Small white and black midges on tomatoes and seedlings in a greenhouse: how to deal with them? How to treat tomatoes and tomato seedlings against white and black midges that eat them: preparations, folk remedies. How

Folk methods of fighting midges

Perhaps every caring, self-respecting and concerned housewife has in her arsenal the answers to the question of how to get rid of midges using folk remedies. By adopting a specific recipe, you can make the fight against insects easier. The most popular methods are:

The so-called trap

You will need to place a piece of rotten fruit or vegetable in a small container. Cover the neck with cling film and make several holes around the perimeter. This trap is left in the kitchen overnight. After a flock of midges has collected in the container, pour boiling water over the contents, then you need to empty it near the trash container. By carrying out several such simple operations, you can rid yourself and your home of annoying midges.

Camphor

The most popular and effective method of controlling midges. Pieces of camphor are placed in a preheated frying pan. After steam appears, you need to walk around the room with the frying pan. Midges cannot tolerate the aroma of camphor and disappear as suddenly as they appeared. The method is particularly effective and is recommended by most experienced housewives.

Vacuum cleaner

Quite a simple, convenient way. Using a vacuum cleaner, midges are collected in a dust collector and released away from the living space.

Fragrance trap

Another effective way to get rid of annoying winged creatures. Pour an aromatic liquid into a container, preferably a jar. It could be wine, juice, coffee, fruit drink. Next, add dishwashing liquid and leave it indoors, preferably in the kitchen. The midges flock to the treat and, thanks to the detergent, die.

Orange and clove

Cloves are inserted into small punctures made in the orange. I leave this bait in the kitchen. Midges cannot tolerate such a fragrant union and die. The effectiveness of this method cannot be called excellent, but its use on the farm has its place.

Geranium

Everyone knows that geranium is a miracle remedy in the fight against moths. But few people know that it also saves from midges, which cannot stand the smell of the flower. By growing this plant on a kitchen windowsill, you can get rid of insects.

Vodka and vanillin

Midges cannot tolerate strong odors, so a solution of vodka and vanillin will repel insects. It is possible to spray areas of the skin with this mixture; in this interpretation, exposed areas of the body will be protected from insects.

Apples in a bag

Rotten apple cores are placed in a regular plastic bag. The midges will certainly gather in the bait, you just have to close the bag, tie it and throw it in the trash can.

Along with popular and well-known means of combating midges that are in the public domain, there are improvised ways to eliminate the problem. Any housewife should know how to get rid of midges using folk remedies. This will help, in the absence of the possibility of purchasing protective equipment in specialized stores, to eliminate unpleasant insects. Fortunately, improvised means are available in every home. By following the usual rules for storing food, you don’t have to think about the appearance of midges.

How to prevent midges from appearing in plants?

In fact, it is quite possible to prevent pests from appearing on seedlings without much effort. Try following these recommendations:

Before planting the shoots, warm up the prepared soil in a microwave oven, this will ensure the most complete destruction of all pest larvae currently present in the ground;
do not be afraid to use special insecticides along with fertilizers to combat parasites and harmful larvae - modern drugs are practically harmless to human health, so they will not cause you any harm;
do not abuse fertilizers and excessive watering of the soil, since both of them lead to the creation of the most convenient and comfortable environment for the spread of pests;
Clear the soil of fallen leaves in a timely manner and loosen the soil, so you can notice the reproduction of larvae at the very early stage.

If midges do appear in your plants, do not worry: at the initial stage of their appearance, eliminating pests will not be difficult, and further regular prevention of their appearance will help keep the shoots healthy and beautiful.

Black midges on tomato seedlings

Dangerous insects also include black midges, also called country aphids and leafhoppers. Its appearance is indicated by ants and lethargy of plants, despite the treatments and watering. It is worth looking at the back of the leaves and it will become clear that a pest has appeared - black midge on tomatoes. Many gardeners know how to deal with it, and this must be done immediately.

Important! One individual aphid is capable of producing more than 100 thousand eggs. The following preventive measures are known:

The following preventive measures are known:

planting fragrant herbs that attract wasps, lacewings, hoverflies, and ladybugs;
planting crops that repel black midges: onions, garlic, calendula, dill;
weed elimination;
destruction of anthills.

If, despite preventive measures, black midges still appear, you will have to resort to radical measures - chemicals. Preparations based on fatty acids, vegetable oils and pyrethrins are considered milder. The following agents are effective against aphids:

Aktafit;
Fufanon;
Aktara;
Inta-vir;
Fufan.

