Cruciferous flea beetles control methods using chemistry. Cruciferous flea flea: how to fight, remedies and preparations. Use of special drugs

One of the most dangerous pests of cabbage is the cruciferous flea beetle. Having settled in the beds, it can completely destroy the crop.

You can understand that this insect has appeared in the garden bed by finding holes with jagged edges on the cabbage leaves.

Cabbage flea beetles live everywhere, excluding areas with very cold summers. They are called cruciferous because they feed on young plants of the cabbage family (mustard, radish, radish) and weeds belonging to this family.

In fact, these are not fleas, but leaf beetles. They got their name for their jumping ability, which makes them similar to fleas and grasshoppers.

The body of flea beetles is round or elongated. These are small insects: female - 3 mm, male - 1.8 mm. The color of the elytra also depends on the sex.

Female cabbage flea beetles die in June–July, after laying up to 20 small eggs, from which larvae appear within 6–12 days. These are light worms 2–4 mm long. They live in the top layer of the earth and feed on small roots. After 15–30 days, the larvae pupate. After another 1–2 weeks, the pupae turn into cabbage flea beetles.

The reproduction process occurs once a year, but with a large number of cabbage flea beetles (50 or more on one plant), they can destroy all cabbage plantings in 3-4 days.

The most common types of cabbage leaf beetles are:

1. Light-legged flea beetle. Lives in the southern regions. The back is greenish-black. The elytra are yellow-striped with a black suture stripe. The paws are yellow, the head is black. The length of the body is up to 3.5 mm. The female lays eggs on the leaf blade.
2. Wavy flea. It lives in the north of the European part of Russia, in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East. The suture stripe is black, tapering towards the head. The elytra have yellow stripes with a notch. Body length - 2.5 mm.
3. Southern cruciferous (black flea beetle). The most dangerous of all cruciferous flea beetles. The elytra are black, with a metallic tint. Body length - 1.8–3 mm.
4. Notched flea beetle. Distributed in Yakutia, Primorye, and the Far East. Body length - 2.2–2.8 mm. The elytra are dark with yellow stripes and a wide black suture stripe. It lays eggs directly in the main root, making depressions.
5. Blue flea. Lives in the Caucasus, European Russia, Asia, Western Siberia, and Ukraine. The color of the elytra is bright blue or green. Has long antennae.

They overwinter in the top layer of soil, fallen leaves or organic debris. They awaken when the ground thaws. At first, they settle on the first shoots of cruciferous weeds, and later move to cabbage seedlings.

Cruciferous flea beetles love warm, dry weather. When the dew falls, they are motionless.

At the slightest danger, cabbage flea beetles scatter and can be seen with the naked eye. They like to hide inside a fork of cabbage.

How to get rid of fleas

You need to start fighting the cruciferous flea beetle on cabbage as early as possible: the more insects there are, the more difficult it will be to deal with them.

The critical level of the number of cabbage flea beetles, when increased, the fight must begin:

• seedlings - 10% of plants have from 3 to 5 bugs per sprout;
• the formation of a whorl of leaves - 10 bugs settled on a quarter of the plants;
• when the head is formed, 3–5 bugs are present on half of the plants.

Plantings should be processed in a warm morning or evening, when there is no rain or wind.

When using any method, you must strictly adhere to the instructions: take into account the concentration, time, frequency of treatments.

These pests rarely disappear after the first application of the formulations. Usually, at least 2-3 treatments of each sheet are required on both sides.

Folk recipes

Folk remedies help only at the early stage of cabbage infestation with cruciferous flea beetle.

1. Spraying compositions:

1) Decoction of tops:

• fresh tomato (potato) tops - 4 kg;
• water - 10 l;
• leave for 4 hours, boil, cool;
• add laundry soap - 40 g.
• dilute with water 1:1.

2) Tomato tops with garlic:

• tops rolled through a meat grinder - 1 cup;
• chopped garlic - 1 cup;
• hot water - 10 l;
• steam and add liquid soap.

3) Slaked lime:

• wood ash - 1 part;
• lime - 1 part;
• ground black pepper.

