Onion pest control measures. Pest control of onion folk remedies

Onions are an unpretentious crop, the cultivation of which does not require special care from gardeners. But even onions are affected by all sorts of diseases and pests. If you ignore this problem, such indifference can cost you a harvest and wasted labor.

Pests that affect onions

Onion is always the first green, a harbinger of spring. People are accustomed to using it as protection against germs. Also, many housewives often use it as an insect repellent for different crops. But as it turned out, the bow itself also needs protection.

onion fly

When the very height of spring begins, the onion fly goes “hunting”. She lays her eggs on onion plantings, from which larvae appear after a few days. They are also called white worms. It is they who are the main threat to the plant.

It is impossible to notice pests, because they are underground. But their activity becomes noticeable when the onion feathers begin to turn yellow and then dry up. The larvae infect the bulb itself.

There are several folk remedies that will help you get rid of the onion fly:

To prevent the appearance of an onion fly in advance, purchase at a specialized store tobacco dust powder. It is mixed with sand and bordered by beds.

The photo above shows an adult onion fly.

Another pest is onion thrips. The female has her larvae inside a feather where they are born and feed on sap. In one season, the female can make about a hundred such clutches. The first sign of this pest is yellowing of the feather from the crown. It is recommended to prevent the appearance of this insect, since the fight against it is not very simple.

To prevent thrips from appearing on your beds, it is recommended to dig up the beds for the winter, alternate planting crops on this soil, handle bulbs before planting. Also, before planting onions, the beds can be planted with flowers, the smell of which repels insects. These include marigolds or calendula. There are also special decoctions for spraying:

• 400 grams of celandine grass is poured with one liter of water and insisted for three days. Then the strained infusion is sprayed with onion beds;
• 1 tablespoon of chopped onion or garlic is poured into 1 glass of water. This solution is also sprayed onions.

If you have failed to prevent thrips, Only chemicals can help, which will help to carry out disinfection, they can be bought in specialized stores. But greens processed with such means cannot be eaten.

Another pest that locates its larvae inside the feather. The female eats out a special hole where she lays her eggs, and the emerging larva eats the feather from the inside. It is impossible to notice these damages from the outside.

In this case it is better to prevent the appearance of weevil on your bow. To do this, it is necessary to remove all waste from last year's harvest, and in the spring the beds should be disinfected before planting. new party Luke.

Also, onion beds are sprinkled with tobacco dust or ash. It is best to do this when the onion feathers are wet so that more material sticks to them. And between the rows, the ground is sprinkled with ground black or red pepper, as well as dried tansy or celandine. The photo shows a female weevil.

In the store you can buy special means for processing. But in this case, processed feathers should not be eaten.

The adult is not as scary as its larva. She, like many other pests, strikes the onion feather from the inside which causes it to dry out. As in the previous cases, it is better to think in advance about preventing the appearance of moths than to try to get rid of them.

Do not plant onions in the same place. The earth should rest for 3-4 years. All tops from the previous season must be destroyed immediately. It is necessary to do regular weeding and loosening of the soil.

A very beneficial neighbor for onions is carrots. It releases substances into the soil that repel pests attacking the bow. Insects are also repelled by tobacco dust and. But one-time processing will not save you from problems. Spraying and watering onions with the use of these substances is necessary every ten days.

You can put on the beds original butterfly traps. They will be kvass or fermented compote. At night, winged insects will surely fly by the smell, and in the morning you should destroy the invited guests.

Near the beds, you can sow calendula or marigolds. Their smell repels many insects.

Onion diseases

Insects are not the only enemy of your crop. Onions are also affected by some diseases that can overtake him both during the growth period and during the storage period.

This disease appears due to the damage caused by pests. This is a fungus damages the root system and leads to its complete extinction. Then the whole plant dies. If, when harvesting, you do not notice the disease, the bulb will rot already in storage and transmit its disease to other bulbs.

To prevent the disease, it is necessary to prevent the appearance of an onion fly, regularly loosen the soil in the beds and water the plant with ash infusion.

This is another type of fungus. He easily endures the winter on the bulbs during storage and even on the beds themselves. When planting infected seeds, the disease will not only remain on the bulb, it will also affect the feathers.

The stems lose their color, wither and die off completely after a while. Such an onion does not have time to ripen, which is why the yield drops. As in many other cases, it is recommended to carry out a standard procedure for the prevention of all onion diseases.

