Cruciferous flea beetles on cabbage. Tired of the cruciferous flea beetle? Methods for controlling cabbage pests. The harmfulness of small insects
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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.
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).
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 combating 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 at least three times every 4-5 days.
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."
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;
Every gardener knows perfectly well how difficult and troublesome it is to grow healthy and high-quality seedlings. It is very disappointing if all efforts end in failure. It’s especially bitter when the culprit of the trouble turns out to be a small, inconspicuous, but very harmful bug. This insect is called the Cruciferous flea beetle. The bug is popularly called the earthen flea or garden flea.
The pest has a special predilection for plants belonging to the cruciferous family. The victims of the voracious insect include cabbage, radishes, spinach, turnips, lettuce and other vegetables. The flea beetle does not disdain some flower crops; alyssum and matthiola may well become targets of attack.
In nature, the bug feeds on wild plants such as shepherd's purse or wild mustard.
The insect is easy to distinguish from other pests. It is capable of jumping long distances. It is for this quality that they call it a flea. In fact, the beetle has nothing to do with the flea family.
It comes in black, green or blue. There are striped individuals among them - it all depends on the habitat of the insect. It is quite small, its length is no more than 3 mm.
The pest overwinters under the remains of unharvested vegetation, under the top layer of soil.
As soon as spring comes, flea beetles become active and begin to eat the first weeds. After some time, horseradish and radish sprouts appear.
Small pests happily move onto these crops. But beetles are especially delighted with cabbage seedlings. During the period of setting a head of cabbage, insects attack the vegetable.
Adult beetles feed on the top, juicy layer on cabbage leaves. They seem to scrape off the pulp, leaving solid holes in the damaged areas. Pests are capable of chewing through entire passages in a head of cabbage.
Cruciferous flea beetles reproduce in hot weather. For a comfortable existence, the air temperature must be at least 15 degrees.
At this time, females lay eggs in the upper layers of the earth. After some time, larvae emerge from the eggs. They feed on young plant roots. The larvae develop within two weeks, then pupate. This stage in the development of insects occurs in early August.
The young shift crawls out of the upper layers of the soil and attacks the plantings with redoubled force. With the onset of autumn, cruciferous flea beetles settle down for the winter.
In rainy weather, the vigorous activity of pests subsides and active reproduction does not occur.
The insect is distributed almost everywhere. The only exception is the far north.
Types and their features
In the central and western parts of Russia, the wavy flea beetle operates. It is black in color, and yellow stripes can be seen above the wings.
In Yakutia and Primorye you can find notched cruciferous flea beetles. They not only gnaw out the top layer of the plant, but also completely skeletonize the leaves.
The light-legged flea beetle lives in forests in the southern regions of Russia. This black bug boasts yellow legs.
The most aggressive representative of the glorious family is the southern cruciferous flea beetle. She has a black body with a metallic sheen. The head is dotted with rough spots.
If the number of pests is growing exponentially every day, serious measures need to be taken. Chemicals will come to the rescue.
Review of effective chemicals
The safest drug is good old naphthalene. To achieve the result, it is enough to scatter it along the vegetable beds. An excellent remedy is “Aktara” or “Sherpa”. It is best to spray just before sunset, since the bulk of insects settle on the leaves at this time.
If we talk about more powerful drugs, we can mention products such as “Decis” or “Molniya”. However, it should be remembered that the dosage must be observed especially carefully, as young seedlings may be damaged.
Folk methods of struggle
Folk remedies include dusting seedlings with ground pepper, ash or shag. The easiest way to do this is with a sieve.
Spraying vegetable crops with an infusion of freshly cut dandelions can give good results. To do this, pour 250 g of dandelions into a bucket of warm water. Let it brew for a few hours. Before spraying, add a piece of soap to the infusion. This is necessary for better adhesion.
You can make a sticky pest trap. To do this, you will need a piece of fabric coated with adhesive and a stick. The fabric needs to be attached to the pole, you will get a “flag”. Resin can be used as glue. By running a flag along the tops of plants, you can catch many specimens. Pests will simply stick to the trap.
Prevention
Prevention is of great importance for the preservation of vegetable crops. Measures include timely watering, weeding and covering the seedlings with a piece of lutrasil.
