Unfortunately, modern farming and horticulture is already hard to imagine without the use of plant protection products. In recent years, for various reasons, pests and diseases of the garden have become more and more active and affect our plants.

In this regard, there is a need to have at hand a certain set of first aid products and preparations for various diseases or pests. This is the so-called «garden first-aid kit.» Its content cannot be strictly regulated, since everyone’s problems are different. In this article, we will give tips on the approximate filling of the first-aid kit. 

So, the first and most important drug in any gardener’s first aid kit is a copper-based drug. These are means such as Bordeaux mixture, blue vitriol, Abiga Peak, HOM, etc. Copper compounds are versatile fungicides that work over a wide range of temperatures, are non-addictive to pathogens, and do not harm plants. Plus, copper is practically the only officially approved remedy for combating bacterial plant infections.

The second important drug that should be in the first aid kit is colloidal sulfur. Colloidal sulfur is a simple sulfur that has a very fine grinding. Like copper preparations, it is an excellent fungicide. And also a powerful acaricidal agent. Ticks have no immunity to sulfur, and it does no harm to plants.

The third mandatory number in your first aid kit is remedies for damage to garden trees and shrubs. Such as Rannet pasta, Zhivinka garden variety or analogues. They should always be on hand so that the saw cut, any damage to the trunk can be treated and to prevent infection or parasites from entering.

Further filling of your garden first-aid kit can be very diverse. Here we give only general directions for its content. It is conditionally possible to divide the means of helping sick and injured plants into groups.

I. Herbal preparations

You don’t have to stock up on the myriad bunches of dried herbs you find in nature. But you can have some herbs in stock. And it makes sense to store decoctions with infusions for a short time. 

Of herbal preparations, one of the most versatile and indispensable is tobacco dust. With its help, you can scare away a large number of parasites and prepare various infusions and decoctions. Very useful and inexpensive!

II. Preparations of biological origin

These are effective remedies for diseases and pests, made on the basis of living microorganisms or using their biologically active substances. These may include the following drugs:

• Fitoverm is an excellent natural insecticide.

• Bitoxibacillin is a long-acting biological insecticide, safe for humans, plants and animals;

• Alirin-B — a natural fungicide to combat major fungal infections;

• Phytosporin is a universal biological preparation for a wide range of diseases;

• Epin extra is a biostimulant based on a phytohormone. It is not a medicine, but it must be in the gardener’s first aid kit. The drug has excellent anti-stress characteristics, helps the plant quickly gain strength during transplantation or injury.

III. Chemicals

Unfortunately, sometimes it is impossible to do without potent chemicals. Some infections are detected too late to be treated by group II drugs.

Pesticides also differ in their action. And in the garden first-aid kit there should be at least one preparation of each type.

Fungicides 

These are antifungal drugs. Of the universal fungicides, copper compounds can be distinguished, but they have already been discussed earlier. In addition, you need to have: 

• Chorus is the only chemical fungicide effective at low temperatures (from +5 to +20°C),

• Skor is a broad-spectrum systemic fungicide

• Ridomil Gold is a combined systemic contact drug for many fungal diseases.

• Profit Gold is a highly specialized preparation designed to combat tomato and potato late blight, mildew on grapes and onion alternariosis.

Insecticides 

These are pesticides. For a garden first-aid kit, it is best to choose systemic drugs (i.e., penetrating into tissues and protecting the plant for a long time) with a wide spectrum of action (against many types of pests). These can be drugs:

— Aktara is a systemic insecticide against most garden pests.

— preparations based on imidacloprid (Confidor, Golden Iskra, Bison, Biotlin, etc.) — very strong insect pest preparations. The effect can last up to 3 weeks.

Acaricides

Preparations for the fight against ticks. Not many people know, but a tick is not an insect, but an arachnid. Therefore, many insecticides do not act on ticks at all or act very weakly. Therefore, in case of the appearance of a spider or gall mite, acaricidal agents must also be available. 

Good acaricidal activity is shown by colloidal sulfur, as well as the drug based on it Thiovit jet. The biopreparations Bitoxibacillin and Fitoverm, which were discussed above, also cope well with ticks.

Of the chemical acaricidal preparations, Fufanonnova, Aliot, Apollo and others can be distinguished.

In conclusion, I would like to note that this list is not exhaustive. These are just the main preparations for first aid to the garden in the event of outbreaks of diseases and pests. For the treatment and eradication of ailments, several drugs with different active substances may be required, which will have to be used alternately to achieve maximum results.