The spider mite is one of the most dangerous pests of cultivated plants, their seedlings and indoor flowers. It can affect crops in the garden, in the greenhouse, and even in your home on the windowsill.
And even despite the fact that the size of the insect is extremely small, the tick can cause irreparable damage to plants, including causing their death. This is because the pest is highly fertile and has an excellent "appetite" and can affect both tomatoes and cucumbers, and other crops.
Due to its ability to create a thin cobweb, the mite got its name "spider web". In this article, we will find out what measures and methods can be used to fight and get rid of the pest.
What seedlings does spider mite like?
The spider mite prefers to "feast on" the seedlings of the Solanaceae family... Most often, his diet includes tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. Tiny yellow dots appear along the main vein of the foliage - bite sites. Over time, they discolor, and on top are covered with a cobweb, along which the pest moves. The mite most often captures the upper part of the seedlings, trying to completely suck the juice from the foliage. If insects are not noticed in time, you can wait for the irreversible, when it will no longer be possible to save the plants.
Causes of occurrence
Any insect needs optimal conditions for rapid reproduction and development. In the case of spider mites, this is high temperature and dry air. The pest can overwinter in the upper ball of soil, in fallen dry leaves, in the greenhouse (especially in its corners), as well as in the ground on the windowsill of your apartment windows.
It is impossible to absolutely protect plants from a dangerous pest. Because he can get to the culture even with a gust of wind.
Moreover, it is worth noting that a spider mite may also appear at home, even taking into account the fact that the harvesting of land and the processing of the seeds themselves is done indoors. Everything here lies in the created conditions and external factors, for example, as previously mentioned about gusts of wind.
The only thing that can be done is to take preventive measures to prevent the appearance of pests. Keep an eye on the plants, and as soon as you see signs of mites, immediately remove the damaged foliage. Timely processing of crops with special means will quickly eliminate the problem and save the harvest.
Consequences of spiderweb damage to seedlings
The spider mite brings irreparable harm to any plants, including their seedlings. It leads to the destruction of part of the cells, a decrease in the area and intensity of the photosynthesis process, making nightshades more vulnerable to various kinds of diseases. The pest not only feeds on the plant, but is also a carrier of infectious diseases. These are spores of gray rot and other infectious diseases of agricultural crops.
If the spider mite has infected the seedlings even before the flowering appears and a timely course of treatment is not carried out, then the ovaries may not form at all. Therefore, there will be no harvest. During this time, the plant becomes vulnerable to other diseases, fungi, and infection. It grows for a long time and bears fruit poorly, and in the end it may simply die.
You need to be more attentive to each individual bush of seedlings, and with the appearance of infected plants, they need to be quarantined. It is better to remove such seedlings away from healthy crops, and intensively treat them.
How to treat tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings from a pest?
Chemicals can be used to combat spider mites. This is the most effective method, and in principle, it can also be used for seedlings. The main thing is to remember that insect eggs are more resistant to specialized means than healthy individuals. And it is recommended to process the bushes several times with a short break of a couple of days.
It is recommended to use acaricides and insectoacaricides as chemicals.
Using folk methods
There are many popular methods to cope with a spider mite using improvised means, various herbs and plants. Let's consider the main ones:
- for 5 liters of water, prepare 0.5 kg of crushed dry leaves and stems of black henbane. Leave the composition to infuse for 12 hours, then strain it and add 30 g of liquid soap. You can also use grated soap;
- you can also use black henbane fresh. To do this, pour 3 kg of the plant with a small amount of boiled water and leave the infusion for 3 hours. As soon as everything cools down, the composition must be filtered and water added to a volume of 10 liters;
- prepare 0.3 kg of chopped dandelion roots or 0.5 kg of fresh dandelion leaves. Fill all water temperatures no more than 40 degrees Celsius for three hours. After straining, the infusion can be used, and this is done at least three times: as soon as the first leaves of the seedlings appear, after the flowering appears, and another two weeks after that;
- garlic infusion showed itself well, for which it is necessary to pour 0.5 kg of chopped garlic with 3 liters of water. It is recommended to insist the composition for three days in a warm place. This will make a concentrated infusion. For spraying on 5 liters of water, it will only need 50 g. Plus, before using it, you need to add another 50 g of liquid soap to the solution.
It is recommended to spray tomato seedlings and other crops with such folk infusions and solutions exclusively in the evening, when there is no scorching sun. Moreover, the addition of soap is performed immediately before the very use of the composition and helps to cope with the cobweb. There are many recipes when poisonous plants are present in them. In this case, it is extremely important to observe the dosage of plants and herbs so as not to harm not only the plant itself, but also the person who is spraying.
If the seedlings are supposed to be planted on open ground, dill can be planted next to the seedlings. It will actively help in pest control. And its flowering will beckon ladybirds to themselves, which are happy to feast on a spider mite.
The use of special drugs at home
Gardeners advise treating plants with sparing agents in the fight against spider mites, but if they do not give the desired result, you need to use specialized preparations. In this case, it is worth spraying with Bitoxibacillin, Fitoverm or colloidal sulfur. When these options did not work either, pay attention to the broad-acting acaricide solution - Actellika, Omayt, Neoron, Sunmayt, Talstar, Flumayt, Fufanon. Among other things, you can use drugs to combat currant spider mites.
The spider mite is a very dangerous pest that can lead to the death of seedlings. That is why it is recommended to carefully monitor your plants and, when the first signs of the disease appear, immediately treat them with the necessary means. This will protect you from crop loss.