Gray rot

This disease is also called black onion mold. This is a disease that affects the transition from the bulb to the stem. If you collect onions in wet weather, you can transfer the disease to the bulb itself. This happens when pruning a wet stem.

Onions with black mold will not be stored for a long time. The rot will quickly infect the entire bulb, and then move to nearby ones. In a short period, she hit the entire harvest.

The fight against rot looks like this:

The photo shows the gradual defeat of the bulb with gray rot.

bacterial rot

Among the most common onion diseases is wet bacterial rot, which can appear during growth. Outwardly, she does not betray herself in any way and found only when cutting the bulb. Wet translucent layers appear between the scales. They are not located in a row, but through a healthy scale. If the affected bulb is stored for a long time, then it rots completely. You can notice it by its specific smell.

Why does bacterial rot appear:

• a large difference between the air temperature during the day and at night;
• pests that started on the plant;
• damage to bulbs during digging and transportation.

How to fight:

• choose only the highest quality seeds for planting;
• to prevent the appearance of pests;
• properly transport seeds and harvested crops;
• store the crop at the optimum temperature.

The main fight against diseases and pests is to prevent their occurrence.

Onion diseases and their control

The main condition for obtaining a healthy crop of onions and garlic is crop rotation. It is impossible to return lily crops (onions, garlic) to the previous garden bed earlier than after 4-5 years.

Before storing onions and garlic for storage, it is necessary to disinfect the storage for 2 months with a solution of bleach (400 g per 10 liters of water). Before planting the seeds, it is recommended to warm them up with warm air (40°-42°) for 10 hours.

Diseases and pests of onions and garlic

Onions from year to year suffer from onion fly damage. The first flight of the fly is celebrated when the dandelions bloom. At this time, a repellent is used - they are watered with ammonia (1 tablespoon per bucket of water).

This event is held every week. A bed for onions must be moved to a different place every year, the best predecessor is carrots.

The pre-planting seed treatment helps the onion grow healthy - warming up in the sun a few hours before planting, soaking in hot strong potassium permanganate, and then dusting with ash. You can powder the onions with bazudin, but in no case should you use such an onion on a feather - the drug is poisonous.

As soon as the bow emerges from the ground, the stealth bounty attacks. The feather becomes pale, inside it the larvae of the secretive proboscis settle. For prevention, it is necessary to constantly sprinkle onions with ashes, cut off and destroy the affected feather.

Onion fly (Delia antiqua Mg.) and hoverfly (Eumerus strigatus Fall.) are dangerous pests of onion plants that damage the underground parts of onion, batun, leek, shallot, garlic. Pests are common in all areas of cultivation of onion plants and are especially harmful on sandy and loamy soils, as well as on household plots with their permanent cultivation. The puparium (pupa in a reddish-brown, shiny cocoon, about 7 mm long) winters in the onion fly in the soil at a depth of 10 to 20 cm.

The flight of the first generation of flies begins in early May at a sum of effective temperatures of 103-141°C (this coincides with the flowering of lilacs) and lasts 30-40 days. The flies are ash-gray, with a distinct brownish longitudinal line on the abdomen.

Flies hatched after overwintering feed on nectar. flowering plants. 5-10 days after emergence, the females lay eggs (5-12 each) near plants, in cracks in the soil, between the bulb and the soil, openly on the soil, leaves, in the axils of the leaves and between the dry scales of the bulb.

After 4-6 days at an air temperature of 18.5-21.5°C and a relative air humidity of 65-75%, larvae hatch. The adult larva is white, legless, narrowed in front and expanded at the posterior end, up to 10 mm long.

On the oblique segment there are two spiracles, and along the edges there are 16 small outgrowths (tubercles), of which 4 lower middle outgrowths are most noticeable. Of all types of onions, female onion flies prefer onions.

Moreover, the plants of the first generation are the most populated. On crops of Nigella for sets, oviposition is already noted, starting from the phase of 2-3 true leaves. The larvae hatching from the eggs penetrate into the underground part of the bulb, damaging the conducting bundles of the plant.

If for further development larvae food is not enough, it goes to a neighboring plant. In damaged plants, the bulbs rot, the leaves turn yellow, wither and dry. Plants are easily pulled out of the soil.

On onions of the second year of development (sevok on a turnip) at the beginning of the growing season, the fly lays eggs mainly on the soil and the bulb, as the plants develop, in the axils of the leaves and openly on the leaves. Hatching larvae migrate to the plant and actively penetrate into it either through the bottom or through the neck.

