Getting a good harvest of strawberries is a task that requires attention and knowledge from the gardener. Agrotechnical measures suggest that the shrubs will be protected from pests. Among them, one of the most common is aphids. This insect affects up to 80% of plantings in the garden, including strawberries, so it is very important to know how to deal with them in order to keep the plant healthy and get a bountiful harvest.

Aphids: how to recognize an infection

Outwardly, the pest resembles an egg - the body color is light, the shape is oblong. Aphids have long legs, but they move slowly.

There are several types: with and without wings. Particular attention should be paid to winged aphids, as females of this species are able to form new colonies faster than non-winged species. Settlements can be formed:

  • on the shoots;
  • on buds;
  • on the leaves from the underside.

Important! In most cases, ants settle near the aphid colony.

You can determine the presence of pests by the following symptoms:

  • a special sweetish smell appears next to the strawberry bushes, which differs from the aroma of berries;
  • leaves curl into a tube, lose their elasticity (become sluggish);
  • the color of the leaf blade changes;
  • the upper part of the shoots changes;
  • drops of honeydew appear (different parts of the bush).

The culture, regardless of the variety, becomes sluggish and weakened. She can also be infected with a viral infection. Additional external changes: galls may appear on the leaves. You can identify the pest like this: a black wet bloom appears on the bushes.

Strawberry bushes must be treated with special compounds in order to protect against the negative effects of the pest, since:

  • aphids absorb a large amount of sap from plant cells (as a result, the bush becomes weak);
  • deformations occur in the buds;
  • shoots are weak, curved;
  • as a result of cell damage and lack of nutrients, growth processes slow down (they may also be absent).

If aphids are damaged, the berry often does not have time to ripen, becomes small and loses its sweetness. It is also important to consider that a weakened bush in winter dies in most cases. The danger of the presence of aphids on strawberries is that the pest sucks out more nutritious juice from the plant than it needs to feed it, and is a carrier of viral diseases.

Measures of influence

Weevil on strawberries - how to deal

The main method of plant protection is timely started prophylaxis. It is also required to conduct a visual control of the state of the strawberry plantings.

Important! Even if strawberries or strawberries are purchased from a store, it is necessary to check for aphids, as they can settle on the leaves.

A simple but effective aphid control is planting crops such as dill, parsley, or fennel next to berries. In order to get rid of the pest or prevent its appearance on plantings, it is recommended to place wood shavings next to the bushes. It can be placed in containers and placed around the perimeter or scattered along the earthen paths (directly on the ground), this will attract the natural enemies of aphids, earwigs.

Dill next to strawberries

It is recommended to create bird feeders in the garden, as they actively feed on aphids. Planting flowers will help protect the strawberry garden: nasturtium, lavender, thyme does the job well.

If the first signs of infection begin to appear, top dressing is required. It is needed so that the bushes receive additional nutrition, become stronger and more enduring. A special planting method will help in the fight against aphids - the bushes should be planted in open ground so as not to be located close to each other. When flowering or fruiting occurs, the plant needs additional feeding. It is necessary to provide:

  • regular watering;
  • mulching;
  • enough light.

Chemical components for spraying should be used only when preventive methods have not helped, the treatment of the primary symptoms has not brought results.

In order to get rid of aphids, it is required to carry out prevention in the autumn. The main task is to make the plant strong and hardy. For this purpose, top dressing is applied, potash and phosphorus fertilizers are used. In order to protect the plant, it is recommended to abandon loosening before winter, since in this case you can damage the root system by exposing it. Loosening, which is carried out immediately after harvesting, helps to successfully fight aphids. Timely weeding will help prevent the pest from appearing, since aphids feed on leaves. It is recommended to burn the harvested foliage.

Note.All diseased and damaged strawberry leaves must be plucked, weakened bushes must be removed to prevent the formation of a large colony. It is also recommended to spray with a weak solution of potassium permanganate - this will help get rid of possible pest eggs that were not noticed during visual inspection.

Traditional methods

If it is time to actively fight aphids, you can use traditional methods, since they are less harmful to the plant. A good remedy that will help get rid of the pest when the aphids have already settled on the strawberries is spraying with an infusion obtained from potato tops and laundry soap. To do this, you need to take chopped tops (1 kg), laundry soap (40 g) on ​​a bucket of water. All components are mixed, the liquid should be infused for 4 hours.

Attention! Warm water is used. After that, it is necessary to filter the liquid, spray the strawberry plantings. Experienced gardeners claim that up to 90% of pests die within 10-12 hours.

An infusion obtained from onion husks works well. To create it, you need a bucket of husk and a bucket of water. The components must be mixed and left to infuse. It will take 24 hours for this purpose. Before use, the liquid is filtered and diluted 2 times. Its efficiency is high. A good folk method creates protection for the plant, repels pests.

If the question arises, how to fight aphids on strawberries, then you need to remember that an infusion of chamomile or marigolds helps to get rid of a small colony.

Important! The technique can be used if there are few aphids on the plant, since the solution is weak, capable of repelling, but not destroying.

If none of the methods led to a positive result, then a solution containing ammonia is used. In this case, you can get rid of a large colony of pests.

Aphids on strawberries

If it becomes necessary to save the plant from parasites, then you need to know in advance how to deal with aphids on garden strawberries. That is why you should make homemade infusions with plants that can scare away or protect bushes.

The guaranteed disposal of the colony will be when several rules are observed: prophylaxis is carried out, methods are applied corresponding to the degree of damage.

For strawberries, you also need to create all the necessary, from the point of view of agricultural technology, conditions: timely feed, water, weed. This will provide the bushes with additional nutrients and strengthen them.

Note! If diseased specimens appear, then they need to be removed (transplanted or dug out) in order to stop the process of spreading aphids to other plantings.

The main condition for obtaining a crop is attention to planting. That is why, even if a balcony is chosen as a place for growing, it is necessary to carry out prevention, spray and feed strawberries, since pest eggs can be kept on a specimen of a seedling bought in a nursery or in a store.