In the fall, it is advisable to dig up the ground, so the pests that have settled in for the winter will die from frost.
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 massive 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Traps. Sticky tapes, store-bought or homemade, are a safe and effective method of control.
- 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.
» Medicines
As soon as the first shoots appear on the beds, or seedlings are planted in a permanent place, the sprouts are attacked by a huge number of small black bugs - cruciferous flea beetles. It happens that a few days are enough for them to render all plants unusable for further growth.
- wavy;
- light-footed;
- notched;
- blue;
- black and others.
The beetles are painted in black, blue, and green tones; there are also two-colored insects - a winding yellow stripe is clearly visible on a black background. The length of insects varies - from 1.8 to 3 millimeters. The pest can be found in almost every region of the country, except the northern ones. It is rightfully considered the most dangerous enemy for cruciferous plants.
Adults are able to overwinter under plants remaining in the beds, fallen leaves, in the upper layers of the earth, greenhouse and greenhouse crevices. They wake up in early spring when the soil thaws. As a rule, this time falls on April - May.
At first, their diet consists of weeds, but as soon as seedlings appear in the beds, the flea flea moves to the garden plots, damaging the foliage of the plants, leaving depressions on them that resemble ulcers. The flea flea gnaws through holes on young leaves. Their activity peaks in the morning and evening.
The female lays eggs in most cases directly on the ground. The larvae that emerge initially hide in the soil, feeding on the roots and roots of plants for several weeks. Then they pupate, and after a week and a half you can observe the appearance of a new batch of young beetles actively destroying the plants.
What plants does the pest attack?
How to fight fleas in the garden?
Experienced gardeners will always be able to protect their garden from pests, using not only chemicals, but also folk tricks to combat them.
Use of special drugs
For the destruction of fleas, insecticidal agents known to many are quite suitable:
Any of the drugs can be purchased at a specialty store. It is best to treat the beds with them in the evening, when the sun has already set. The fleas are still on the foliage.
When working with chemical compounds, you should strictly adhere to the instructions for their use.
Use of folk remedies
— humid environment- the simplest way. You just need to water the beds generously, as the flea beetle does not tolerate damp places;
—dry leaf pollination method– is performed with a gauze bag, which must be shaken over the plants. You can put wood ash in its pure form or with the addition of tobacco dust in the bag. It is best to carry out such procedures in the morning so that the repellent settles on the foliage damp from dew. The flea beetle is afraid to sit on dirty plants. By the way, row spacing can be treated with mothballs or tobacco dust;
— use of infusions and herbal decoctions:
- ash at a ratio of 1 to 3 is steamed with boiling water and infused for two days. Add laundry soap to the infusion;
- garlic and tomato shoots (one glass each) are minced. Everything is diluted in a ten-liter bucket of water and filtered. You also need to add a spoonful of soap. Before spraying, the solution must be slightly warmed;
- Five hundred grams of dandelion leaves and roots are passed through a meat grinder, everything is poured into a bucket of water, and strained. All that remains is to pour in a spoonful of soap, and you can use the infusion for processing;
- Hot water (ten liters) is poured into two hundred grams of tobacco. Pour a spoonful of liquid soap onto the resulting mixture;
- Pour a glass of regular vinegar into a bucket of water. You can replace it with a couple of spoons of essence;
- green wormwood is infused, you can add chopped garlic to the water (one hundred grams per bucket). After straining the infusion, they should water the plants with small drops;
- four kilograms of potato tops are poured with ten liters of water, everything is brought to a boil. The broth is allowed to cool, filtered, and diluted twice with water. Treatment must be carried out in the evening;
- The same recipe, only tomato stepsons are used.
A simple remedy is to cover the beds with seedlings with covering non-woven materials. They perfectly transmit light, water and air, and reliably protect seedlings from flea beetles.
Make flags from dense material, attach them to sticks, and spread them with something sticky - resin or grease. Flags must be waved over the plantings, barely touching the leaves. The procedure is recommended to be carried out during the day when it is very hot.
After soaking a piece of cloth in machine oil, place it next to the bed. It is best if such traps are arranged at intervals of three to four meters. After a couple of days, simply turn the fabric to the other side.