At the same time, the former feed on the tissues of the bottom (false stem), the latter - on the tissues of fleshy scales and leaves. Regardless of the type of damage, onion sets die when only 1-2 larvae are introduced into the plant.

The same is observed on turnip plants (especially in the first half of the growing season), if their growth point is damaged. Larvae of the first generation damage onions in May - June. Their development lasts about 20 days.

Then, having finished feeding, they emerge from the bulb into the soil and pupate in it. In the end of June - in the first half of July, the years of flies of the second generation begin. There are few of them, since a significant part of the individuals (up to 35%) of the first generation go into diapause.

The onion fly develops in two generations. Onion fly larvae cause the greatest damage to plants. early stages development.

As a result of the research, it was found that all types and varieties of onion during the growing season are to some extent populated and damaged by the phytophage. But the main type of onion, which is largely damaged by two-winged pests, is onion.

Severely damaged (up to 44.5%) sweet onion varieties (Yalta local, Orange), which have a minimum dry matter content (6-9.7%) and essential oil(0.018-0.025%). On the crops of these varieties, the maximum number of eggs laid is noted - 14.8-18.2 eggs/plant.

On sharp varieties (Strigunovsky, Skvirsky, Zolotisty) with a high content of solids (up to 18%) and essential oil (up to 0.05%), the number of eggs laid per plant and damage by the onion fly is 3-4 times lower compared to sweet varieties of onions. The peninsular varieties Lugansky and Karatalsky with an average content of secondary substances occupy a middle position, the damage of which is about 26%.

Studies have shown that, depending on the number of nests in the bulb, onion varieties with 1-2 nests were less populated and damaged by the onion fly. So, crops of multi-nested shallots with 6-7 nests were almost half populated by pests, and their damage was at the level of 40.5%.

At a time when the population of small and medium nested onion varieties was at the level of 20.5-28.0%, and damage was 10-21.6%. This indicates that onion fly larvae can leave damaged plants and crawl onto others only when the plants are very close to each other.

onion hoverfly. The fly is 7-10 cm long, shiny, greenish-bronze, there are three semi-lunar spots on the top of the abdomen. The male differs from the female in larger eyes, almost contiguous at the base of the antennae.

The pest overwinters in the pupal stage (in puparia) in the soil at a depth of 10-25 cm and in the larval stage (middle and older ages) in the plant remains of uterine bulbs, as well as in the planting material laid down for storage, in which they form puparia by the middle of winter. and pupate. Thanks to this intraspecific flexibility, the population of the onion hoverfly is constantly maintained at a high level.

The onion hoverfly takes off at the end of May. The fly is active throughout the daylight hours, and high temperatures are not a deterrent.

After additional food nectar, the female chooses well-lit open areas and lays white eggs, somewhat concave in the middle part, on the surface of the soil near the plant, the outer covering scales and in the neck of the bulb. After 4-7 days, larvae hatch, the distinctive morphological feature of which is the presence of spiracles that are clearly visible to the naked eye, protruding at the posterior end of the body, as well as their high plasticity.

In the bulb, the larvae feed on the succulent internal tissues of the plant for 17-25 days, mainly in the lower, basal part. They molt three times, after which they form a false, light yellow cocoon with a brownish tint.

In July, second-generation flies fly out, the larvae of which damage onions and garlic. late dates planting. Onion secretive trunk (weevil) (Cruthorrhynchus jakovlevi Schultze.) - a small beetle 2-2.7 mm long. His body is black, covered with white scales, oval in shape, with a long, slightly curved rostrum, clavate-articulated antennae.

The end of the head is extended into a "proboscis", usually bent down. The abdomen is not covered with elytra. It damages turnips, batun, most often shallots, less often garlic and leeks.

Beetles hibernate under plant remains, dried grass and lumps of soil on the sod slopes of ditches, ravines, along roadsides, forest belts. They wake up early in spring, in the second half of April (according to observations, their years coincide with the flowering of dandelion).

At first, the beetles feed mainly on sprouted bulbs left in the field, then they move to early onion crops. They gnaw small holes in the leaves and, plunging their proboscis into them, eat out small cavities in the pulp of the leaf, under the skin.

Damage looks like round whitish spots located along the edge of the leaf. Seedling onion seedlings are especially affected. Often they dry up and die.

It should be noted that in last years the number and harmfulness of the onion secretive proboscis has greatly increased, which is primarily due to high temperatures and the absence of precipitation during its development (end of April - May). Females lay small, whitish, round-oval eggs through a hole they made in the feather on inside leaves.