For 1 sq. m will require 30 g of mixture. Plantings are treated according to dew.

4) Ash solution:

• sifted ash - 3 kg;
• water - 10 l;
• leave for 10 days, strain;
• add 40 g of laundry soap.

Use several times with a two-week break.

5) Tobacco suspension:

• wood ash - 1 part;
• tobacco (shag) - 1 part;
• water.

The solution is also used for irrigation.

6) Infusion of celandine:

• dry celandine - 200 g;
• water - 10 l;
• leave for 2 days, strain;
• add 40 g of liquid soap.

7) Wormwood decoction:

• wormwood - 1 kg;
• boil for 20 minutes;
• chopped garlic - 100 g;
• water - 10 l.

8) Vinegar solution:

• table vinegar - 200 g (or 2 tbsp. essence);
• water - 10 l.

2. Powdering:

In the morning or evening, when there is dew, cabbage plantings and row spacing are sprinkled with powders. Apply 30 g of dry composition per 1 m2 of cabbage bed. It is convenient to use a gauze bag.

The procedure must be repeated after watering or rain. During the season, dusting is carried out at least three times with a break of 4–5 days.

Dry substances to repel cabbage flea beetles:

• sifted wood ash;
• tobacco dust;
• road dust;
• dried and ground celandine or tansy;
• ground pepper.

The products can be alternated and mixed.

1) Alcohol:

• water - 10 l;
• ammonia (valerian) - 40 drops.

2) Chicken droppings:

• water - 20 parts;
• litter - 1 part;
• wait until it ferments.

3) Vegetable:

• sagebrush;
• garlic;
• dandelion leaves.

4) Cold: water with very cold water for several days in a row.

Cabbage processing according to folk recipes should be carried out regularly throughout the season. But with a large concentration of bugs, these methods will not help. What to do in this case?

Fighting with chemicals

Chemicals are effective but dangerous. Insecticides are diluted strictly according to the instructions. The work is carried out using protective equipment (masks, gloves).

Do this no later than 20 days before eating vegetables. Therefore, insecticides are not used to protect early varieties of cabbage.

The most common substances:

1. "Imidalit." Designed for seed treatment.
2. "Aktellik". Organophosphorus insecticide in the form of an emulsion. 2 ml of the substance are diluted in 1 liter of water. This amount is enough to process 10 m2. Plantings are sprayed twice with a break of 20 days.
3. "Bi-58". Liquid insecticide of contact action. One ampoule is diluted in 5 or 10 liters of water.
4. "Decis". A universal contact action drug. It is not used in hot weather. Safe for humans.
5. "Diazinon". The soil is treated before planting seedlings.
6. "Intavir". Moderately toxic drug in the form of tablets (powder). It is diluted according to the instructions and sprayed on cabbage three times with a break of 3 weeks.
7. "Bankol." Moderately toxic powder. Apply during the growing season. Protects the plant for two weeks. Vegetables can be used 1 week after application.
8. "Karate". Toxic. Effective when it comes into contact with an insect. Plantings are sprayed during the growing season, dissolving 2 ml of the substance in 10 liters of water.
9. "Aktaru". Available in granules or suspension form. It can be applied to the soil and used to spray plants.
10. "Phenaxin". Fast-acting remedy. To process 1 sq. m, 5 g of the substance is enough.

Please note that chemicals are washed off by rain. The treatment need not be repeated only if it rained no earlier than 12 hours after spraying the cabbage.

Mechanical methods

These are the safest methods that do not harm cabbage.

1. Catching. A sticky layer is applied to the fabric (sheet of plywood, cardboard): glue, grease, syrup. The fabric is attached to a stick. You need to move the cloth over the cabbage. Frightened cabbage flea beetles jump and stick to the rag. From time to time, insects are cleaned off and the adhesive layer is replaced.
2. Catching for oil. Between the rows of plantings, sheets coated with used machine oil are laid out. When cabbage pests get on them, they stick to them. Traps are placed 2 pieces per 1 square. m.
3. Catching fleas using sticky fly tape.
4. Paper traps. They are done if individual plants are infected. The paper is rolled into a cone. Lubricate the inside with a sticky composition and put it on the diseased head of cabbage. In this case, you need to carefully disturb the shoot, scaring off the fleas.
5. The traps are solid. The caps can be replaced with sheets of plywood or cardboard, placing them between the rows. As they move, the fleas stick to them.