Aktara packaging

If you don’t want to water your tomatoes with chemicals, then you need to use folk remedies. For example, treatment with the same soap solution. There are three options:

2 tbsp. spoons of liquid soap are mixed with 0.5 liters of water and 250 ml of sunflower oil are added;
20 g of crushed laundry soap and 1 tbsp. ash is mixed with 10 liters of hot water;
2 tbsp. spoons of liquid soap are mixed with 5 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp. sunflower oil, 0.5 liters of water, infuse for 1 hour.

3 cloves of garlic, 20 g of hot pepper and 3 teaspoons of mustard are infused in 5 liters of water for 3 days;
Brew 200 g of onion peels in 3 liters of boiling water;
400 g of celandine are infused for 1 day in 1 liter of water, then boiled over low heat for 30 minutes. The filtered composition is diluted with 10 liters of water and infused in a cool, dark place for another 2 days.

These solutions treat not only bushes, but also the soil underneath them against black midges.

If midges appear on tomatoes, then you need to save the plant. Flies can be black or white. The most common are whiteflies. Black midges on tomato seedlings are a type of aphid.

The size of whiteflies is about 3 mm, so these pests are not immediately noticeable. But you can find traces of their vital activity - a white coating on the leaves, more precisely, on their inside. There are fewer excrements on the upper part of the leaf; they are covered with a whitish film. After some time, this coating becomes more and more white, and then sharply darkens. A sooty fungus appears that affects tomatoes.

Adults and larvae feed on the sap of the plant; when they dehydrate it, a secondary infection occurs - sooty fungus. As a result, tomato plants lose essential nutrients, and sooty fungal infection disrupts leaf assimilation. Blackened, dehydrated leaves dry out over time. In the absence of treatment for this disease in plants or insufficient application of measures, fruit formation slows down. Not only tomatoes, but also other vegetable crops suffer from whitefly attacks.

What preventive measures will help against white midges on tomatoes? To prevent whiteflies from settling on crops, it is necessary to take preventive measures. in open ground, it must be distributed so that the distance between plants is more than 40 cm. The place must be open so that the wind blows well through it. But where there are drafts, you should not plant tomatoes. Tomatoes should be watered sparingly, without flooding the soil.

Dangerous whitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse: how to get rid of it

The fight against whiteflies will differ depending on what stage of development the moths themselves are at. If these are adults, then it is easy to fight them. They can be destroyed using a wide variety of drugs.

There will be a tough fight with the larvae at different stages of development, since a certain type of drug is used for each stage of insect development.

A special coating on the larvae can save insects from the effects of a particular drug. The effectiveness of the method is determined by the intensity of plant damage. To prevent attacks by harmful insects, preventive procedures can be carried out.

Types of insect control:

Fumigation. Should be done several times a year. If the greenhouse is located remotely from the living space, fumigation can be carried out using the right candles. Insecticide sprays will get rid of adults and larvae without harming the plants.
Chemicals. They should be diluted according to the instructions. The use of “Confidor”, “Fosbecid”, “Pegasus”, “Aktellika”, “Mospilan”, “Fufanon” is considered effective. Sometimes one spray is enough to completely rid the plant of pests.
Biological methods. Special insects are placed on the bushes so that they destroy the larvae at any stage of their development.

All control methods are effective. Each owner chooses the method of struggle for himself. When working with chemicals, it is very important to take precautions so as not to harm health, plants and fruits.

Leafhoppers on tomatoes. How to get rid of leafhoppers on tomatoes without killing the plants.

Gardeners and gardeners have to fight against all kinds of pests in the garden so as not to be left without a harvest. This number of pests also includes the Leafhopper, the so-called black fly that sucks the juices from the plant.

If such flies appear on tomatoes, then you need to get rid of them, as they can lead to drying out of the plant and loss of yield. The leafhopper is a type of aphid; it multiplies quickly and infects all tomato bushes.

Over the summer, up to 5 generations of black flies can be hatched and, given their small size, they cause damage to tomatoes, destroying up to 30% of the crop. The plant begins to grow poorly, dries out and bears fruit poorly, losing strength to fight the pest and restore itself.

Now let's see how we can get rid of leafhoppers using folk methods so as not to harm our plants.

You can get rid of black flies in time by treating plants with various solutions, decoctions and infusions, based on:

Soap solution
Vinegar solution
Garlic
Pepper
Mustard
Ash
Dandelions
Tobacco

1. Soap solution

Midges really don’t like soap solutions, so we take 40 grams. finely grated household soap and dissolve in ten liters of warm water, while adding another glass of ash. Then we treat the tomatoes leaf by leaf with this solution.

2. Vinegar solution

For the vinegar solution, we will need to dilute 2 - 3 tbsp. table vinegar (not essence) in ten liters of water and spray the plants leaf by leaf with this solution.