Preventive methods for the appearance of pests on plants
You should try to prevent the appearance of the pest. It is necessary to constantly remove cruciferous weeds by all available means.
In the autumn season, the garden needs to be dug up. This will help get rid of the flea, which will end up on the surface and freeze in winter.
Do not neglect feeding plants with organic compounds, regular watering, and loosening the soil. All this will help speed up the development of plants.
You shouldn’t neglect weather conditions either - sow early crops while the flea beetle is still dormant, or do it in June, when the pest’s activity decreases.
Remember that it is necessary to fight fleas! This will help you preserve the future harvest of not only vegetables, but also berries, for example strawberries. If timely measures are not taken, then all plants will be destroyed in the early phase of their growth.
Insect cruciferous flea beetle, or cabbage (lat. Phyllotreta crusiferae) represents a species of earthen flea beetles of the subfamily of Boogs of the leaf beetle family. It is found in the Mediterranean region, Europe, the Caucasus, Turkey and Central Asia. Both the adult cabbage flea beetle and its larvae feed on the leaves of plants of the Cruciferous or Brassica family - cress, radish, radish, horseradish, daikon, turnip, rutabaga and all types of cabbage.
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Cruciferous (cabbage) flea beetle - description
The flea beetle pest is a flying bug 1.5 to 3 mm long with an oval-oblong body and antennae no longer than a third of the body. The hind legs of the flea are jumping. Types of flea beetles differ in the color of their wing covers - they can be black, striped or with a metallic tint. Flea beetle larvae feed on thin plant roots. The most harmful are the wavy, blue, light-legged, notched and black flea beetles. We will tell you about how to deal with flea beetles on cabbage and how to get rid of flea beetles on other plants.
Fighting fleas in the garden
Flea beetles on cabbage - how to get rid of them
The cruciferous flea beetle appears on cabbage when the air temperature rises to 15 ºC - the beetles overwinter in the surface layer of soil or under plant debris. Damage caused by flea beetles to cabbage plants may appear as pitting, skeletonization, or interveinal gnawing. If the leaves are severely damaged, they dry out, and this leads to the death of the plant.
Flea beetles on cabbage are dangerous at an early stage of plant development: the beetles damage the surface of the stems and leaves, and this causes sores that turn into holes - the leaves turn yellow, and damaged seedlings can die in a matter of days, especially if the weather is warm.
You need to destroy fleas immediately, without hesitation. How to treat cabbage against fleas? For early ripening varieties, it is better to use folk remedies, since they are less toxic - weekly spraying with vinegar, ash or tobacco infusion or a decoction of tomato tops. And to treat mid-season and late varieties, you can use chemicals against fleas - Aktaru, Aktellik, Decis, Karate or Bankol.
Flea beetles on radishes or, for example, flea beetles on radishes or other cruciferous root crops are no less dangerous than on cabbage, since by damaging the leaves, they deprive the root crops of nutrition. It is necessary to destroy pests as soon as they appear. To completely defeat the cruciferous flea beetle, you need to carry out several treatments.
Flea beetles on other crops
The cabbage flea beetle carries out its destructive work not only on cruciferous crops. It also damages roses, gillyflowers and chrysanthemums. How to deal with cruciferous flea beetle on flowers? Using the same means as on cabbage crops, but in this case you can use insecticides more boldly.
Treatment against fleas is carried out in the evening, after sunset, when insects sit on the leaves of plants.
Flea control products (preparations)
To destroy the cruciferous flea beetle, the following insecticides are most often used:
- Aktara– systemic insecticide of contact-intestinal action against many types of pests, including sucking and secretive ones;
- Aktellik– a non-systemic organophosphorus insectoacaricide of contact-intestinal action, used to combat sucking and leaf-eating pests;
- Karate– combined contact-systemic insecticide against gnawing and sucking insects;
- Bankol– insecticide of contact-intestinal action against gnawing and sucking pests;
- Decis– a broad-spectrum contact-intestinal insecticide from the group of pyrethroids. Effectively destroys Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Homoptera pests.
In addition to the described insecticides, the preparations Inta-Vir, Mospilan, Fitoverm and the like can be used against cruciferous flea beetles.