Between the heads of cabbage, you can place flat containers with sharp-smelling substances: for example, diluted kerosene. The pests fall there and die.

Prevention and how to protect plantings from damage

You can protect your cabbage plantings from being colonized by cruciferous flea beetles. Then you won’t have to take measures to combat them and use harmful drugs on the site.

Prevention begins in the fall. The beds are dug deep so that the insects die.
Waking up in the spring, cabbage flea beetles feed on weeds of the cruciferous family: rapeseed, wild radish, and shepherd's purse. Therefore, they must be carefully weeded out.

Moreover, these herbs and flowers cannot be taken even into the compost pit. It is better to remove them completely and around the site.

In the spring, beds with cabbage should be sprinkled with sand or tomato shoots, mown grass, and chopped tansy.

When planting cabbage, you need to take into account the life span of flea beetles. Early varieties should be planted in early April, late varieties in July. In this case, the cabbage leaves will have time to harden before the pests appear.

Early varieties of cabbage are planted under film so that insects that overwintered on the weeds do not move into the beds. When the seedlings become stronger, the non-woven material can be removed. In summer, cabbage beds are protected from bugs in hot weather.

The proximity to plants, the smell of which these bugs do not like, repels fleas well. Therefore, cabbage is planted next to garlic, dill, coriander, potatoes, and caraway seeds. You can plant marigolds next door.

Timely watering is also important. You can add infusions of dandelion, wormwood, and garlic to cold water.

In order for cabbage to grow healthy, strong and able to resist pests, it needs to be carefully looked after and fed on time: superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride.

Cruciferous flea beetles are well known to vegetable growers. These insects are faithful companions of cabbage, horseradish and radishes. They surround your favorite crops and begin to damage their leaves. Then the larvae get to work, destroying the root system by gnawing passages in it. Having noticed this pest in your area, you need to urgently take decisive action. What will help get rid of the cruciferous flea beetle and how to fight it with effective means?

We invite you to learn about effective methods of combating cruciferous flea beetle.

Plants from the cabbage family are often attacked by insect pests. They arouse little interest among farmers, but when it comes to the cabbage harvest, it’s a completely different matter. The cruciferous flea beetle attacks seedlings and young, immature plants. In case of mass attacks, cabbage dies in just a few days.

The cruciferous flea beetle has a special name for a reason. According to biologists, it and its larvae feed only on the leaves of plants from the cruciferous family. Its victims include the following popular crops among summer residents:

• cabbage;
• radish;
• radish;
• mustard.

Among wild plants, shepherd's purse, rapeseed, and field grass fall prey to it. However, midges multiply quickly, especially in warm and dry weather. Under favorable conditions, fairly large colonies of this insect are formed. They are voracious and quickly destroy noble plants, including cabbage. The danger is that even a small number of fleas can deprive a farmer of his harvest. The insect prefers to eat the most tender parts of the plant. So they destroy the growth zone, and the plant stops its development.

The photo shows a cruciferous flea beetle on a cabbage leaf

In rainy and cloudy weather, the cruciferous flea flea hides under leaves and in other secluded places. Farmers noticed that the number of individuals decreased even when the area was watered. The pest lays eggs on the leaves, from which the larva hatches. After birth, they fall to the ground and feed on the tender roots of plants from the cruciferous family. Having had enough, the larva pupates, and in July the second generation of cruciferous flea beetles is born.

How to fight cruciferous flea flea with folk remedies?

