Currant bushes are the very plants that many summer residents love and appreciate. Red, white, yellow, pink and, of course, black currants are an excellent source of vitamins and positive emotions. Of course, you can count on a plentiful harvest of these wonderful berries only with proper care of the plants. It is necessary to grow currants in favorable conditions for it, not forgetting to protect it from diseases and pests.
Blackcurrant is the least capricious culture. Knowing this, summer residents often pay insufficient attention to it. But she also needs care and protection, for example, from a kidney mite, which threatens to a greater extent this particular variety of currant. It is able not only to deprive the gardener of the harvest of fragrant berries, but also to destroy the plant, so it is important to know how to treat currants from bud mites.
Kidney mite — a lover of currants and gooseberries
Bud mites are difficult to see: the maximum length of this worm-like individual is only 0.2 mm, and they hide inside a closed plant bud. In just one kidney, over 8 thousand ticks can initially be located, absorbing the contents of their temporary refuge. In one season, female parasites are able to reproduce 3-5 generations, increasing the size of their army to 40 thousand individuals.
Having successfully overwintered inside the kidney, the pests wait for warming to + 5ºC in order to begin to multiply actively. With the formation of flower brushes, parasites get out and begin to capture new buds and territories with plants located in the neighborhood. There is no need to hope that everything will pass by itself. Only a well-organized fight will give your berry grower a chance to live.
What is dangerous currant mite
The danger posed by this insect is twofold. This parasite:
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feeds on plant juices, destroying buds, shoots and preventing the shrub from developing, blooming and bearing fruit;
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It is a distributor of viral and fungal diseases that are detrimental to plants.
The pathogenic microflora that this insect carries is deadly for currants.
External signs of damage
Signs of damage can manifest themselves in different ways depending on the specific time of the year.
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Spring and summer. On one-year-old shoots, foliage becomes lighter, its surface coarsens. The leaves at the tops become smaller and twist. Instead of ordinary shoots, thin reddish shoots appear, drawing juices from the affected plant, depleting it. Flowering and fruiting is absent. This is how the symptoms of fungal or viral diseases manifest themselves.
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Autumn. Kidneys captured by ticks have a hypertrophied appearance. They increase in size and become like disheveled cabbages.
Affected plants do not live long, but the mites that have multiplied and grown stronger in their buds will continue to infect and kill currants and gooseberries. There is only one way out — when the first signs of damage are detected, it is necessary to immediately begin the fight against the pest.
All methods of dealing with kidney mites
In the spring, you need to carefully pick out all unnaturally swollen buds. If a lot of such buds are found on the shoot, it is better to completely remove it. All collected material is burned. If this is not immediately possible, the buds and cuttings of the shoots are placed in a glass jar, which is tightly sealed. Burning is the only way to kill the tick.
Mechanical treatment is important, but you still have to spray the bush with the right preparation. You need to be especially careful during budding to prevent insects from moving to other plants.
The use of chemicals
During the formation of buds, currants and gooseberries can be treated with a solution of a low-toxic insecticide. Choose from any of the following:
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Kontos;
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Nissoran;
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Oberon;
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Envidor.
When the air warms up to a temperature of + 5ºC, it is necessary to carry out the first spraying of the plant. Repeated treatments are carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 10-12 days.
After harvesting, you can use more toxic drugs, which include:
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Famidophos;
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Dimetrin;
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Accent;
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Danadim.
They will help to consolidate the result.
Colloidal sulfur also belongs to effective means of control. Only 10 grams of powder dissolved in 10 liters of water is needed to prepare a working solution that is used to treat currants before flowering. For repeated spraying, it is enough to use only 5 grams of sulfur for the same volume of water. Gooseberries cannot be processed with colloidal sulfur due to the formation of burns on the leaves.
Use of biological preparations
There are also biological preparations with acaricidal properties. These include:
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Akarin;
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Vertimek;
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Bicol;
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Bitoxibacillin.
The procedure and conditions for the use of these drugs are described in the instructions for them.
Fighting ticks with folk methods
Summer residents widely use the scalding method. The bushes are scalded while they are still completely bare, and the sap flow in them has not begun. Snow is not a hindrance to the procedure, but the average daily air temperature should no longer be below +5ºC.
In an iron bucket, water is heated to a boil. The operating temperature of the water must be at least 60-65ºC. While boiling water is carried to the bushes and poured into a watering can, the water will cool to the desired parameters. It is recommended to tie the branches of the shrub together in advance, and then douse the plant from the watering can with hot water.
The following methods are based on the preferences of the bud mite. For example, this insect does not like the smell of onions and garlic. So, next to the currants, it is they who should be planted. In addition, plants are sprayed with solutions of garlic (200 g of crushed garlic per 10 liters of water) and onions (300 g of husks per 10 liters of water), kept warm for 2-3 days.
And the tick does not like water, so simply pouring water on the shoots during the budding period will also not be superfluous.
If the mite damage to the plant is significant, then the most radical method can be used — the removal of its entire aerial part. The bud mite does not live underground. We’ll have to wait until the bush again enters the time of fruiting, and henceforth more responsibly approach the issues of its protection.
When choosing seedlings for your suburban area, contact only reliable sellers, including Becker. You can buy from us, for example, Black Pearl currant seedling, resistant to attacks by bud mites.