Gardeners value radishes for their delicious and healthy roots, which they look forward to. However, in some cases, the crop can be significantly and in a short time spoiled by pests called cruciferous flea. These little bugs bring a lot of trouble. How to save seedlings and get rid of insects, we will talk in this article.
What is this pest?
The cruciferous flea mainly harms plants of the cruciferous family, which is why it got its name. The flea has hind legs on which it jumps like a flea, but it is not a blood-sucking insect. The beetle prefers to settle on weeds such as wild radish, shepherd's purse, and especially loves turnips and cabbage from garden crops. However, radish remains a favorite delicacy in the early stages of the pest.
The insect is very small in size, the length of its oblong oval body is up to 3 millimeters. At the same time, the flea can fly. There are several varieties of pest, including black, blue, light-legged and others. The differences are largely determined by the color of the elytra.
Beetles live in the European part of Russia, excluding the regions of the Far North. The harm from the insect is expressed in the fact that it damages the leaves, in which it gnaws peculiar pits. The flea is especially dangerous for young greenery, since delicate leaves can gnaw right through. Thin roots of crops serve as a delicacy for the larvae. The most active pests are during the day, excluding the interval from 13 to 16 hours, when the sun is especially scorching.
In winter, an adult flea hides in the remains of plants, crevices of greenhouses, and soil. When spring comes and the ground thaws, insects come out and start actively looking for food for themselves, after which eggs are laid. The cruciferous flea larvae live in the soil for about 3 weeks, after this time they pupate, and new young individuals emerge on the surface. The insect can give birth for the entire summer period up to 3 generations.
Preventive measures
Any problem is easier to prevent than to deal with its consequences later. Therefore, experts and seasoned gardeners recommend several preventive measures that will help preserve radishes. Let's consider. what needs to be done to protect the plantings from the pest at the initial stage.
The proximity of coriander, dill and garlic repels the pest, since the insect does not like the smell of these plants. In the case when radishes are planted towards the end of the season, it is recommended to place the beds next to calendula or marigolds, which the flea also does not tolerate.
Control methods
In order to get rid of a cruciferous flea, you need to make sure that this particular insect is harming the crop. This is not so difficult to do, because despite the small size of the pest, it can be easily detected visually. The bugs jump over the leaves, which have gnawed holes.
The main danger of a flea is that in the absence of a fight against it, the gardener can completely lose seedlings. Since radish often appears earlier than other sprouts, it is on it that the main blow of the bugs that activate after hibernation falls. In addition, a large number of these insects can harm adult plants, as well as even hardened radish testes, so protection measures should be started as early as possible.
It should start with prevention and deterrence, chemicals are used as a last resort.
Folk remedies
Not all gardeners accept the use of chemicals. In some cases, folk methods manifest themselves quite effectively, however, when using them, it must be borne in mind that in this case it is not enough to process the crops once or twice, systematic care will be required, which, accordingly, involves a lot of time. There are several of the most common folk methods, the excellent action of which has been confirmed by a huge number of examples:
- humid environment;
- dry pollination;
- cover with nonwoven fabric;
- setting traps;
- spraying with infusions.
Let's consider the listed methods in more detail.
Humid environment
The red-colored flea feels great in hot and dry weather, but it does not like moisture. Therefore, when planting, it is recommended to choose the most humid part of the garden. Watering abundantly will also deter the pest. At the same time, do not forget that he is afraid of strong odors, so it would be useful to add pungent-smelling agents to the water.
Dry pollination
Planting can be pollinated by various means, since the bug chooses the cleanest leaves for food. This method is very popular among gardeners, as it does not require large financial costs and is very effective. Mixtures can be different, most often ash is used in combination with tobacco or road dust, as well as fluff lime.
The components should be taken in equal proportions and mixed thoroughly. The procedure itself is recommended to be carried out early in the morning so that the composition lies on the dew, and you also need to water the radish first. In humid conditions, the particles of the mixture adhere well to wet leaves. For the most effective and uniform result, the composition is placed in a gauze bag, and then gently shaken over the sprouts. This method is also called dusting.