You need to start protecting plants from the cruciferous flea beetle invasion as soon as the seedlings are transplanted into open ground. Experienced farmers and summer residents know many traditional methods of control, which can be quite effective. The most popular folk remedies include:

1. Insect repellent. For this purpose, a mixture of ash, tobacco dust, ground pepper and road dust is used. This procedure should be repeated every 7 days.
2. Spraying. If cruciferous flea beetle unexpectedly appears on cabbage, you can spray it with the following bio composition: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of 9% vinegar, 50 grams of grated laundry soap and an infusion, a decoction of tomato or potato tops. Tobacco infusion is used by many as a folk remedy. A glass of tobacco is poured into 10 liters of boiling water, infused, 35 grams of liquid soap is added and the beds are treated. Spraying cabbage with essential oils is one of the latest folk methods. Fir, eucalyptus, and tea tree oils have proven themselves well.
3. Traps. Sticky tapes, store-bought or homemade, are a safe and effective method of control.
4. Naphthalene. An inexpensive product with a pungent odor works well to repel the cruciferous flea beetle from cabbage seedlings. It is enough to scatter 5 grams of dry naphthalene evenly over 1 square meter of area.

Appearance of a cabbage leaf attacked by cruciferous flea beetles

Unfortunately, traditional methods are effective as a preventative and deterrent. However, in case of massive pest attacks, this may not be enough. In such cases, it is worth using drugs developed by chemical biologists, namely:

• Karate;
• Aktellik;
• Decis.

However, before use, you must carefully study the instructions. It is worth considering that after processing cabbage may not be suitable for consumption. It is better to use chemicals for spraying young plants when the cabbage head has not yet begun to form.

Vegetable crops such as early ripening Chinese cabbage, radishes and arugula are the first delicacy for the cruciferous flea beetle. It appears at the moment when the plants are gaining strength and now you can enjoy a spring salad of fresh herbs. This small pest is capable of ruining a large number of vegetable crops in a short time.

There are two ways to fight this insect: preventive measures and special means that can repel the pest. Experienced summer residents and gardeners try to take preventive measures in a timely manner so that this insect does not appear in vegetable beds at all. If uninvited guests have already appeared on your plot of land, then your only hope is repellent drugs.

Compliance with planting deadlines

Gardeners with extensive experience recommend planting vegetable crops in early spring, at the very beginning of March, preferably in a greenhouse. By the beginning of May it will be possible to harvest. At this time, no flea is any longer dangerous, since it loves to feed on young leaves.

If you strictly adhere to planting dates and plant crops in early spring or mid-summer, then the plants will have time to reach their maturity before the mass invasion of harmful insects or much later than their appearance. Such planting will allow the plants to develop without problems, gain strength and give the tender leaf mass the opportunity to harden a little, which is a great chance for saving vegetable crops.

Removing Cruciferous Weeds

This method of struggle, although not easy, is very effective. The fact is that the flea, before the appearance of its favorite vegetable plants, feeds on weeds in the area - shepherd's purse, rapeseed and other representatives of cruciferous plants. These plants appear earlier, and with them the flea beetle. Only then will she move to the vegetable beds.

The task of every gardener is to completely rid his plot of these weeds. If there is no initial “food” for the pest, then there will be no pest at the dacha either. He will go looking for a treat in other gardens.

Maintaining high humidity

Favorable conditions for the cruciferous flea beetle are hot and dry weather. It is during this period that she appears en masse on the site. But water, wet soil and high humidity are not acceptable for it. This should be used as preventative measures. Vegetables must be planted on the dampest soils at the dacha, and watered abundantly and every day. And it’s even better if the plants are watered with special organic solutions, and not just ordinary settled water.

Cover with non-woven fabric

It is necessary to build small arcs over the beds and cover them with any material that will allow air, light and moisture to pass through well (for example, agrospan, lutrasil or non-woven fabric). The cruciferous flea flea practically does not penetrate under such a covering. The structure can be removed when the crops reach a certain maturity and strength.

Mixed plantings with phytoncidal plants

The flea is a pest that instantly reacts to strong and pungent odors. Take advantage of this weakness of his - plant garlic or dill in the cabbage bed. It is advisable to combine the cultivation of later-planted cruciferous crops with aromatic flower crops (for example, calendula or marigolds). Using such mixed plantings, the plants will definitely remain safe.