The larvae that hatched after 5-16 days are yellowish, legless, C-shaped bent, with a brown head, up to 6.5 mm long, gnaw passages in the pulp of the leaves, while whitish longitudinal stripes form on the outside. The leaves turn yellow, starting from the top, badly damaged - they dry out.

If there are 3-5 larvae on one leaf, especially in dry, hot weather, the seedlings die. The larvae stop harming by early June, and new leaves grow on the affected plants. However, the yield as a result of the "activity" of the secretive hobo is significantly reduced.

The larvae develop for 15-20 days, then gnaw holes in the leaves, go into the soil and pupate at a depth of 3-6 cm. The pupa is in the soil, in a loose earthen cradle.

The second generation of beetles appears in late June - early July and feeds on leaf tissues and inflorescences of onion plants in summer. With complete gnawing of succulent pedicels, the flowers die, and with partial gnawing, feeble seeds are obtained. Onion moth (Acrolepia assectella Zell.) Damages onions, leeks and partially garlic during the growing season.

Butterflies overwinter in plant debris. Butterfly up to 12-14 mm in wingspan, the front ones are brown with large stripes and spots, and the rear ones are gray with a long fringe. The flight of onion moth butterflies begins in mid-May.

They fly at night, soon after additional feeding on nectar, they mate and lay yellowish, rounded, up to 0.4 mm long eggs on the underside of the leaf, on the neck of the bulb, onion and garlic flower arrows. After 5-7 days, yellowish-green caterpillars with brown warts hatch, which penetrate the leaf, arrows and inflorescences, eat out the rudiments of flowers, and during the flowering of plants they gnaw the pedicels.

Caterpillars pupate on leaves, on the soil surface near the bulbs. The development of the pupa lasts 9-12 days. In July, butterflies of a new generation fly out, the caterpillars of which usually harm in the second half of July and in August.

Tobacco (onion) thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind.) is most common in the southern regions of Ukraine (and today almost throughout Ukraine) and harms not only onions, but also cucumbers, watermelons, cabbage. With warm storage of onion sets and garlic (+18°C), thrips feed and multiply throughout the winter, significantly reducing their planting qualities.

Thrips overwinters in the upper layer of soil, in plant debris under dry scales of onion and garlic. Appears on crops in late April - early May. The female lays up to 100 small whitish eggs, placing them one by one in the fleshy scales of the bulbs.

The root mite penetrates into mature bulbs through the bottom, which cracks and turns into a rotten mass. Thrips and their larvae feed by sucking the juice from the leaves. Whitish spots form on the leaves, which merge when severely damaged.

Damaged leaves turn yellow and dry out. On them you can see small black dots - pest excrement. The bulb of the affected plants is formed small. By the time the onions are harvested, if the weather is warm, thrips fly over to cabbage, cucumbers, and various weeds.

Onion crops are harmed by root (onion) mites (Rhizoglyphus echinopus R. et F.) and four-legged garlic mites (Aceria tulipae Keif.). Ticks are small arthropod insects, 0.5 to 1.1 mm long.

Moisture-loving and heat-loving organisms, weakly reproduce at temperatures above +13°C and relative humidity above 70%. They differ in fertility: one female lays up to 800 eggs. Each generation develops within 10-30 days.

When conditions worsen or there is a lack of food, a very persistent form of the pest (hypopus) appears. In this form, mites can exist for a long time without feeding. The root mite penetrates into mature bulbs through the bottom.

With a strong defeat, the outer scales lag behind the bottom - it becomes bare, becomes rotten, the bulb rots. With a weak lesion, the mites remain between the fleshy scales and damage the onion in storage.

The root mite can also feed on bulbs of hyacinths, daffodils, and even potato tubers and rotting root crops of carrots and beets. The garlic mite, unlike the root mite, damages the leaves and juicy scales on the outside of the bulb, and the onion sets are especially harmful.

Overwinters in bulbs, soil and seeds. In onion waste, on dry scales, being at rest, it can last more than two years, and in dried garlic - up to five.

When it enters a humid environment, the nematode leaves its dormant state and becomes active. After sowing or planting onions and garlic in infected soil, the stem nematode penetrates plant tissues and lays eggs in them. The emerging larvae and adult nematodes feed on the sap of plants, which at the same time lag behind in growth, their first cotyledon leaf swells and bends.

Severely damaged seedlings die. In plants, the leaves (feather) become deformed, wrinkled with yellowish veins, twist, and thicken in the lower part. The internal tissues of the bulbs on the cut have a loose granular structure.