3. Complex solution

Take three cloves of garlic and 20 grams of red hot pepper. and finely chop everything, add 3 tablespoons of mustard powder and fill everything with 5 liters of warm water, then cover and leave to infuse for three days.

After three days, filter the infusion, add 10 grams of finely grated household soap and stir everything well, then treat the sheet with the solution.

4. Dandelion infusion.

We collect the dandelions along with the roots and finely chop them into a liter container, so we need to fill it completely and tightly. Then pour it into a ten-liter container, add 20 grams of chopped hot pepper and pour boiling water over everything, cover with a lid and leave to steep for a day, preferably in a greenhouse.

After 24 hours, filter the infusion and add 40 grams of finely grated soap, after which we mix everything well and process it one sheet at a time. You can do without hot pepper, so the infusion will also be effective.

5. Tobacco decoction

To prepare a tobacco decoction, you can take shag, or if you don’t have one, then simple cigarettes like “Prima” are extremely thermonuclear cigarettes. We take 2 packs and pour them into a ten-liter container, then fill them with water and put them on fire.

Bring to a boil and reduce the heat, then simmer the broth for another 10-15 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover with a lid and leave to brew for 24 hours. After which the broth should be strained and processed per sheet.

Important!

Terms and rules for processing plants in an open area

Chemicals will help treat tomatoes against whiteflies. The eggs do not lose their viability, so spraying is repeated every one to two weeks. Chemical solutions are changed as insects adapt to the poisons. For complete destruction, it is necessary to comply with the terms and rules for processing plants.

Agrochemistry

All drugs are diluted in warm water. Before use, study the instructions.

Name	Dosage	Mode of application	Processing times
Fitoverm	4-8 ml per 1 l	Spray in dry, windless weather	every 10 days
Aktara	1 g per 10 liters of water	Spray in the morning and evening in calm, dry weather.	every 7 - 14 days
Bioraid	10 ml per 5 l	Sprayed	2 – 3 times every 7 days
Verticillin G	25 ml per 1 l	Sprayed	1 time, repeat every other week
Decis Lux and Profi	1-2 ml per 2 l	Processed	2 times, repeat after 7 days
Karate Zeon	2 ml per 2 l	Processed	3-4 times every three days
Match	3-5 g per 10 l	Sprayed	1 time, can be repeated in a week
Fufanon	1 ml per 1 l	Sprayed	once

Fertilize the soil with wood ash.
Before planting, inspect the seedlings.
Plant at a distance of 50 cm from each other.
Inspect the seedlings after 7 - 12 days.
Conduct weed control in a timely manner, especially woodlice, sowweed and nettle.
Carry out root treatment, hilling.

Processing seedlings

To prevent and protect the plant from whitefly, it is necessary to inspect and treat the seedlings.

Onion infusion - chop the onion, 10 g of onion pulp is diluted with 1 liter of water. Leave for 5 hours, filter, water the soil.
Spray with infusions with strong odors of garlic, orange, lemon.
Coca-Cola is used as a fertilizer because of the minerals it contains, phosphoric acid and sugar. Add no more than 2 tbsp per 10 liters of water. l. drink Water the tomatoes right to the root. When sprayed, the insect will disappear due to the acidic environment.

Protection of bushes during flowering and fruiting

Do not use chemicals during flowering and fruiting of bushes and plants. It is impossible to wash the chemicals off the fruit. The use of poisons can poison beneficial insects: ladybugs, wasps, bees.

Natural ingredients will help protect against pests: fragrant infusions and soap solutions.

During flowering, you cannot prune bushes or shape tree crowns. Fertilizing with potassium humate will help protect against diseases and increase yield. The feeding process is divided into two times: during flowering and the second, when the formation of fruits and berries begins.

Boric acid is used to kill pests and feed fruit-bearing flora. Dissolve 10 g of powder in 10 liters of water. Spray in two stages: at the beginning of flowering and after its completion. Fertilizing is done once at the beginning of flowering, watered with a solution diluted in water 10 liters per 20 g of powder.

Autumn disinfestation

All measures for the prevention and destruction of whiteflies must be completed before the first sustained frost.

Deep digging of soil mixed with wood ash in mid-autumn will be effective against pests that can easily tolerate cold weather.
All plant remains, tops, weeds, and foliage are burned.
Greenhouses are cleaned and disinfected.
The top 10 cm layer of soil is changed or dug up. Disinfect with insecticidal preparations.
Wooden floors are whitened with slaked lime in 500 g - 10 liters of water or painted.
Kerosene cleans metal supports from moss and mold.
The remaining auxiliary devices - rods, ropes - are treated with a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
Glass and frames are cleaned with a brush and soapy water, from top to bottom.
In some cases, you can use a bleach solution.