If for some reason joint plantings did not take place, then you can protect vegetable crops with the help of the bitter aroma of wormwood. It is recommended to lay out the bunches of this plant between the rows, but they will require frequent, almost daily, renewal.

Dusting against cruciferous flea beetle

The cruciferous flea beetle loves to feed on tender, young, clean leaves. Therefore, in order to preserve plants, they need to be “contaminated” for some time. As such a protective “powder” you can use wood ash or its mixture with tobacco dust (you can even mix the ash with road dust), as well as ground red pepper.

You can also get by by dusting the soil areas between the vegetable rows. Pepper powder, tobacco dust and naphthalene are also suitable for this.

The “powder” is applied to damp plants using a sieve or a small gauze bag. Moisture promotes good and long-term adhesion of any small particles. This procedure must be repeated every day, since watering washes away the protective pollination.

Some summer residents and gardeners use dust or slaked lime to dust plants.

Spraying against cruciferous flea beetle

The simplest solution for spraying cruciferous crops is prepared from 5 liters of water, 1 glass of ash infusion and about 50 grams of crushed tar soap. Before use, the solution must be infused for two hours. Droplets of this solution on plants will become a real trap for the cruciferous flea beetle. The pests will stick to the leaves and die after a while, unable to get out.

To combat fleas, you can prepare other solutions, the preparation of which will require you to spend a little more of your time.

• Recipe No. 1. You will need: 5 liters of water, 1 teaspoon of liquid laundry soap, half a glass of garlic and half a glass of tomato tops. First you need to grind the vegetable plants in a meat grinder, then mix everything with water and soap. It is advisable to strain the solution before use.
• Recipe No. 2. You will need: 1 bucket of water, 1 tablespoon of soap and 500 grams of crushed dandelions (roots, stems and leaves). Add vegetable gruel to the water, filter, add soap and the solution is ready.
• Recipe No. 3. The procedure for preparing and proportions of the spray solution is the same as in recipes No. 1 and No. 2, only the main component is dried tobacco in the amount of 200 grams and hot water is used.
• Recipe No. 4. Vinegar spraying is carried out with a solution prepared from 5 liters of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar essence (or 9% vinegar in an amount of 100-120 milliliters). Only plant leaves are processed.
• Recipe No. 5. 500 grams of freshly cut wormwood should be poured with a small amount of water and boiled for 15 minutes. After the infusion has completely cooled, you need to add 50 grams of garlic (scrolled through a meat grinder), stir thoroughly and strain through a sieve. Add 5 liters of water to the resulting liquid and begin the spraying procedure.
• Recipe No. 6. The following solution is used to treat plants in the evening. The main component is potato or tomato tops in the amount of 2 kilograms. The plants are poured with 5 liters of water, boiled for several minutes, cooled and filtered. Before use, the solution is diluted with water in equal parts.

Catching the cruciferous flea beetle

There are several ways to hunt like this. The most basic is catching insects using sticky substances and adhesive materials. Substances with high adhesiveness can be resin, grease, or machine oil. Having smeared a piece of cardboard or thick fabric attached to the shaft with one of these substances, you can walk along the rows of cruciferous plants. Disturbed jumping insects will definitely fall into the sticky trap. You can place several of these traps directly on the beds and between them.

You can also catch these pests using a portable vacuum cleaner designed for your car.

Watering for cruciferous flea beetle

One of the most dangerous radishes is called cruciferous flea beetle. They live everywhere, so every gardener can meet them.

Let's figure out what these pests can do and what ways there are to combat them.

Description of the pest

Cruciferous has a very small size - no more than 3 mm. Often gardeners do not pay attention to them, because the bugs are so small that they blend into the ground. Their black color helps them remain invisible, but some types of fleas have yellow stripes on their backs.
The bugs wake up after winter as soon as the ground thaws. Adults in the spring eat mainly (wild radish, field grass, rapeseed and others), and then black flea beetles move on to radishes and other cultivated plants of the cruciferous family.

Insect larvae eat mainly roots and cultivated plants. After transforming from a larva into a full-fledged flea, the insect comes to the surface and damages leaves and growing points.