The disadvantage of this method is that it does not work for a single use. Good protection can only be achieved when dusting is carried out systematically.
The ideal option would be when the gardener can spend it after each watering or rain. And also to achieve the maximum effect, crops should be processed not only from above, but also from below.
Nonwoven Shelter
If the crops are covered with a canvas, they will be protected not only from insects, but also from weeds and cold weather. The material must be chosen wisely, it must transmit light, water and air, but at the same time be an insurmountable obstacle for pests. For example, lutrasil or spunbond works well.
In addition, many recommend dusting the radish before shelter, which will serve as additional protection. When found under such a canvas, the radish will grow, get stronger, the leaves will coarsen a little, so when removing the shelter, it will no longer be an easily accessible and especially attractive delicacy for a flea.
Traps
The use of a sticky flag is often used to get rid of the pest. The procedure is quite simple and does not require any special skills.
To make a flag, a piece of fabric is attached to a stick and treated with some kind of adhesive. Solid oil is excellent for this purpose. After that, you need to walk along the radish beds, slightly touching the flag of its leaves. This will disturb the insects, which will try to hide from danger, and, flying away or jumping, will touch the material and stick to it.
Gardeners advise to carry out this procedure in the middle of a dry and hot day, while repeating it several times, maintaining short time intervals. Such flea fishing will help to significantly reduce the number of insects in the beds.
Another trap is made using waste machine oil in which a piece of cloth is moistened. Along the beds with radishes, boards are laid out, on which the impregnated fabric is laid. To get as many insects into the trap as possible, the material must be turned over a couple of times a day.
Spraying with infusions
Infusions can be made on the basis of various components. For example, ash and tobacco dust, which are used for dusting, are suitable. There are many popular recipes, each selects the simplest and most effective in a particular case. Here are the most common ones.
A glass of ash is poured into one liter of boiling water, mixed and left for 48 hours. After that, you should rub the laundry soap and add it to the infusion. You can also use liquid soap. Radish is sprayed with this composition.
A glass of tobacco dust should be poured with a bucket of boiling water and left for 24 hours. After that, 100 grams of soap is added, and the infusion is filtered through cheesecloth.
Chop the garlic. Tomato stepchildren are added to it. The ratio should be 1: 1. The mixture is poured with warm water and infused for 5-6 hours, after which it is filtered, and a little liquid soap is added to the resulting infusion.
Keeping crop rotation on the backyard helps well in the fight against diseases. Since radish is an early ripening crop (the harvest can be obtained in about 1 month), that is, the temptation to return to the same garden with repeated sowing after a while already in the same season. Doing so is highly undesirable. Since this can lead to outbreaks of various diseases. It is also highly undesirable to plant radishes after cabbage or other cruciferous plants. Good predecessors are onions, garlic, peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, taverns.
Pests
The main scourge of radish is cruciferous flea beetles - small bugs, usually dark in color, jump well from place to place. They damage the radish leaves (make holes in them). And if damage to the leaf apparatus of a plant reaches a critical size, then the plant suddenly stops growing and may die. At the same time, the root crop does not ripen and does not grow to the specified size. Radish shoots should be especially protected from flea beetles. Otherwise, crops can be completely destroyed (eaten). An adult plant can still tolerate flea beetles to some extent. Fleas are especially rampant in dry hot weather. Early plantings of radish can generally yield crops before the mass appearance of cruciferous fleas.
Flea control should be carried out using biological methods.
The first method is to spray the leaves with a solution of wood ash. The solution is prepared as follows: about 2 glasses of preferably fresh ash and 50 grams of laundry soap are added to a 10-liter bucket of water. Everything gets mixed up. Some make it easier. They collect ashes on a shovel and crush them over the garden. For a while, the flea limits its harmful activities.
The second way is the same. Only tobacco dust is used instead of ash. It should be said right away that you still need to look for tobacco dust in stores, and although it is not expensive, it is still worth it. And the ash is usually its own, free.
