardeners try to remove pests by hand by cutting off those shoots and leaves that are infected. But crushing insects in this way is very long and ineffective. At the same time, it is still worth removing weeds near the trees so as not to create an environment for aphid breeding.

In addition, aphids can be washed off cherries with a strong jet of water. But this should be done only in the early morning, before the onset of heat, so that burns do not appear on the leaves. Watering the plant should not be too abundant. And also to get rid of aphids, you can use strips of sticky tape, which are wrapped around the tree trunk. But only part of the colony can be destroyed in this way.

Help in the fight against aphids and chemicals. First of all, it is worth noting that they must be applied at the right time. It is necessary to process the branches until the leaves open and the first buds appear. After flowering, chemical preparations can be used no later than 20 days before picking berries, so as not to harm your health.

You can use drugs such as "Aktara", "Iskra" or "Aktofit" to combat aphids. These insecticides can help kill other pests as well.For greater efficiency, the treatment of the bushes should be carried out twice, while taking a short break of 10 days.

You can also protect cherries from pests in other ways that are safer for people. So, there are plants that attract or, conversely, scare away aphids. Both can be used to protect cherries.

The first ones should be planted away from the garden, thus distracting the aphids from the trees with berries. This group includes:

• petunia;

• mallow;

• cleoma;

• poppy;

• bird cherry;

• viburnum.

But plants from the second category with their phytoncides scare away pests. Therefore, they can be planted next to cherries. These properties are found in onions and green garlic, marigolds, lavender, fennel and mint.

And also it is worth remembering that in nature aphids have their enemies: ladybugs, predatory bugs, ground beetles and other insects. Many gardeners prefer to attract them to their site. This can be done by planting daisies, plants of the Solanaceae family and ferns in the flower beds.

You can also process cherries from aphids using folk remedies. There are several time-tested recipes that you should pay attention to first.

To prepare this simple solution, you need to use 2 cups of wood ash sifted through a fine sieve. Pour it into a saucepan, pour 10 liters of water, boil everything together for half an hour. After that, the container with the solution must be removed from the heat and allowed to cool completely. The cooled liquid can be used to spray the cherries. This procedure must be carried out twice, with an interval of 10 days.

You can also add 50 g of soap shavings to the solution during its preparation. It is best to use laundry soap. The resulting solution must be left in a warm place overnight, and in the morning, strain through cheesecloth and pour into a sprayer. It is worth using this solution before young leaves appear on the tree.

The persistent aroma of garlic repels aphids very well. Preparing such a solution is very simple. The first step is to chop a bunch of fresh green garlic. Greens are poured with 5 liters of water. There you need to add a grated bar of soap. Mix all this and leave for 2-3 hours. Use a small amount of solution for spraying. You need to use this product every 10 days. To get rid of insects completely, 2-3 procedures are required.

Good for dealing with insects and salt-based solution. It is prepared very simply. One liter of water dissolves 30 g of salt. The solution can be used immediately after preparation. The resulting amount of liquid can be applied to one tree.

A solution prepared on the basis of celandine also shows good results. It is worth using fresh plants. To do this, you need to collect 3-4 kilograms of fresh celandine. Plants need to be poured with 10 liters of water. It is necessary to insist the solution for at least 2 hours. This remedy is quite safe, so you can use it daily until the aphids completely disappear.

This product is found in various recipes. But there is an insect control agent that is prepared on its basis. To 10 liters of clean water, add 100 grams of laundry soap grated on a coarse grater and a few drops of any chlorine-containing agent. All this is mixed until smooth.

You can spray the plants with this product immediately. After 10-15 minutes after processing the wood, it must be rinsed with clean water from a hose.

Tomato leaves will also come in handy in the fight against these pests. To prepare the solution, you need to take about 5 kg of greens. Leaves need to be poured with 10 liters of hot water. All this must be boiled over low heat for half an hour. The solution must be cooled, and then mixed with a small amount of cold water and one tablespoon of soap shavings.

Onion peel infusion is prepared in the evening. To prepare it, 500 g of dry onion husks must be poured with 10 liters of water. It is recommended to spray cherries with this solution in the morning. You can repeat the procedure several times. The main thing is to take a break of 10 days.

A tobacco-based concentrate also works well in the fight against aphids. So, 200 grams of dry tobacco leaves are poured with a liter of water. The solution is infused for several hours. Before use, it must be diluted with cold water in a 1: 3 ratio.

This is a rather unusual but effective recipe. A mixture of fresh cream and oils of tea tree, cedar and lavender is being prepared. The result after its application is noticeable immediately.

To prepare this product, use 2 tablespoons of cream and 10 drops of each type of oil. It should be noted that this product cannot be used in its pure form. It must be diluted with 2 liters of clean water. You can spray cherries with such a solution 2-3 times with a break of 1 day.

It helps to cope with these pests and timely prevention.

1. Immediately after the end of winter, the trees should be inspected and the damaged branches should be cut off. It is worth getting rid of the root growth. Very often it is there that aphids lay their eggs.

2. In the fall, it is imperative to remove fallen leaves and weeds lying next to the tree.

3. In order to scare away insects, marigolds, mint or wormwood can be planted next to cherries.

4. It is necessary to get rid of all diseases and fungal infections in a timely manner.

5. The tree itself must be regularly fed in order for it to be strong and not afraid of various diseases and pests.

6. It is necessary to get rid of anthills. For this, the area near the trunk of the cherry can be sprinkled with dry wood ash. This will keep insects away. And also the root space can be watered with a solution of ash. The result will be the same.

In general, even novice gardeners can cope with aphids on cherries. It is enough just to pay attention to caring for the garden, choosing for yourself the most effective and safe ways to fight insects.

For protection and prevention of cherries from aphids, see the video.