Possible consequences

Flea beetles are very dangerous for radishes - they eat thin and tender leaves to holes, after which they dry out. A large number of flea beetles can destroy all the radishes in the garden in 2-3 days: adult bugs will eat the leaves and eat the skin on the stems, while the larvae will destroy the roots of the plant.
It is necessary to fight the cruciferous flea beetle on radishes immediately after you notice it, and even better, carry out prevention during planting.

Did you know? The largest radish was grown by Israeli farmer Nissan Tamir. She weighed 10 kg and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Signs of cruciferous flea beetle on radishes

The main signs of radish infestation with cruciferous flea beetle are:

• the presence of small bugs on the plant that jump in all directions if a leaf is disturbed;
• the leaves of the plant are thin and skeletonized;
• the presence of holes on the leaves;
• mining of leaves (the passages are gnawed inside the leaves).

If at least one of these signs is detected, it is necessary to treat the radishes against flea beetles, which can prevent the death of the plants.

Fighting methods

These insects are fought with both chemical and folk remedies. If the owner of the property rarely visits his dacha, then it will be more convenient for him to use chemicals to combat fleas.

But gardeners who are constantly on the site can defeat bugs using folk remedies.

Folk remedies

You can get rid of fleas on radishes using a product such as ordinary table vinegar. You need to dilute a bottle of vinegar in a bucket of water and treat the affected crop in dry weather. A tincture of 500 g of roots and leaves and a bucket of water helps well in controlling pests.

Important! Radish is an early ripening crop. If there is no need, you should not use chemicals, as they can accumulate in the plant.

A decoction of tomato or potato tops, which can be obtained by planting bushes, is also suitable. To this decoction you need to add another half a piece of grated laundry soap.
A large amount (2-4 kg) of fresh or dry tomato or potato tops should be soaked for four hours in 10 liters of water, then boiled, cooled and strained. Then dilute the broth with water 1:1.

If there is excess prepared broth left, you can not pour it out, but save it until the next season, tightly closing the container with a lid.

Sprinkling the soil on which radishes grow with mothballs or tobacco dust helps a lot. This powder will be a good protection against fleas and a useful fertilizer at the same time. The procedure will be effective if it is done every 4-5 days at least three times.

Flea fleas on radishes can be overcome with several other folk remedies. The tops of the plant can be sprinkled with ground black pepper or slaked lime in the early morning on the fallen dew. Experienced gardeners come up with various insect traps.
Often there are special canopies over the beds, the underside of which is lubricated with something sticky (solidol, resin). After a few days, the fleas will stick to the trap and it will need to be replaced with a new one.

Important! When pollinating radishes with mothballs, you need to use protective masks, since its vapors are dangerous to human health.

Motorists can use pieces of cloth soaked in old car oil to combat insects. Pieces of fabric are laid out on cardboard sheets between the radish beds for 2-3 days. Afterwards they need to be turned over to the other side and left for the same period. Traps are laid out at a distance of 4 meters from each other.

Chemicals

Before you spray radishes against fleas, you should try to fight them with natural remedies. If they do not help, you can move on to using special medications.

The most effective chemical insect control agents are:

• "Intavir";
• "Bankol";
• "Karate";
• "Sherpa";
• "Tabazol";
• "Kaiser"
• "Zolon."

Observant gardeners have noticed that flea shampoo for dogs also does a good job of controlling these pests. 1-2 caps of shampoo should be diluted in a bucket of water and sprayed on the plants.

Important! Insecticides are used only on medium-sized radishes (ripen in 25 days) and only while the seedlings are young. Otherwise, there is a high probability of crop destruction.

It is important to take into account the required concentration of drugs, which is always written on the packaging and is different for all substances. For example, 20 ml of Actellik should be diluted in 10 liters of water. And if you use “Karate”, 2.5 ml for the same amount of water will be enough.
Before treating all seedlings, it is necessary to test the drug on one plant. Then you need to observe the treated radish for a day and, if its condition has not worsened, you can continue to process the crop. They usually spray with chemicals in the evening, when the sun has already set. It is at this time of day that the cruciferous flea beetle sits calmly on the radish leaves. It is advisable to check the weather forecast for the night and the next day to ensure that the weather will be dry. If precipitation still passes, you need to repeat the treatment process.

