Strawberries (garden large-fruited strawberries) bear fruit well when they are provided with suitable care and protection from pests and diseases. The strawberry weevil is a dangerous insect that attacks strawberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes. This small black beetle gnaws off the leaves and eats away the core of the bud, leaving garden owners without a berry harvest. The pest becomes more active with the arrival of warm weather in the spring. At the first sign of strawberry infection, immediate action must be taken.
Signs of the presence of a weevil, its life cycle
Pests overwinter, hiding in the top layer of soil in strawberry beds. In the spring they come to the surface to mate and breed. This process occurs in the second half of May:
- The female lays one egg in each bud, after which she seals the entrance with her own excrement and gnaws the peduncle.
- As a result, the buds dry out on the bushes or fall to the ground. A beetle larva begins to develop in each of them.
- The weevil offspring that hatch from the eggs begin to feed on what is in their “cradle.”
- Later pupation occurs. In this case, the larvae remain inside the bud.
- After 8 days, young beetles emerge from the pupae. The pests again climb onto the strawberry bushes and begin to eat the young leaves.
With the arrival of autumn, insects leave for the winter.This happens in the first half of October. Then the development cycle repeats. Each female is capable of laying up to fifty eggs per season. If measures are not taken, the strawberries will be destroyed by insects. You can recognize the presence of a weevil by drying and crumbling buds. In addition, you need to inspect the plants themselves, where beetles may be hiding.
Effective ways to control pests
If there are few dried buds, it makes sense to use folk remedies. If the infection is severe, powerful insecticides will be needed, otherwise it will not be possible to defeat the weevil.
Folk remedies
The advantage of folk remedies is their availability, cheapness and safety. True, there are also disadvantages. It will take several treatments before the beetles disappear. Folk remedies have, rather, not a destructive, but a repellent effect. Despite this, many summer residents still use them, since many try to avoid the use of harmful chemicals in the garden.
Iodine
Tincture of iodine is used to combat weevils throughout the season. The product provides comprehensive protection, at the same time protecting garden strawberries from fungal and bacterial diseases. Add 0.5 teaspoons of iodine solution from the pharmacy to a 10-liter bucket. The composition is mixed and used to spray the bushes and the soil underneath them. The treatment is repeated every 14 days.
Garlic
You can use both cloves and garlic greens. To prepare the infusion, take 500 g of fresh leaves (green feathers) or 2 heads of garlic. The raw materials need to be crushed and filled with 10 liters of hot water. The composition should be infused for a day, then it is filtered and used for spraying plantings and soil.Repeated treatment is carried out after 10 days. The pungent smell will repel pests from strawberries. Those beetles that were hiding on the leaves will get burned and leave the bushes.
Onion peel + celandine
To prepare the infusion, you will need a glass of onion peel and 1/2 glass of celandine leaves. The raw materials are placed in a 3-liter jar and poured with boiling water. After a day, the infusion is ready. It is filtered and poured into a sprayer. All parts of the plant are generously moistened with the composition. This treatment is carried out every 10 days.
Hand collection, traps
At the initial stage, you can get rid of beetles mechanically, collecting them manually. It is also advisable to collect insects before the planned treatment in order to increase its effectiveness. It is more convenient to spread newspaper under the bushes and shake off weevils on it.
Homemade traps also help against pests. You need to fill the saucers with sugar syrup or jam and place them in the strawberry bed in the evening. In the morning, they get rid of the sweet liquid along with the insects that got into it.
Industrial insecticides
Modern and time-tested drugs are effective in the fight against beetles on strawberries. When using chemicals, we must not forget about the required waiting period before harvesting berries. This interval is usually 3-4 weeks.
"Alatar"
An insecticide based on malathion and cypermethrin provides comprehensive protection against most garden pests. Destroys both adult individuals and weevil larvae, causing their paralysis. Used at temperatures +12-25 °C. Before use, 5 ml of the product is diluted in 4 liters of water. The waiting period is 1 month.The drug is addictive, so it is alternated with other insecticides during repeated treatments.
"Fufanon"
Inexpensive insecticide with contact-intestinal action. The main active ingredient is malathion. In open beds it provides a protective effect for up to 7 days, as it is easily washed off by precipitation and has little resistance to strong winds. The working solution is prepared from 15 ml of the drug per 5 liters of water. Apply no later than 3 weeks before harvesting.
"Inta-Vir"
The pesticide is available in tablets, which makes it easy to use. The drug is effective, fast-acting, and inexpensive. The insecticide is effective for 2-4 weeks and can be combined with other drugs. The working solution is prepared from 1 tablet per bucket of water. "Inta-Vir" is used for treatment 2 times per season - at the moment of bud appearance and after harvesting.
"Aktellik"
An effective insecticide used at the first symptoms of weevil infestation. It has a contact-intestinal effect, causing paralysis and death of parasites. Provides protection against pests for 3 weeks. "Aktellik" destroys adult beetles, pupae and larvae. Not addictive. It works most effectively at a temperature of +15-25 °C. To prepare the solution, 2 ml of insecticide is diluted in 1.5 liters of water. May be mixed with other drugs.
Biological insecticides are almost as effective as chemicals. This group includes Fitoverm, Iskra-Bio, Nemabakt. They are used only in warm weather, which somewhat limits the possibilities of use in the spring.The treatment is carried out when it is dry outside, in the morning or late afternoon. It is advisable that according to the weather forecast there is no chance of precipitation in the next few days.
The fight against the weevil is carried out until the insect colony is destroyed. In order to prevent surviving pests from damaging the plantings again, it is necessary to keep the area clean, and in the fall, dig up the ground, collect all the fallen leaves, spray the plants with an insecticide solution and cover the ground with mulch. Preventive measures also include maintaining crop rotation; strawberries are transplanted to another place every 4 years.
Thank you very much for the information!