Between the juicy scales of the diseased bulb, cavities often form (therefore, it is soft to the touch), its bottom cracks. Affected bulbs continue to break down during storage. The sevok dries up.

When garlic is infected with a nematode, it lags behind in growth, its false stem thickens, and longitudinal cracks form on it. The bulb becomes loose and wet, and it completely collapses. Onion leaf beetle (Lilioceris merdigera) is found everywhere, but harms in foci.

The beetle overwinters in plant debris. Before germination, it feeds on unharvested queen cells and seedlings discarded during planting, on shoots of overwintered last year's bulbs.

With the advent of seedlings, it passes to young arrows and inflorescences - it gnaws holes in the arrows, gnaws pedicels and flowers. Larvae damage leaves and arrows; pupate in the soil. Leaf beetle larvae are large and are harvested by hand.

The topic is immense, read more.

Onion pests and the fight against them - this is exactly the first question that puzzles many gardeners who have found small insects on the onion bed. How to determine the type of pest, and most importantly, how to get rid of it as soon as possible?

Before you start fighting insects that attacked the onion garden, you need to correctly determine the type of pest. It is on whether the identification was made correctly that the processing efficiency depends. What insects love onions?

onion fly

It affects the culture in the first period of growth. During the mass summer, insects lay their eggs between the rows of onions. Under favorable conditions, after a week, worms are born that do not destroy green sprouts, but climb inside the bulbs and begin to eat them. The danger of this insect lies in the fact that only a couple of larvae can kill a plant in a short time. Depending on the location of the region, 2–3 generations of flies are activated during the growing season.

root mite

Another of the small insects that infect onions during the growing season and storage. Pests breed most actively in warm rainy summers. Female root mites lay about 350 eggs, from which larvae emerge. Adults and young individuals eat juicy scales, as a result of which the turnip turns into dust. Wilted twisting stems, the surface of which is covered with white spots, testify to the attack of unexpected guests.

Onion stem nematode

At the last stage of growth, onions are affected by small scale insects. First, the nematode feeds on juicy feathers, and then on the turnips themselves. In plants attacked by a nematode, the feathers lighten and deform. Stems covered with swollen areas quickly wither and die. At the time of the appearance of external signs, the bulb is already badly damaged.

onion weevil

A distinctive feature of the pest is a long, slightly bent nose. The greatest damage is done to the onion by the larvae hatched from the eggs, which the insect females laid with the advent of spring. If the landing is not immediately processed, the larvae quickly climb inside the feathers and eat them. A sign that the insects have begun vigorous activity is oblong white spots on the surface of the feathers. The bugs are also quite voracious, as they suck the juice from the greenery with the help of their trunk.

onion hoverfly

A large bronze-green fly lays eggs, which hatch into gray-green larvae that feed on the flesh of the turnip. Most often, the hoverfly lays its eggs on already diseased plants. The danger of the pest lies in the fact that it is quite difficult to identify it - when there are no signs on the upper part, the lower part is already quite spoiled. If nothing is done, the onion hoverfly will overwinter and harm crops next season.

Onion (tobacco) thrips

Small insects attack young sprouts shortly after they appear on the surface. From the eggs laid on the tops of the feathers, yellow worms hatch. In a matter of days, affected plants become covered with silvery spots and small black dots. As a result of the activity of pests, the onion turns yellow and dries.

How to prevent the appearance of pests?

Since the fight against voracious insects does not always end successfully, it is better to try to avoid the appearance of pests on your site. What manipulations will help to ward off insects from the garden with onions? List:

1. Compliance with the rules of crop rotation. Like most cultivated plants, you can plant onions in the same place only 3-4 years after the first planting.
2. Digging the soil. On the eve of winter, the garden bed is carefully cleaned and dug up. In the spring, re-digging is carried out.
3. Planting carrots. Since the leaves of this plant produce phytoncides, the aroma of which is not to the liking of many insects, the culture is placed next to the onion bed.
4. Seed processing. To destroy microorganisms on the surface of the bulbs, the planting material is soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate, and then dried and heated at a temperature of + 30–+40 ⁰С or water is lowered for 10 minutes, the temperature of which is +50–+55 ⁰С.
5. spraying. In order to scare away pests, onions are treated with wormwood infusion.
6. Care. The bed should be regularly weeded and loosened. Manipulations will not only activate the growth of turnips, but will also help identify diseased or insect-damaged plants.
7. Variety selection. Thanks to the work of breeders, a wide range of varieties is available for sale, the vast majority of which are resistant to bacteria. Onion diseases and their treatment take a lot of time from the gardener, thereby distracting from other equally serious problems.
8. Early boarding. Onions are planted immediately after the soil dries out from melt water. The sooner the planting is made, the more the plants will get stronger by the time the pests multiply.