How to treat and spray tomatoes and seedlings against white and black midges that eat them: preparations

If the tomatoes are attacked by white and black midges, and the fruits have not yet set, the plants need to be treated with one of the following chemicals :

"Actellik" - 1 ampoule per 1 liter of water, treat the plant no more than 4 times.
"Actofit" - dilute according to instructions, apply at least 3 times, every 5-7 days.
"Aktara" - dilute according to instructions, apply at least 3 times, every 5-7 days.
“Verticillin J” - 25 ml per 1 liter of water, treatment 2 times every 7-10 days.
“Pegasus” - 2 ml of 25% of the drug per 1 liter of water, treat the bushes 2 times after 7 days.
“Fufanon” - 1.2-1.5 ml of 57% drug per 1 liter of water, treatment 1 time.
"Confidor" - 0.1 ml of 20% drug per 1 liter of water, treatment 1 time.
"Phosbecid" - 5 ml per 5 liters of water.
"Mospilan" - 0.05-0.06 g per 1 liter of water, treat 1 time.
"Decis" - dilute according to instructions.
"Inta-vir" - 1 tablet is diluted in 10 liters of water.
“Karate” - dilute strictly according to the instructions. Use at intervals of 7-10 days.
"Arrivo" - dilute an emulsion with a 25% concentration in 7-10 liters of water.
"Neoron" - dilute according to instructions.

Attention. It is not worth purchasing a lot of the chemical; aphids may develop an addiction to the drug and it will stop working on it.

Fumigation of greenhouses

This event is held at least twice a year. You can use sulfur candles for this. Just before you start fumigating the greenhouse, all the plants must be removed from it.

If the greenhouse is located close to the house, then in this case it is better to use bombs based on standard insecticides, but vegetable crops may not be removed. As a result of fumigation, not only the larvae will die, but also the whitefly pupae.

Biological drugs

This is the most gentle option, since such agents are not aggressive. They are based on microorganisms that are capable of parasitizing whiteflies, which ultimately leads to the death of the entire colony of the pest.

Cardboard sheets on which the pupae of this biological “weapon” are located are hung on tomato bushes. After some time, the mature offspring move to the infected parts of the plants and gradually destroy the whitefly larvae and individuals that are in a stationary stage of their development.

Chemicals

Such drugs can be systemic, which penetrate the plant’s body and make its juices poisonous to the whitefly, and contact, which work through direct contact with the body of the parasite. This is the fastest way to get rid of white midges on tomatoes. Just use any insecticide strictly according to the instructions. The most popular means from this group include:

"Fufanon";
"Confidor";
"Mospilan";
"Phosbecide";
"Aktellik";
"Pegasus".

Moreover, sometimes a single treatment is enough.

Important! If you have chosen chemicals to combat white midges on tomatoes, remember that using one drug all the time is highly not recommended. Otherwise, the whitefly will develop resistance, and the product will no longer be effective!

Do not forget that after applying chemicals to treated plants, it is necessary to create shade. Otherwise, burns may appear on the leaves. In addition, the components of these products accumulate in the soil, after which it is quite difficult to clean it. For this reason, you should not use them too often.

Methods for destroying flies, proven over the years

It would be preferable to give first place to folk methods of combating whitefly or black leafhopper. Chemical treatment should be started when they have not helped. The main enemies of midges are laundry soap and vinegar (alkali, acid). Solutions are prepared with them:

take 2 tbsp. spoons of liquid soap dissolved with 0.5 liters of water, add sunflower oil;
10 g of soap, diluted in 10 liters of warm water with a glass of ash;
1 tbsp. spoon of 9% vinegar per liter.

Aphids and individuals of their varieties do not like hot peppers, garlic, and mustard.

200 g of chopped garlic are infused in a bucket of water, stirring. Before use, add 50 g of dry mustard and 20 hot red pepper. Onion skins will also help. It is boiled for half an hour, the solution should have a high concentration: 300 g per small bucket.

Treat with such supplements twice: in the morning and in the evening.

Pulling out weeds, tops, digging up the soil, and eliminating compost will also not be superfluous and will help get rid of flies. If possible, tomatoes are kept cool. You can build a trap in the greenhouse. Placed pieces of bright yellow plywood are coated with glue. Regular fly repellent tape will come in handy.

It is worth trying the biological method, which involves attracting insects that eat midge larvae . Prudent summer residents plant fragrant herbs next to tomato seedlings; they attract:

ladybugs;
wasps, bees;
lacewing;
hoverflies.