Fighting fleas with folk remedies
Treating vegetables against cruciferous flea beetles with chemicals that are toxic to humans and beneficial insects should only be used as a last resort. It is better to use less hazardous, but no less effective and time-tested means to combat the pest. How to get rid of cabbage flea beetle without resorting to chemicals? We offer you folk methods for destroying cruciferous flea beetles:
- Newly planted seedlings should be dusted with wood ash or a mixture of ash and tobacco dust in equal parts. This should be done in dry weather, if the forecast does not predict rain. Treatments are repeated three times with an interval of 4-5 days. It is necessary to cover the leaves of plants with the composition both from the top and from the bottom;
- treat the vegetables with a decoction of tomato tops: 4 kg of fresh tops or 2 kg of dry ones should be chopped and poured with 10 liters of water for 4 hours, then simmer for half an hour over low heat, cool, strain, dilute with water 1:1 and add 40 g of liquid or grated soap. Carry out three sessions of this treatment with an interval of 3-4 days;
- grind a glass of tomato tops and a glass of garlic in a meat grinder, pour 10 liters of warm water over this minced meat, strain, add a tablespoon of liquid soap and treat the plants with this mixture;
- grind half a kilogram of dandelion roots and leaves, dilute with 10 liters of water, strain and add soap;
- two glasses of wood ash should be infused in 10 liters of water for 2 days, then carefully drain the water and add a quarter of a bar of grated tar soap to it;
- Pour 200 g of tobacco into a bucket of hot water, let cool, strain, add a tablespoon of liquid soap or dishwashing detergent;
- pour a glass of nine percent vinegar or 2 tablespoons of vinegar essence into a bucket of water, stir and treat the leaves;
- Boil one kilogram of crushed wormwood for 10-15 minutes over low heat in two liters of water, cool, add 100 g of chopped garlic, strain and bring the amount of decoction to 10 liters;
- Pour 4 kg of potato tops into 10 liters of water, boil over low heat for 30 minutes, cool, strain, dilute with water by half and treat the plants in the evening;
- an infusion of chicken manure, prepared in a ratio of 1:20, should be kept in the open air for a week, then strained and sprayed with the infusion on the leaves of the plants. This flea beetle repellent will simultaneously feed the plants with nitrogen;
- dilute 2 tablespoons of flea shampoo from a pet store in a bucket of water and treat the plants with this anti-flea agent;
- make a flag from thin plywood or cardboard, cover it with resin or grease and walk along the rows of cabbage, waving the flag and touching the leaves of the plants with it. The alarmed fleas will jump and stick to the flag. After several such raids, the number of pests in the vegetable garden and flower garden will be significantly reduced;
- Soak the pieces of cloth well in diesel or used car oil, place them on cardboard sheets between rows in a bed with cabbage crops at a distance of 4 m. After 2-3 days, turn the pieces over to the other side to collect as many fleas as possible on the cloth.
Cabbage flea beetle - preventive treatment
Everyone knows that it is better to prevent pests than to fight them. Here is a list of preventive measures that will help you prevent cruciferous flea beetles from entering your garden:
- cover the seedlings just planted in the ground with non-woven material. When the seedlings become stronger and their leaves become coarser and lose their attractiveness to flea beetles, the covering can be removed;
- plant cabbage next to already sprouted garlic, coriander or dill, the smell of which repels fleas. For late cruciferous crops, mixed plantings with marigolds, nasturtium or calendula will be life-saving;
- Place bunches of fresh wormwood daily between the rows of cruciferous crops;
- add aromatic agents to the water for irrigation - fir or pine oil, Corvalol or valerian tincture at the rate of 10-15 drops per bucket of water.
In order to reduce the risk of cabbage flea beetles appearing in the garden to a minimum, it is necessary to follow the following agrotechnical rules:
- Promptly and regularly remove weeds in which fleas settle:
- in the fall, after harvesting, dig up the soil on the site;
- water and feed plants in a timely manner to speed up their growth and make them unattractive to fleas;
- plant seedlings in the ground as early as possible, while the flea beetle has not yet woken up, or at the end of June, when it is no longer so scary for cruciferous plants.
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