As you can see, the rules of prevention are very simple, so even a person who first began to grow onions can fulfill them. However, even despite all these actions, insects often attack the culture. What to do in this case?

How to deal with pests?

Unfortunately, there is no single scheme for onion pest control. The list of manipulations directly depends on the type of insect. So, an infusion of herbs with a pungent odor will help get rid of onion flies and onion hoverflies: garlic, wormwood, tobacco, hot red pepper. Top dressing with urea will help scare away pests. For prevention purposes, bulbous beds are covered with mulching material.

If the bed was attacked by weevils, infusions of plants with a strong aroma are used as weapons. The insect will definitely not covet the onion, from which the smell of celandine, mustard or tansy emanates. In addition to spraying the plant, you can generously sprinkle with chopped dry herbs. The beds are dusted with wood ash and tobacco leaf powder.

All the same “fragrant” mixtures will help get rid of onion thrips. Most effective means prepared like this:

• 1 kg of wormwood is placed in a saucepan and 3 liters of water are poured, after which the mixture is boiled for 20 minutes and cooled. Spray onions 2 times with an interval of 7 days.
• In a glass of water, stir 2 g of mustard powder. The mixture is infused for 48 hours. To prepare the working solution, the volume of the concentrate is adjusted to 1 liter.

To prevent the appearance of a pest, organic residues are carefully removed before winter. The tools necessary for planting are treated with a disinfectant. In case of severe infection, onions are treated with chemicals such as VDH, Aktara.

To destroy the onion moth and a number of other insects, the following means are widely used:

1. 300 g of wood ash is poured with boiled water, after which it is left to infuse. For better adhesion, 40 g of soap are added to the cooled strained mixture.
2. 100 g of calendula seeds are poured into 5 liters of water and left to infuse for two days. The resulting infusion is treated with onions affected by moths.
3. Finely chopped garlic is poured in a ratio of 1: 1 with water and infused for 14 days in a closed jar. To prepare the working mixture for 10 liters of water, add 70 g of concentrate.
4. 0.5 kg of red hot pepper is cut in half, poured into a 5-liter saucepan and boiled. The cooled broth is filtered. Onions are sprayed with a solution of 10 liters of water, 130 g of decoction, 40 g of soap.
5. 200 g of tobacco is poured with boiling water and left to infuse. After the mixture has cooled, it is filtered. Spray plants and soil. Consumption per 1 sq.m. beds - 1 l.
6. To destroy the onion fly, the soil around the turnips is sprayed with a salt solution. To prepare the mixture in a bucket of water, I dissolve 200 g of table salt. The treatment is carried out upon reaching a height of 5 cm. Subsequent sprayings are carried out at intervals of 3 weeks.

If these funds are ineffective in the fight against numerous insects, onions are sprayed with chemicals. A good result is shown by the drug Proclaim, SPINTOR, Decis, Bi-58, Tabazol, Metaphos.

Regardless of the type of insect that attacked onion plantings, it is recommended to use aggressive pesticides only in case of severe infection.

Both the first and second types of spraying are carried out in dry, calm weather in the afternoon. To achieve a positive effect, the treatment is carried out periodically.

As you can see, a variety of pests onion pretty big. Having found at least one insect on the plants, you must immediately begin measures to destroy it. If you do not react in time, harmless, at first glance, bugs will eat the entire onion in a matter of days. To reduce the risk of collision with voracious insects, it is recommended to carry out and preventive measures, which consist of observing the rules of crop rotation, preparing the soil and seeds.

When growing onions, you must adhere to strict recommendations, as this plant can be destroyed by harmful insects. When the first signs appear, crops should be processed using folk methods. In the article we will consider what pests of onions, methods of dealing with them.

The main pests of onions in the country. onion fly

The main pests that affect onion plantings include:

• onion fly;
• secretive trunk beetle;
• onion hoverfly;
• root mite;
• bear;
• onion moth;
• stem nematode;
• winter and potato scoops;
• triplets.