It is important to remember to follow all safety rules when treating plants with chemicals, so as not to accidentally get poisoned or get chemical burns. Radishes that have been processed can be collected and eaten only after a month has passed from the date of spraying.

Pest prevention

It is easier to prevent the appearance of cruciferous flea flea on radishes than to try to fight it with all your might. Cruciferous flea beetles are afraid of a wide variety of odors. To prevent the appearance of insects, radishes should be surrounded by the following plants:

• tansy;

As soon as the first signs of the presence of flea beetles appear in the garden, the fight should be started immediately, otherwise you may be left without a harvest.

Small-sized bugs with a shiny curved back are an insect that is quite harmful to the garden and belongs to the family of leaf beetles. These insects are capable of destroying not only leaves, but also buds with flowers or pods.

These insects are called fleas because of the peculiarity of their hind legs to have extreme jumping ability, which can be compared with grasshoppers or real fleas. Filled with anxiety, these insects actively use this feature.

What does it look like?

Cruciferous flea beetles include several types of insects. Among them are wavy, notched, black, light-legged, blue and others.

In fact, they can be of different colors: either black, blue or green, or with a specific metallic sheen or two-tone tone - black with a yellow stripe above the wings.

A flying bug 1.5-3 mm long, with an oval-oblong body, as well as antennae that correspond to the size of at least a third of the body.

What harm does it do?

Cruciferous flea beetle larvae feed on rather thin plant roots, which interferes with the full development of an already young and weak stem. An example of the life activity of an insect is ulcerative gnawing of leaves, gnawing between veins, as a result of which the plant turns yellow or completely dies.

Significant damage to stems and leaves contributes to the formation of cankers, which quickly become huge holes; seedlings can die in a matter of days, especially if the weather is warm enough.

What crops does it affect?

When the surface temperature reaches 15 °C, representatives of the cruciferous flea beetle can be found on cabbage. The risk group includes the following garden crops: leaf mustard, rutabaga, watercress, radish and radishes, rapeseed, young horseradish, turnips, spinach, etc.

This group also includes cultivated flower plants, including gillyflower, rose, matthiola, etc.

Cruciferous flea beetle on cabbage, radish, eggplant

The cruciferous flea beetle on radishes, eggplants and cabbage is capable of multiplying quite quickly and in a few days, if not significantly damaging, then completely destroying these plants.

For earlier representatives of these cultures, folk methods of control and prevention should be used. For later crops, more aggressive chemicals can be used.

Measures to combat cruciferous flea beetle

Control measures include agrotechnical, folk and chemical methods.

It is definitely a true statement that an effective way to combat cruciferous flea beetle will be a well-thought-out, comprehensive approach.

Depending on the results and procedures already performed, you can adjust the crop treatment recipe. The right strategy will help you control pests with minimal effort.

Dry leaf pollination

Dry pollination is done using a gauze bag, shaking it over the plant in the early morning to ensure that repellent dust sticks to the leaves. Insects don’t really like dirty, dirty leaves, which results in a kind of repelling effect.

You can fill a gauze bag with the following mixtures:

• A mixture of wood ash and fluff lime in a 1:1 ratio.
• A mixture of ash and tobacco dust.
• A mixture of ash along with regular road dust.

Dry pollination between rows can be done using tobacco dust or naphthalene.

Spraying with decoctions and infusions of herbs

You can start spraying by preparing solutions according to the following recipe:

• Leave the ash steamed in boiling water for two days. For better effectiveness, add liquid or laundry soap.
• Combine a glass of chopped garlic with the same amount of tomato leaves. This mixture is diluted in 10 liters of water (slightly warm). Add no more than 1 tablespoon of liquid soap to the strained liquid. Spray with a warm solution.
• 200 g of tobacco is poured with ten liters of water. You should also add soap to this infusion (1 tablespoon). Spray after filtering this liquid.
• 9% table vinegar is dissolved in 10 liters of water. You need a glass of vinegar, and if you don’t have it, vinegar essence will do (2 tablespoons)
• Fine-drip irrigation with infusion of green wormwood with the addition of garlic(per 10 liters of water 100 g). Water after filtering first.
• Potato tops (4 kg) are boiled in 10 liters of water. The strained infusion is diluted twice with water. This infusion is effective for spraying in the evenings.

