Pests of onions and their control

It's no secret that on the way to harvest crops, truckers are waiting for a lot of tests, not the least of which is attacking those who wish to eat young plants of pests. Needless to say, even if there is a lot of hunters on a rather aggressive taste onions . On the main pests of onions and methods of dealing with them, we'll talk today.

Pests of onions

So, let's take a closer look at each amateur to profit on the onion beds:

1. Onion fly . Inconspicuous and very similar in appearance to her family relative, the onion fly can cause the death of sufficiently large onion plantations. The role of adults is to lay eggs, from which small (about 10 mm) hatch, but very voracious larvae hatch. As a result of their activity, the onion is rotting and dying.
2. Onion secretly . In contrast to the previous case, not only larvae inflict damage to plants (legless yellowish "worms" 0.7 cm long), but also adults of this beetle. And they do not feed on bulbs, but on leaves of onions, doing in them visible paths to the gleam. As a result, the feathers turn yellow, and the bulbs are small.
3. Onion stem nematode (onion worm) . The most dangerous and cunning enemy of onion plantations for the following reasons: firstly, it is not visible to the naked eye (the length of the adult does not exceed 1.5 mm), and secondly, it has managed to adapt to most of the chemicals traditionally used against it. Both adults and larvae feed on plant sap, resulting in leaves and bulbs.
4. Onion (tobacco) thrips . A miniature pest (no more than 1 mm in length) of yellow or brown color, damages not only onions, but also garlic, flower crops and cucumbers, sucking out their juice.
5. Onion moth . Very nice at first glance, a butterfly, does a huge harm to onion crops, laying a single egg near them, from which the devouring caterpillar leaves appear.

How to protect the onion from pests?

We will make a reservation at once that the onion bed can quite well become a residence for all the insects listed above. Therefore, talk about protecting the planting of onions from pests we begin with a set of measures that act on all of them in the same measure:

1. Deep digging beds after harvest. This simple at first glance operation will help get rid of the wintering in the soil of the onion fly and onion moth larvae, and also spoil the life of the nematode somewhat. The main condition is to dig the garden bed before the onset of frost, carefully carefully collecting the post harvest residues from it.
2. Compliance with the rules of crop rotation. It is highly recommended not to plant onions on the same bed more often than once in 4-5 years, so that initially healthy seeds do not become a victim of pests.
3. Competent planning beds. To scare away some insects will help the alternation of onions with other plants. For example, planting onion rows mixed with carrots, will benefit both plants: the phytoncides of carrots will divert the onion fly, and the phytoncides of onions - carrot. And for a nematode such a repeller will become a marigold.
4. Folk remedies. As you know, the onion has the property of accumulating in the turnips all the "harmfulness", therefore it is most reasonable to struggle with its wreckers with folk remedies. For example, periodically sprayed with infusions of makhorka, tomato leaves, marigolds, needles or watered with a strong solution of salt.
5. Chemical attack. If pest infestation has become a disaster and people's remedies do not work, you can switch to chemical preparations. For example, sprinkle onion plantings with a solution of Iskra, Kondifor, Karbafos, Leptocide, Nurella-D.