There is no better snack than a juicy crispy apple. But any hope of eating an apple from its own branch will break to dust if the tree becomes a victim of a weevil attack, also called apple blossom. In the spring, we will talk about the basic principles of combating the apple-tree floret in this day.
Apple blossoms - basic information
One of the representatives of weevil beetles, an apple blossom is a small (up to 4.5 mm) insect with a head extended into a long proboscis. At the end of this proboscis there is a gnawing apparatus with which the celandine eats leaves and kidneys. A special danger for the future harvest is not adult insects, but their larvae, which feed on flower buds. Winter apple florets spend in fallen leaves and hollows of trees and wake up when the average temperature is set at around +6 degrees. Determine that the tree was the victim of a weevil attack by the presence of "crying" kidneys - from them the juice is actively allocated, as a result of the beetles' moves. After 10-14 days after that, the apple blossom starts laying eggs inside flower buds. The larvae hatching from the eggs completely eat out the inside of the bud (stamens, pestle) and glue the petals, and then pupate inside. Out of the pupae, young individuals feed on leaves from a damaged tree, and then fly around the garden, hitting all the other trees.
How to deal with the apple blossom?
To combat the apple-tree blossomed with success, it should begin in the early spring, even before the pest wakes up and actively takes up the job:
- The first action to protect the garden
from the apple blossom should be the installation of adhesive hawk belts, which will block the beetle path to the crown. They are made of paper, impregnated with a special composition. After blooming buds, the belt will need to be carefully removed and burned. - During the bud blossoming period, it is easy enough to remove beetles from a tree mechanically. To do this, spread an oilcloth or tarpaulin under the apple tree and shake the branches several times, hitting them with a stick. This operation should be done in the early morning.
- Various insecticides will help to cope with the pest. The following preparations from the apple blossom have proved to be well: Carbophos, Iskra, Fufanon, Decis, Aktara .