Flowering is a very important stage in the vegetation cycle of any plant, therefore it is usually advisable not to carry out the processing of garden and garden crops during this period (traditionally, this work is carried out in early spring, which allows you to preventively protect each tree or shrub from enemies that are activated at the beginning of the season). However, if for some reason these measures have not yielded results, and the flowering garden is attacked by a pest or a dangerous disease, of course, it is impossible to ignore such a nuisance. Let's talk about how and with what to spray the viburnum bush during the flowering period, so as not to cause a chemical burn of the flower and not harm the future crop.

Types of pests

Various pests can affect the viburnum bush, and each of them has its own life cycle and, accordingly, the period of time when this particular insect can be especially dangerous for the garden plot. At the same time, existing insecticides are not equally effective against various parasites.

Did you know? Science knows more than four thousand different species of aphids, about a quarter of which live in Europe. Many representatives of the superfamily of aphids are monophagous or oligophagous (parasitic on one or more plants), but there are also omnivorous species of these small pests - polyphages.

Therefore, in order for the struggle to preserve the future crop or healthy tree species (if we are talking about a decorative sort of viburnum) to be effective, the gardener needs to clearly know which pests can eat the plant during flowering, and if possible be able to distinguish them from each other , guided by characteristic symptoms.

Aphid

Aphids are the worst enemy of a garden plot, and it’s rather difficult to find a culture that this parasite would not hinder to grow and bear fruit normally.A big fan of eating viburnum is black viburnum aphid. The imago is a tiny flea of ​​dark red or dark brown. Like all representatives of the superfamily, it feeds on the juice sucked from the green organs of the plant. As a result, the affected leaves begin to curl, the young shoots are deformed, and the entire bush becomes ugly.The period of activation of the harmful effect of aphids falls on the spring and the beginning of summer, that is, it may well coincide with the flowering of viburnum.

It is in May and June that insects are visually very clearly visible on the apical shoots of the bush, therefore it is not at all difficult to identify the pest. A characteristic sign that damage to the viburnum of the onset of aphids is also the appearance on the stems and leaves of a characteristic sticky coating secreted by this insect.

Toward the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, aphids begin to move, striving to occupy new territories, and a few weeks later, winged females lay their eggs right on the branches, in close proximity to the kidneys. Having wintered in this way, the larvae hatching from the eggs begin the next life cycle in spring.

Viburnum leaf beetle

Viburnum (or, as it is sometimes not quite correctly called, Viburnum) leaf beetle in the adult state is a light brown beetle with a body length of about 5 mm. The leaf beetle begins to parasitize on viburnum even at the stage of the larva, which is activated in early spring. It is quite difficult to notice the parasite on the bush, as the larva attaches to the underside of the leaf plate. Under favorable conditions, the pest in a short time is able to gnaw the entire leaf to the last vein.

As a result of the defeat by the leaf beetle, the viburnum greatly weakens and often freezes during the winter.

The transformation of the larva into an adult occurs in the soil, where the caterpillar slides at a certain stage of its development. Having climbed to the surface, the imago resumes the process of eating the green part of viburnum, but this time the beetle is already quite visible with the naked eye and parasitizes on the front side of the leaves. If the plant manages to endure frosts, in the spring it again begins to be affected by beetle larvae hatching from eggs, which the female lays deep in the wood since autumn.

Viburnum leaflet

Traces of the vital activity of this pest are manifested in the characteristic twisting of leaves into a tube, inside which the caterpillar settles. Larvae begin this process in early spring, secreting a substance similar to a spider web, and knocking it into sticky reels.Like the viburnum leaf beetle, the leaf moth eats the flesh of the leaves and is able to eat them in huge quantities.

By mid-July, a caterpillar with a dark brown head, yellow sides and a body of gray or green color covered with whitish hairs turns into a chrysalis, after which it ceases to be a danger to the plant for some time. However, for insecticidal preparations, an insect densely wrapped in a leaf plate during this period becomes inaccessible, therefore, it is necessary to deal with the leafworm before the pupation process occurs.

Other pests

The three parasites mentioned above are the most likely enemies of the viburnum bush in the spring. Among other pests that a gardener may encounter in the process of growing a plant, you can also mention:

• gall midge (viburnum and honeysuckle);
• moth (capa and mittens);
• honeysuckle prickly sawfly;
• greenish lobed moth;
• comma scale.

However, these insects still appear on the bushes much less frequently than aphids, leaf beetles and leafworms. At the same time, a spider mite poses a serious danger to viburnum.

Many folk and chemical remedies for protecting viburnum from pests are effective both against insects and against ticks, but in general, special drugs called acaricides are used to combat arachnids ("ἄκαρι", read as "acari", translated from ancient Greek means "mite").

Did you know? Ticks, contrary to a common misconception, are not insects. They belong to the class of arthropods and are the closest relatives of spiders (the main difference between insects and arachnids is that the former have six legs, and the latter eight).

Viburnum Disease

In addition to insects and ticks, during the flowering period, viburnum can also be affected by various diseases, especially fungal, less often bacterial or viral. Their list includes:

• powdery mildew;
• various kinds of rot (some of them affect the root, others - the aerial part, including the leaf, stem or fruit);
• spotting;
• cytosporosis;
• tubercular necrosis of the cortex;
• drying out of branches;
• mosaic.

Fortunately, in general, viburnum has a fairly strong immunity to diseases of this kind, therefore, with proper planting and good care, you can ensure that the bush has entered healthy during flowering, and you did not have to use potent drugs to process it.

How to process the plant

All currently used drugs for the treatment of viburnum from diseases and pests can conditionally be divided into two categories - chemicals and alternative methods. During flowering, it is better to give preference to the latter option as less dangerous for flowers and future ovaries.