Agrotechnical methods include the following recommendations:

• Ensure regular and timely destruction of weeds, which belong to cruciferous plants (wild mustard, shepherd's purse).
• Mandatory autumn digging and plowing of the soil. This is due to the fact that the insect’s habitat is the upper layers of the soil, and once it finds itself on the surface when the temperature drops at night, it will quickly die.
• When planting seedlings of cruciferous crops, other varieties of cruciferous plants are planted, which are capable of releasing phytoncides (substances that have a specific odor that repel fleas). Such plants include potatoes, calendula, garlic, tomato, coriander, etc.
• Plant seedlings as early as possible, when the flea beetle is still hibernating, or at the end of June, when there is a kind of pause between generations of flea beetles, and they will cause minimal harm to the plants.
• Sufficient care of crops, ensure maximum watering, because this insect does not tolerate abundant moisture.

Glue traps

Traps are mainly used as an aid in the fight against cruciferous flea beetle.

For greater efficiency, it is better to prepare traps from small pieces of fabric, which must first be soaked in diesel or car oil. They are laid out between the beds, turning them over to the other side after a few days.

If you wave such Velcro over flea-damaged crops, they will begin to jump in panic and, accordingly, stick to the fabric.

Chemicals

Insecticides are quite effective, but only if they are used in accordance with the rules of preparation, concentration and frequency of use.

Such chemicals as:

• "Aktellik";
• "Aktara". You can read here.
• "Decis";
• "Bankol";
• "Intavir";
• "Karate."

It should be remembered that by using household chemicals, you can get a less potent result, and at the same time, it is less dangerous compared to chemical insecticides. To prepare solutions that can be used to combat cruciferous flea fleas, you can use vinegar essence, ammonia, even dog shampoo is suitable.

Folk remedies

Folk remedies do not have a toxic effect on plants, but only have a negative effect on the insect itself.

Traditional methods of fighting fleas include:

• Powdering with various mixtures.
• Spraying with decoctions of herbs and tinctures.
• Mechanical catching of insects. In this method, any devices will be good: from special or homemade traps to collection with a car vacuum cleaner.
• Abundant watering with the addition of substances to the water that have a rather pungent odor that repels the pest. Substances with a fairly pungent odor include valerian tincture and flea shampoo, sold in veterinary stores. A solution prepared on the basis of Corvalol (10-15 drops per bucket of water) or aromatic oils of fir or, alternatively, pine (in the same proportion) will have a fairly strong aroma.

Prevention - protection against cruciferous flea beetle

You can’t think of anything less harmful in the numerous methods in the fight against harmful insects than timely and high-quality prevention.

Preventive methods will help not only preserve the harvest, but also improve its quality, because timely procedures in the fight against the pest will allow you to avoid the use of more difficult methods of control (chemical).

Preventive control methods include:

• Adhere to specific planting dates.
• Timely removal of cruciferous weeds.
• Maintain humidity levels at a sufficiently high level.
• Covering crops with non-woven fabric (spunbond, lutrasil, agrospan). These are fabrics that perfectly transmit light, moisture and air. Insects actually do not have the opportunity to crawl under dense cover, due to which protection is provided.
• The use of numerous folk remedies.

Methods for protecting garden crops are varied and quite effective even without the use of potent chemicals. Each gardener determines for himself a set of highly effective means that are most convenient for him.

Conclusion

In addition to fighting the cruciferous flea beetle, a modern gardener has many different things to do. It is not possible to deal exclusively with one type of insect.

Timely prevention and knowledge of the most effective methods of exterminating harmful insects will help solve this problem optimally quickly and with minimal expenditure of time and money.

A correct assessment of the situation, which is the most appropriate method of control will give a quick and excellent result, will be the key to a good harvest.