All these methods are still not effective enough. The most efficient - treatment with an insecticide, for example Inta-Vir. But this should be done only as a last resort, only for medium-sized radishes (ripening period 25 days) and only for young seedlings, if the threat of destruction of crops is high enough.
Another exotic (mechanical) way of dealing with cruciferous flea beetles is to cover radishes with white agrospan right along the shoots. If the weather is not too hot, then the seedlings under it do not stretch out and there are no fleas en masse. After the seedlings have grown stronger, we remove the non-woven covering material and fight further with ash.
Important note. It is advisable to transfer radishes to drip irrigation. Otherwise, all efforts to combat the flea with the help of infusion on ash will be in vain after the first watering from above on the leaves. The infusion is washed off the leaves, and the flea is back to work.
Another remark. If cultivated plants and weeds of the cruciferous family grow next to the radish, then all the surroundings can be treated with chemistry.
Whitewash is another radish pest. Belianka is a white butterfly with dark edging of its wings. But the leaves of the radish are eaten by its caterpillars.
When fighting a whitewash, it is also advisable to do without the use of chemicals. The beds must be treated with a solution of mustard, table salt and ground pepper. It is prepared like this: for a 10-liter bucket of water - 2 tablespoons of mustard, 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of red or black pepper.
Radish diseases
BacteriosisRoot crops become slimy, begin to emit a rotten smell. In this case, the leaves of the radish turn yellow.
To combat this disease, plants are treated with 1% Bordeaux liquid.
Keela. Bulges and growths appear on the surface of the root crops, the leaves of the radish begin to turn yellow and wither.
To combat this fungal disease, the soil around the damaged plants is watered with milk of lime. It is prepared like this: 2 glasses of fluffy lime are dissolved in a 10-liter bucket of water. One plant must be watered with 1 liter of solution.
Blackleg. Young radish plants can be affected by the black leg. Leaves curl and turn yellow, blackening appears at the base of the plant stem.
To combat the black leg, the following solution is prepared: 1 tablespoon of copper sulfate and 40-50 grams of laundry soap shavings are dissolved in a 10-liter bucket of water. Then the diseased plants are sprayed.
It is also very good to spray the seedlings with onion husk tincture 2-3 times with an interval of 6 days (about 20 g per liter, leave for 1 day).
When choosing varieties of radish for planting, preference should be given to varieties resistant to various diseases.
But it can be repeated once again that it is better to take preventive measures. And then the likelihood of disease will dramatically decrease.
Although there are not so many pests, and the ripening period is so short that they do not have time to really harm, sometimes the crop is spoiled. To prevent this from happening again, you need to know how to protect and how to spray radishes from pests. Let's talk about this.
How to deal with radish pests?
The main pest of radish is the cruciferous flea. This tiny dark-colored bug leaps dexterously and, despite its diminutive size, can have a significant negative effect on radishes. Fleas eat the leaves of the plant, leaving holes in them. And when they reach a certain size, the radish stops growing.
Naturally, the root crop does not ripen and sometimes even dies. It is necessary to pay attention to this pest already at the germination stage, since young plants are not able to resist the invasion of the pest for a long time. Cruciferous fleas are especially active in dry and hot weather.
So, how to treat radishes from these small pests:
- You can spray the leaves of the radish with a solution of wood ash (2 cups of fresh ash in a bucket of water with the addition of 50 g of laundry soap).
- Ashes can not be diluted in water, but simply sprinkled on the garden bed so that it falls on the leaves. You can do the same with tobacco dust.
- For greater efficiency, young seedlings can be treated with the Inta-Vir insecticide. Spraying of neighboring cultivated plants will not hurt either. However, this should be done only as a last resort, since there is a risk of destruction of crops.
Advice: after processing the radish, it must be watered very carefully, best of all - by a drip method, so as not to wash off the applied control agents from the leaves.
Another enemy of the radish is the white woman, or rather its larvae. It is best to deal with it without chemicals. For example, treat the beds with a solution of mustard powder, table salt and 
ground pepper.
