How to treat onion maggot folk remedies and drugs
Each summer resident has at least once encountered the appearance of harmful insects on their site. The onion fly is a frequent visitor and an extremely dangerous pest that causes a lot of trouble and can even cause the complete destruction of the crop of onions and other vegetable crops. In order to avoid such a problem, it is important to know what an onion fly is and how you can deal with it.
What is
In appearance, the onion fly is in many ways similar to the common house fly. This winged insect does not exceed 7 millimeters in length. The body of the fly is gray-yellow in color, with a slight green tint, there are vertical stripes on the wings, and the eyes are burgundy. The pest itself does not pose a threat to plants, but it is the larvae that cause the most damage.
They get inside the bulb and the infected plant begins to dry out and rot. Such a fly appears on the site in the middle of spring and continues its years until the end of May.
Reasons to appear in the house
Bulbous family flowers are often grown at home. Lilies, crocuses and amaryllis grow beautifully on the windowsills of a house or apartment. However, these plants can also be attacked by the onion maggot.
To get rid of this pest, folk methods and chemical preparations are used.
The main ways to fight
Onion fly can be a big problem for the site owner. Having identified the activity of the pest, it is necessary to take urgent measures to control the pest.
Odors
To protect the plantations, they use bright, bright aromas that scare away the pest.
Carrot
To prevent the fly from even approaching the onion planting, a carrot is planted next to it. In this case, the carrot not only prevents the pests from infecting the bulbs, but the onion also repels the carrot pests by its smell.
Tomato
Effectively repels insect pests and nightshade crops, such as tomatoes. To avoid infestation of onion beds with fly larvae, it is enough to plant tomatoes nearby.
tobacco dust
To prevent the onion fly from approaching the onion, you should buy a packet of tobacco dust and sprinkle it in the driveway every two weeks. Processing is carried out on wet soil, then tobacco is added to the hoe.
Parsnip
Another planting that can be placed near the bulbs. Parsnips with their aroma will scare away pests.
Parsley leaf and root
Planting parsley next to the bulbs will help prevent onion larvae from infesting your plants.
Celery
Effectively repels celery with its aroma. Planting this crop will help the vulnerable plant not to die due to the invasion of harmful insects.
Needles
The onion pest does not tolerate the smell of pine needles - whether fresh needles or dry litter.To scare away the insect, the rows of onions are mulched with pine litter immediately after the first shoots. In addition, the rows can be irrigated by infusion of young pine branches.
Valerian
The onion maggot will fly around onion plantations, which have been previously treated with a solution or tincture of valerian.
mint
Mint can also be used to make a tincture or decoction.Planting is treated with a ready-made composition with a strong smell once a week.
mugwort
This fragrant plant can be found everywhere. To scare away the insect, stalks of freshly harvested plants are placed between the rows of onions. Or prepare a tincture: 1 kilogram of wormwood is crushed, poured with 10 liters of water and insisted for three days. The onion crop is watered with the resulting solution.
lemon balm
A tincture or decoction is prepared from this fragrant herb. Onion plantations are treated with the prepared composition once every two weeks.
Traditional methods
The advantage of using folk remedies in the fight against insect pests is complete safety and availability. Almost everyone in the house has tools that can be used to deal with bunion beds.
Ammonia
To drive out the annoying pest, you need to spray onion plantations with a solution of ammonia and water every five days.
For cooking, take three tablespoons of alcohol and 10 liters of water. Processing is carried out until mid-June.
Ash
Ash is the easiest way to get rid of a pest. The onion crop should be regularly treated with the combustion product of branches and weeds.The aisles are liberally sprinkled with ashes, then sprinkled with earth. A similar procedure should be carried out every two weeks, and the onion parasite will not cause any problems.
Dandelion rhizome tincture
To prepare the tincture, you need to pour 200 grams of roots with a glass of boiling water. The tool is infused in a dark place for a week. The finished composition is watered once every two weeks.
Table salt
You need to be careful with this method: table salt negatively affects the condition of the soil and plants. A glass of salt is dissolved in a bucket of water, and the onions are poured under the root. After a few hours, the remnants of the saline solution are washed off and the aisle is filled with clean water. Do this once per season.
Naphthalene with sand
To scare away the pest, a medicine with a sharp aroma is used. Round tablets (10 pieces) should be crushed to a powder state, mixed with sand (half a bucket) and sprinkled with onion beds. Treatment is carried out every ten days.
potassium permanganate
For watering you will need a saturated solution of potassium permanganate and water. Plantings are poured with the ready-made composition twice a week. Processing is carried out only in the late evening, since in the heat the plants can burn themselves.
Chemical products
If the use of traditional methods did not bring good results, it is recommended to use insecticides.
fly eater
The basis of this drug is diazinon. The chemical should be applied to the loose soil directly while planting the bulbs. The action of the drug is aimed at damaging the chewing-aspiration apparatus of the larvae and their complete destruction. As a preventive measure, the seed is treated with the agent.
Zemlin
With this chemical, harmful insects that live in the soil are eliminated. It is necessary to cultivate the soil directly when planting. The second treatment is carried out after harvesting. The tool guarantees a contact-intestinal effect and a sufficiently long-lasting effect.
alatar
It is a powerful insecticide that is used in case of prolonged damage to the bulbs by the larvae of the harmful insect. To prepare the composition, take 5 milliliters of product and mix with 10 liters of water. The entire area with plants is treated with the finished solution. The plantations are sprayed at the end of the evening.
Preventive measures
Preventive measures aim to avoid contamination of plants. The main recommendation is to change your front seat every three years. Before planting, onion seedlings should be soaked for ten minutes in a heated solution of potassium permanganate. In late spring, it will not be superfluous to treat the soil with insecticides.
In addition, mixtures of peat, manure and peat fertilizers should be applied to the soil. To prevent the midge from approaching the plantings, the seedlings should be treated with bitter compounds based on wormwood, tansy or pepper. After harvesting, the soil must be dug up so that the larvae freeze to death.