Important! Folk methods of combating diseases and pests in the garden are always inferior in effectiveness to modern products of the chemical industry, so you can use such "sparing" means either for preventive purposes or at the initial stage of the problem.

Fighting folk remedies

Folk methods of combating diseases and pests of garden plants compares favorably with chemicals in that they do not infect the soil, do no harm to the cultivated crop, and do not make its fruits dangerous for human consumption. However, the foregoing does not mean at all that such means can be used without any restrictions. In particular, far from all methods of ridding trees and shrubs of pathogens that hit them are acceptable during the period when the plant begins to bloom.

Video: how to protect a bush of viburnum from pests

Soda-soap solution

Perhaps the most common folk method of controlling aphids and other pests of viburnum is a soap solution, and almost any detergent is suitable for its preparation. The idea of ​​its application is that soap creates a thin but dense film on the surface of the sheet plate, which serves as a natural barrier to the pest or blocks its breathing. In aphids, soap also causes dehydration by dissolving the protective wax coating that covers the body of the insect, as a result of which the parasite dies.

To enhance the effect when preparing a soap solution, you can also add another useful ingredient to it - ordinary baking soda at the rate of 1 tbsp. l with a slide on 1 liter of water. Soaps for the same amount of water will need about 40 g (if a solid bar is used, it must first be grated so that the soap base dissolves faster). The prepared concentrate can be stored for several weeks, diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 before use.

Ash solution

Ash also has a pronounced insecticidal and disinfecting effect, which always remains in excess in the cottage after barbecue. Fully burnt coals are sieved through a sieve to obtain a fine powder, which is then mixed with water (300 g per 1 l).

The resulting suspension should be brought to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes, then allowed to cool to room temperature. To ensure better contact with the sheet plate, it is recommended to add a little grated or liquid soap to the prepared ash solution before use.

Important! During the flowering period, viburnum cannot be treated with ash solution: ash drives away not only pests from the plant, but also insects pollinating, first of all, bees. As a result of such processing, one can thus be left without a berry.

Tobacco solution

Tobacco is one of those plants whose smell is not liked by most insects. For this reason, on the basis of tobacco, our ancestors often prepared infusions or decoctions to protect the garden from pests. The basis of such a preparation can be obtained both from tobacco leaves and from ready-made shag (even the use of crushed cigarettes or cigarettes is allowed, moreover, the lower the quality of such a product, the better - excess cleaning will only weaken the effect of the finished working solution).

Video: Tobacco Pest Solution

For 10 liters of water, about 200 g of tobacco, ground into dust, will be needed. The resulting mixture should be shaken well, let it brew for several hours, strain and use immediately. As an ingredient that enhances the effect of the use of the drug, you can add several tablespoons of dried red pepper to chopped tobacco or a cut of fresh chili pepper with seeds.

When using tobacco infusion, you need to remember that tobacco, like ash, repels any insects, and not just those that are pests.

Chemicals

For chemical treatment of viburnum, systemic insecticidal (against insects) and fungicidal (against fungal diseases) drugs are used, and some of the modern tools have a complex effect, that is, they help to cope with diseases and pests. A separate group of drugs is represented by the aforementioned acaricides, which can also be produced as a separate, narrowly targeted poison (for example, Anticlesch), and also be part of more universal drugs (for example, colloidal sulfur is simultaneously a fungicide, acaricide and insecticide).

Among the most well-known pesticides used to process viburnum are:

A good therapeutic and preventive effect is also provided by spraying the shrub with such proven means as:

• copper sulfate;
• Bordeaux mixture;
• carbamide (urea).

Maintenance work

Prevention of diseases and pests is an important direction in the care of any garden, garden or decorative plant, because it is much easier to prevent the occurrence of a problem than to deal with its consequences. As the measures that will help protect the bush of viburnum from damage by certain pathogens, we can name a few fundamental rules:

1. At the stage of preparing the bush for winter, carefully remove from the site all plant residues that can be used by pests and mycelium of mushrooms as a place for wintering.
2. Plant near the shrub plants with a strong and pungent odor that repels dangerous parasites. In this capacity, for example, marigolds, nasturtium, tobacco, onion, garlic, mint, rosemary, basil and many others are well suited. other
3. Continuous weed control. They are the carriers and the reserves of most diseases affecting horticultural crops.
4. Use trapping belts. Many pests winter in the soil, and in spring they climb a tree along the trunk. The main aphid carriers are the ubiquitous ants, which feed on the sweet pad secreted by the pest. A mechanical barrier, placed in time at the base of the stem, will save the bush from the settlement of parasite insects on it without the use of additional procedures and dangerous pesticides.
5. Carry out regular preventive treatment of the garden with insecticidal and fungicidal preparations. The first spraying is traditionally carried out in the early spring, even before the moment of bud swelling, the second - on the “green cone”. If necessary, viburnum can also be sprayed before the start of budding and after flowering.
6. Carry out constant monitoring of the condition of the bush, immediately remove dried, damaged or damaged branches, preventing the problem that has manifested itself from spreading to the entire plant.
7. Follow basic agrotechnical recommendations for the care of viburnum - provide the bush with good lighting, proper watering, taking into account seasonal characteristics and temperature conditions, balanced and regular top dressing. These measures will strengthen the bush, increase its immunity and help the plant to deal with many problems on its own.

Handle viburnum from diseases and pests on time, without waiting for the flowering period. In this case, the bush will not suffer due to the action of a potent pesticide and, at the same time, can remain inaccessible to dangerous insects, fungi and other pathogens. Treatment of a flowering plant can be carried out only in exceptional cases, when the potential harm that an insect or microorganism attacking the crop can cause to the culture clearly exceeds the risk from the action of the drug used during spraying.