Pepper is one of the most popular crops grown in home gardens. It is suitable for both open ground and greenhouses. However, it often happens that holes appear on the leaves. Now I will talk about the most common reasons.
Slugs
Appear on the plant due to violation of the rules of agricultural technology:
- temperature exceeds 25 ° C;
- humidity indicator more than 85%;
- thickened plantings.
The parasite can only be found at night, since it hides in the soil during the day. Also lays eggs. Traces of its appearance are holes in the leaves and fruits, white lines on various parts of the plant - dried mucus.
Aphid
Insect pests, from which plants suffer not only in open ground, but also in greenhouses. Aphid colony is capable of destroying the plant in a short time.
The black and green varieties most often appear on sweet peppers. Signs will help to detect the pest:
- withering and deformed leaves;
- holes with a dry edge on fruits and leaf plates;
- sticky coating;
- small spots in large numbers.
Aphid activity peaks in June. The pest appears on the site if there was no pre-planting preparation in autumn and spring. Aphids overwinter and lay eggs in fallen leaves and topsoil.
Colorado beetle
A dangerous insect that can destroy the planting of potatoes and peppers. Adults in the summer season lay bright orange eggs in large numbers, located on both sides of the leaf plate.
The larvae actively eat the leaves, leaving holes. The Colorado potato beetle is very tenacious and difficult to remove, since it quickly adapts to most chemical compounds.
Scoops
A brown or gray butterfly with orange spots, larvae and caterpillars of which are active at night, so it is difficult to detect them in a timely manner. They are able to chew the leaves to the skeleton, significantly damage the fruits.
Pests that can appear in the greenhouse
In the closed planting of pepper, I repeatedly found the following insects.
Whitefly
It is a small moth that settles on the lower leaves of the crop. It feeds on the juice in the leaves, leaves holes in them. If you do not fight the whitefly in a timely manner, you can be left without a crop.
Medvedka
Large insect with brown or brown color. It digs holes in the upper layers of the soil and feeds on the roots of plants and the lower part of the stem. The culture does not absorb enough nutrients, withers and dies.
Gall nematode can also damage the roots of pepper.
Tobacco thrips
The parasite is gray or yellow in color. Placed on the inside of the sheet plate.
Control methods
Before embarking on an active fight against insect pests, I advise you to pay attention to the factors:
- A kind of insect.
- The number.
- Stage of defeat.
Based on this, choose effective tactics.
Folk remedies
They showed their benefits with a small number of insects and at the initial stages of damage. They are environmentally friendly and will not harm sweet peppers.
I recommend paying attention to the following:
- Soap tincture with the addition of wood ash. To prepare it, I take a bar of laundry soap, dissolve it in 10 liters of warm water, add a glass of ash. I insist in a dark place for 2 hours. I dilute with water in a ratio of 1: 5 and thoroughly spray the planting of pepper and the soil under it.
- Wormwood infusion. A bunch of three lush plants is finely rubled, pour 10 liters of water and insist for a day. I filter and process the plant.
If folk methods have shown their ineffectiveness, I resort to chemicals.
Use of ready-made chemicals
In specialized stores, you can buy various insecticides that will help in the fight against pests with their large numbers and significant harm to plants. Preparations are prepared and used strictly following the instructions.
However, a significant disadvantage of such processing is that it will not be possible to save the crop.
To avoid such a problem as the destruction of sweet peppers by insects, I carry out preventive processing the garden twice a year - in the fall, after the harvest has been harvested, and in the spring, before sap flow.
Read also: Top dressing of apple trees in the fall: what fertilizers are best to apply to get a good harvest next year
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