To prepare the solution, you need to take 2 tablespoons of mustard powder and salt and 1 teaspoon of red or black ground pepper. Dilute this mixture in 10 liters of water and pour over the radish garden.
In addition to combating radish pests, preventive work should also be carried out - to remove weeds on time, observe the correct crop rotation, do not be late with sowing seeds, use light covering material in the early stages, water in a timely manner, loosen the plants in order to accelerate their growth.
Smooth, bright marketable radish evokes joy and pride in the work done on the site. But a tasty root crop is liked not only by people, but also by insects, so it is not always possible to get a beautiful harvest. There are many pests that can spoil the radish, destroy its tops or pulp. If you do not fight them, they will quickly spread, filling the site. The article will describe the pests of radish and methods of dealing with them.
Signs of pests on radishes
It is even easier to notice pests on radishes than diseases, because they are visible with the naked eye, and if we are talking about underground pests, then the appearance of the tops or a dug root crop will help determine. There are several main signs of pests:
- ulcers on the leaves;
- twisted, yellow leaves;
- black formations at the base of the sheets;
- sluggish, drooping tops for no reason;
- leaves in holes that could not appear in any other way, except from caterpillars and other pests;
- holes and tunnels are visible on the radish itself.
In particular, you need to watch out for young radish shoots. They are very vulnerable and if pests attack them, you can lose the entire crop!
Insects usually eat the leaves immediately, although underground ones can start from the root or root vegetable, so you need to be careful. And at the first sign, retaliate.
The main pests of radish
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Radish pests do not appear spontaneously in the garden. Usually they switch to radishes from other crops or from weeds that are on the site.
- Cabbage White is a white butterfly with a black border along the edge of the wing. It lays eggs in areas where radishes grow, and the caterpillars hatching from them eat the bases of the radish leaves. This leads to the fact that the root crop stops growing and may simply not grow.
- The cruciferous flea is one of the most dangerous enemies of the radish. She eats still young leaves of radish, gnawing holes in them when they first appear. After their invasion, the planting bed resembles a sieve.
- The wireworm is a pest known to any gardener. This is the larva of the click beetle, which can destroy the entire plant - ground and underground parts in a short time.
- The cabbage and garden scoop are gray-brown butterflies that also leave clutches on radish leaves. The larvae that emerge from them eat the leaves, while only transparent skeletons remain of the green tops. Of course, root crops in the ground cease to develop completely and dry out or rot.
- The cabbage moth is a gray-brown insect with a remarkable fringe on its wings. The moth itself is not harmful to radish, but its larvae suck the juices from the tops and eat the leaf tissue.
- The spring and summer cabbage fly is an ash-colored insect (the summer fly is usually larger than the spring one). Among the plantings of radishes and other vegetables, she lays eggs, and the white larvae (worms) hatching from them penetrate deep into the ground and eat the roots of the radish. Within 2-3 days the radish becomes unusable.
As you can see, there are a lot of pests that threaten radish. But if you know how to deal with them, you don't have to worry about the harvest or its quality.
How to deal with radish pests?
When the gardener recognizes a pest that encroaches on the area with radishes, you can begin to exterminate the pests. There are many specialized preparations that very effectively cope with their task, but they must be used exclusively according to the instructions, during that period of culture development, when they cannot harm the crop.
- « Actellic "- a well-known drug effective against cabbage fly, cabbage whitefish, scoops. For 10 liters of warm water, 20 ml of the substance is taken, mixed well and used for spraying. This solution is enough for 10 squares of planting.
- « Entobacterin "- a strong, biological preparation against cabbage moths, aphids, cabbage whites. It is used dry (for dusting) or liquid (for spraying). Diluted according to the guidance provided on the package.
- « Zolon »Used for cabbage whites, midges, scoops, aphids, cruciferous fleas. The method of use is indicated on the package.
- « Zemlin »Can save the site from cabbage flies, wireworms and other insects living in the ground. Diluted according to the rules on the package and used immediately. You cannot cook this product for future use!
- « Provotox »Is a strong anti-wireworm preparation that is not addictive to insects and can therefore be used annually. Divorced according to the instructions on the box.