The characteristic signs of onion damage by an onion fly include rotting and yellowness of feathers. If no action is taken, the affected plants will die. In late spring, the larvae penetrate and infect soft tissues. Secretive trunk beetles trim feathers, laying larvae in the bulb, which eat the soft tissues of the plant. Onion hoverfly leads to rotting of the bulb as a whole, and the root mite penetrates inside, gnawing through the rhizome of the bulb. The earthen bear gnaws through the feathers and roots of the plant, damaging the young onion.

Onion moth caterpillars penetrate into the middle of the leaves, feeding on tissues, which leads to drying and death of feathers. Worms of the stem nematode infect the leaf parts, spoil and wrinkle the onion head, and cutworm caterpillars gnaw on young shoots near the soil surface. Potato cutworms feed on leaves and eat soft tissue, forming large cavities in the bulb. Triplets can be recognized by the affected leaf plates: silver spots and black dots on the feathers.

Familiarize yourself with the main provisions of the onion in the country in our infographic.

Folk ways to deal with onion fly

The onion fly is similar in appearance to the common one, but up to 1 cm long and gray in color, and the larvae are white without legs and a clearly marked head. They hibernate shallow in the ground, and with the onset of heat they lay eggs on the first shoots between leaf blades. Larvae appear after 5-7 days, they fall into the middle of the onion head, feeding on soft tissues.

As a result, the culture rots, the leaves turn yellow, and after 2-3 weeks the larvae crawl out to form a cocoon. Two weeks later, a fly appears, it especially affects a plant planted at a later time.

The main pest control measures include:

• rotation of agricultural crops;
• planting early ripe varieties;
• planting near carrots, as the specific carrot aroma repels a harmful fly;
• watering with dissolved table salt without getting on the feathers. To prepare the solution, 200 grams of salt should be dissolved in 10 liters of water, watered for the first time when the feathers grow by 5 cm, the next every three weeks;
• spraying with special preparations. The lime mixture with the addition of tobacco dust in a ratio of 1: 1 is excellently repelled, and the amount is calculated based on the planting area (10 grams per 1 m²). A sand mixture with naphthalene is also used in proportions of 10: 1.

Secretive trunk beetle and methods of destruction

Secretive trunk beetles differ in length up to 2.5 mm with a thin and long rostrum. Light yellow larvae without legs up to 7 mm long. They hibernate under the remains of plants on the side of the road, and with the onset of spring they gnaw holes in the leaf plates and eat the pulp. Important: hallmark is the presence of white spots on the surface of the plates.

Female beetles lay their eggs inside the plate, after 15 days larvae appear that feed on soft tissues without violating the integrity of the leaf. Up to a dozen larvae can be in one onion feather, as a result it turns yellow and dries. After another 20 days, the larvae crawl out, form pupae, from which beetles appear. They eat plantings, and with the onset of cold weather they go to winter.

Folk methods and measures to combat such a pest include the following:

• pruning and burning of infected crops with simultaneous irrigation and fertilization;
• loosening the site during the formation of pupae;
• collection of plant waste with subsequent destruction.

The defeat of the onion hoverfly

A characteristic feature of this pest is a green body with a bronze tint and two gray stripes on the back. Grey-yellow larvae grow up to 1 cm and have a flat bottom. They overwinter in the ground or bulbs, and begin to fly in July. The female lays eggs on onion feathers or on the ground near the onion in small groups, and larvae appear after 10-12 days. They eat soft tissues, penetrating inside the onion. As a rule, the onion inside becomes rotten, the hoverfly penetrates it from below, which distinguishes it from the onion fly. Approximately 20 days later, the larvae form pupae (the next generation), which begin to fly already in August. They are fought in the same way as with the onion fly.

Root mite and folk methods of destruction

A small root mite infects onions not only during the growth period, but also during storage. The tick has an oval body up to 1 mm long and 8 legs. In winter, they are found in plant waste, penetrate deep into the soil, and in spring they affect nearby plants. If onion crops are nearby, then the tick infects the bulb from below, gradually turning it into dust, as a result of which the plant begins to rot or dry.

The female root mite lays eggs under the scales of the plant, especially during storage under unfavorable conditions (temperature above +12°C and high humidity). Several generations of ticks can grow in a year.

• alternation of sowing crops;
• processing of onion heads before planting. To do this, onion heads must be kept in hot water about 10 minutes;
• harvesting in dry weather;
• storage and sowing with the addition of a mixture of dry chalk;
• autumn digging of the soil with the destruction of plant waste.