Spraying or watering with insecticides is carried out only in dry weather. If it rains after using the insecticide, it is advisable to repeat the procedure, because the water washes away most of the insecticide.
- « Aktara "- a universal preparation against various pests on cruciferous plants. He can remove caterpillars, larvae, butterflies, moths, aphids from the site. However, you need to use it carefully because it is also harmful to bees. Therefore, it is always used only according to the instructions and only when there are no flowering plants nearby.
- « Initiative »Hatches wireworm, caterpillars, scoop, cruciferous flea beetle, fly larvae, cabbage white beetle. One bag (30 g) is enough for about 15 square meters of land. This remedy is prepared atypically. It is not divorced with water, but mixed with sand. A ¾ liter jar is filled with sand, and then 30 g of the substance is poured there and mixed. The resulting composition is sprayed over the site.
- « Bazudin »Copes with the invasion of bears, cabbage fly larvae, weevils, wireworms. To use, fill a ¾ liter jar with sand, add 30 g of Bazudin and spray over the area with radishes. This amount is usually sufficient for 20 square meters of planting.
Folk methods of struggle
In the case when radish pests have just appeared on the plant, you can not immediately use strong, specialized means, but do with folk remedies.
- Ash soap. In a bucket of water (10 L), dissolve 50 g of laundry soap and 2 glasses of wood ash. The resulting composition is thoroughly mixed and used for watering the radish. This tool copes with the cruciferous flea.
- Mustard with pepper. If a mole, scoop, cabbage whitewash appears on the radish, you can scare them away with this remedy. A teaspoon of red, hot pepper powder, 2 tablespoons of salt and the same amount of dry mustard are mixed in 10 liters of water. The resulting mixture is watered with plants.
- Tobacco and ash drive away caterpillars, larvae, flea bees. With one of these means or both, you just need to powder the leaves and the ground where the radish grows. This simple procedure will scare away pests.
- Ash and lime in a 1: 1 mixture can drive away a horde of cruciferous flea beetles. But you need to use this tool only in dry weather, and repeat after rains.
Preventive actions
Every gardener knows what pests live on his site or lived earlier. In order to prevent their secondary appearance or damage to radishes by them, preventive measures must be taken.
- The aisles should be clean - no weeds, fallen leaves, and it is also not recommended to thicken the crops.
- Preventive spraying of crops avoids possible problems. But it is not necessary to use insecticides for this. If there are no pests yet, folk recipes will also be effective.
Interesting!
Insects are especially active during the hot season. And most of all they are attracted by young radish.
- Any affected plants are best removed rather than waiting for the crop to recover. While the gardener waits, the pest looks for new, tasty treats and switches to them.
- Rot always attracts pests, so there should be no such odors on the site. Old mulch is changed in time, fallen leaves are burned, waste is thrown away.
- Observance of crop rotation avoids pests. You can't plant radishes after crucifers!
- Watering should be done in moderation. An abundance or lack of moisture can attract insects for which such an environment is comfortable.
- Many pests like an acidic environment, so you need to control the acidity of the earth and adjust it as needed.
As you can see, everything is not very difficult, the main thing is to take a comprehensive approach to the problem, if it appears. But, in general, subject to preventive measures and a timely response to the appearance of pests, the gardener may not worry about the radish harvest.
All gardeners want to get as many healthy fruits as possible with a juicy tasty pulp, full of vitamins and minerals, from the radish beds.
But not everyone manages to grow a good harvest due to diseases and other reasons: sometimes radish pests get in the way, and methods of dealing with them do not always help. Due to insects not found in time, vegetable growers may be left without radish fruits, but more often they still manage to be defeated with the help of insecticides.
In any climate zone, there are plenty of insects that can harm radishes and other cruciferous vegetables. Before you know how to treat radishes from pests, consider the main winged and crawling insects - the enemies of the vegetable.
- Cabbage moth... It is a small brown-gray insect, whose wings are decorated with dark fringes. Radishes are harmed not by moths, but by their larvae, which feed on sap and plant tissues.