Medvedka and onion moth

Medvedka belongs to omnivorous pests, it is a brown insect up to 5 cm long, on the front legs of which there are incisors for digging the earth. It eats not only the roots, but also the stems, makes moves in the ground, damaging the crop. In the ground, at a depth of 15 cm, there is a nest of the pest, in which it lays eggs, and larvae appear after 21 days. A particularly favorable environment for the bear is greenhouse conditions and abundant watering. To get rid of it, you should adhere to the correct crop rotation, remove weeds in a timely manner and dig up the ground in the fall.

Caterpillars of a dark brown yellowish-green butterfly up to 1 cm long. Insects spend the winter in plant waste, and with the advent of heat they lay eggs on leaf plates and after a week the caterpillars penetrate into the middle without violating the integrity of the skin. For the fight, fertilizers are applied and the same methods are used as for the destruction of root mites.

Methods for the destruction of the stem nematode

It is a small thread-like worm. In winter, it is found in onion heads, seeds or soil, and if onions are planted in uncultivated land, the stem nematode penetrates the tissues and lays eggs there.

The pest feeds on onion juice, it grows slowly, and seedlings that are too affected die. Deformation of the leaves occurs, they turn yellow over time, and the bulb becomes soft due to the damaged cavity between the inner scales. Attention: the peak of the disease occurs in the last month of summer, continuing to infect onions during storage.

The fight against the stem nematode consists in the careful selection of healthy bulbs and their improvement before planting, and onions can be planted again in this area no earlier than after 4-5 years.

Tip #1 In order to improve the health of the onion, you should keep it in hot water (45 ° C) for 10-15 minutes, and at a temperature of 50 ° C, the time can be reduced to 5-7 minutes. Important: small onion heads are best disinfected at a temperature of 45 ° C.

Methods of dealing with scoops and triplets

Scoops are inconspicuous butterflies whose caterpillars infect the roots and top of the plant. Eggs are laid at the end of summer, which after winter turn into larvae and caterpillars that actively infect the bulbs.

In order to get rid of them, you should regularly destroy weeds, loosen the soil and dig it up in the fall. You can also use folk methods, namely, treat with a decoction of wormwood or an infusion of white mustard.

To prepare a decoction of wormwood, it is necessary to boil 1 kg of grass in three liters of water for 20 minutes, and then treat the area 2 times with a break of 7 days. To prepare a mustard infusion, dissolve 2 g of the powder in a glass of water and insist for two days, and then dilute to one liter.

One of the most dangerous pests for onions are tobacco and onion triplets. This is a group of small harmful insects, which are unremarkable and suck the juice out of the plant, bending the stem and softening the bulb.

Triplets should be dealt with even before sowing, for which it is necessary to dig up the soil well and destroy all plant debris, and treat the land in the greenhouse with karbofos after harvesting.

Tip #2 In the summer, loosening the soil between the beds helps a lot in order to effectively destroy the pupae of triplets, and not severely affected onions can be treated with a decoction of celandine, mustard infusion, tobacco or hot pepper.

For example, 1 kg of hot pepper is boiled for one hour in 10 liters of water, after which it is insisted for one day and poured into dark bottles. Before use, dilute 125 ml of tincture in 10 liters and spray the affected plants.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Question number 1. What folk remedies effectively destroy secretive beetles?

Folk methods such as mustard powder, ground black pepper and wood ash, which are sprinkled between onion beds, help to cope with this pest.

Question number 2. When should onions be sprayed?

It is better to spray onion plantings in the evening, in calm weather, when it is already not hot outside. To achieve maximum efficiency, treat crops at the beginning of the infection period and repeat the procedure periodically.

Question number 3. How to get rid of harmful butterflies with calendula?

To destroy harmful butterflies on onion beds, pharmacy calendula is used. To do this, it is necessary to insist 100 grams of flower seeds in 5 liters of water for two days, and then spray the onions.

Question number 4. How to choose the right onion for planting and is additional disinfection necessary?

Yes, additional onion processing is necessary. This eliminates the infection of crops and the death of the entire crop. Before planting, in addition to carefully selecting the bulbs, they should be kept in hot water at a temperature of 45 ° C for 10 minutes and at 50 ° C for 5 minutes.

Question number 5. Is it true that the alder scares away the bear?

Yes true. To do this, between the onion beds, it is necessary to insert alder branches at a distance of 1 m from each other, periodically replacing them with fresh ones.

4 Common Pest Control Mistakes Gardeners Make

Sometimes gardeners make typical mistakes when growing onions, they are discussed in the table.

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Onion diseases and treatment - how to quickly and effectively fight?