- Cabbage white... This white butterfly with a black border along the edge of the wings is known even to children. She lays eggs in radish plantings. Caterpillars hatched from eggs actively eat the lower part of the leaves, moving from outlet to outlet.
- Vegetable and cabbage scoop... Gray - brown butterflies making clutches on radishes. The larvae destroy the leaves, turning them into transparent skeletons. Plants attacked by a pest stop developing.
- Cabbage fly... It happens in spring and summer (the last fly is larger). An ash-colored fly that produces egg clutches on vegetable plantings, from which white worms hatch and attack the roots. Radish becomes unusable in 2-3 days.
- Cruciferous flea... The most dangerous enemy of this culture, eating the leaves of young plants: after its invasion, the tops resemble a sieve.
- Wireworm... The beetle larva is a nut beetle capable of destroying the entire plant, including the roots.
As you can see, radishes have many enemies who want to feast on delicate foliage and roots, reducing all the efforts of gardeners to "no".
How to treat radishes in the garden from pests
Such an extensive list of harmful insects capable of destroying crops raises concern. However, many insecticides have been developed against pests that easily cope with the scourge: their list is no less.
Biological and chemical preparations against radish pests
Entobacterin
It is used in liquid and dry form: dissolve the product in water according to the instructions and spray the planting, or spray the preparation in powder.
Entobacterin is a universal biological agent against various insects, it is especially good at destroying the cabbage moth and its offspring.
Bitoxibacillin
We dilute 50-100 g of powder in 10 liters of water, add 40 ml of liquid soap and pour the radish over the leaves in dry weather.
A biological product that is safe for bees and pets, it copes well with many harmful insects.
Actellic
Dissolve 20 ml in a ten-liter bucket of water and spray the planting (this solution is enough for 10 m²).
A good remedy against the cabbage fly and other winged enemies of the radish.
Zemlin and Provotox
They are used according to instructions against wireworms and other pests that live in the ground: cabbage fly larvae, ants and others.
Bazudin
We fill a liter container three quarters with sand, mix it with 30 g of the preparation and add it to the soil during planting (the composition is enough for 20 m²).
How to treat radish from wireworm pests? Just Bazudin: he also deals with bears, cabbage fly larvae, weevils, etc.
Initiative
30 g of the product is enough for processing 15 m². Prepare a mixture of ¾ l of sand and 30 g of the product and scatter it on the ground around the seedlings.
The initiative destroys not only wireworms, but also those pests of radishes, methods of fighting which are beyond the power of some drugs: caterpillars of scoops and whiteflies, cruciferous flea, larvae of any flies.
Aktara
A universal insect repellent, used at the rate of 5 liters per hundred square meters. Kills aphids and caterpillars hatched from eggs of butterflies and moths. Dangerous for bees.
Actofit also copes well with pests. The biological product, dissolved in water according to the instructions on the package, destroys aphids, scoops, cabbage whites and many other insects that feed on cruciferous plants.
Folk remedies for enemies of radishes
What else can you treat radishes from pests? Folk remedies, especially if early varieties are planted, from which nitrates from chemicals will not have time to get out.
Ash and soap
Dissolve 50 g of laundry soap and 2 glasses of wood ash in 10 liters of water, and pour the radishes on a fine, but not hot day.
The remedy helps with the invasion of many harmful insects, especially the cruciferous flea.
Ash and tobacco
Regularly pollinating plantings after watering or rain with tobacco dust or ash, it is easy to get rid of caterpillars and other pests of vegetables.
Pepper and mustard
Mix 1 tsp in 10 liters of water. any hot pepper powder, 2 tbsp. salt and 2 tbsp. dry mustard. We water the plantings to destroy the caterpillars of the cabbage whites, moths and scoops.
If, after treating the beds with folk insecticides, it rained, we repeat the watering or pollination, otherwise the insects will destroy the plantings.
Now it is clear what pests of radishes are and methods of dealing with them - folk and industrial. Remember that for early varieties of radish, you can only use folk remedies or biological products that are not harmful to human and animal health.