White and black midges cannot tolerate the smell of calendula, dill, onions, and garlic.

The sweet liquid secreted by harmful insects attracts ants. The presence of trails near the beds signals their presence. Therefore, you also need to get rid of anthills, because eggs are stored there.

In order for tomatoes to grow healthy, you should not plant them densely, even if there is not much land. When plants are close to each other, there is a lack of light and nutrients in the soil. The shoots weaken, but the whitefly does not sleep. It finishes off the crop and destroys the harvest. Therefore, there is no need to make a tight fit. It is preferable to have fewer large whole tomatoes than more diseased fruits from one area.

Small black midges can have transparent wings or without them: both subspecies pose a danger to the future tomato harvest. Pests multiply quickly. They settle throughout the tomato bush, sucking the juices out of the plant. They move to neighboring bushes and infest the garden. Damaged bushes die. If you do not take measures to destroy insects, you may lose your harvest.

Get rid of anthills on the site. Ants protect aphids by feeding on the sweet secretions they secrete.

Dangerous pests: fungus gnat and white midge

If you notice that the leaves of your plants have turned yellow and started to fall off, it is quite possible that the vegetables have become a victim of white midges (whiteflies). In order to prevent the development of white midges, it is necessary to take measures to eliminate the favorable environment for them.

They love to attack seedlings and whiteflies

Firstly, be sure to maintain the distance between plants; you cannot plant seedlings too densely. Secondly, watering should be moderate - the permissible moisture levels should not be exceeded. And thirdly, use only proven, high-quality fertilizers - do not use expired fertilizers or those whose origin you are not sure of. Factory packaging with the date of manufacture and instructions can be a guarantee of quality.

Remember - in greenhouses and apartments, white midges can reproduce regardless of weather conditions and time of year. You can encounter them even in winter.

White midges quietly develop in greenhouses and apartments even in winter

A good way to get rid of white midges is a tincture of tobacco leaves. To do this, take a pack of cigarettes, remove the tobacco (of course, you need to remove it from the paper and filter), fill it with hot water (about a liter per pack) and leave in a dark place for about five days. The strained solution is used for watering plants every 3-4 days. Soon you won't see any pests.

Another dangerous pest is the fungus gnat. They usually fly in small groups and lay their eggs directly in the ground. The larvae of these insects are especially dangerous for seedlings.

Fungus mosquitoes are also dangerous because they can lay eggs directly in the soil where the seedlings grow.

There are separate means to destroy fungus gnat larvae. They are applied under the top layer of soil and are usually sold in granules. After watering, the granules will dissolve and the product will begin to act.

Fungus gnats and fruit flies

In closed greenhouses, you can use sulfur candles to fumigate the room.

How to properly set fire to a sulfur bomb

Insecticides containing pyrethrum and pirimiphos-methyl work well.

It is important to follow the instructions for use of various products

Methods for controlling whiteflies

It is necessary to combat flies in a greenhouse or in an open area with a cut after the first pests are detected. If moths fly indoors and no larvae are found on the inside of the leaves, then you only need to treat the plants with a solution of laundry soap or any specialized insecticidal preparation. Products containing pyrethrum or pirimiphos-methyl give a good effect. If larvae are present, an integrated approach should be used. The complexity of the process is due to the fact that the larvae are covered with a special coating, which reliably protects them from damage and prevents the penetration of certain chemicals through the protective shell.

Whitefly control

The following methods allow you to achieve positive results:

fumigation of the greenhouse premises;
use of chemicals;
traditional methods.

Fumigation method

The event is held twice a year - in the spring before planting tomatoes and in the fall after harvesting. The greenhouse room is fumigated using special checkers or candles. This smoke treatment allows you to destroy pests and is a preventive measure against a number of serious diseases. The procedure requires careful sealing of the greenhouse room.

Important!
You can get rid of fly pupae and larvae using sulfur candles.

Chemical "attack"

Manufacturers offer a large number of potent poisonous drugs, a single use of which is enough to completely destroy the white fly and its offspring on tomatoes and other crops. Before processing tomatoes, you must carefully read the instructions and strictly follow the described requirements.

Important!
You should not “chase” a quick result and use aggressive chemicals. They can accumulate in the soil and are difficult to remove from it. The chosen medicine must correspond to the stage of development of the fly that lives on tomatoes.

The most popular means are:

Pegasus (from 120 rub.);
Fufanon (1100 rub. 1 l);
Aktofit (52 rub. 40 ml);
Mospilan (from 3375 to 6650 rubles per pack).

How to get rid of midges?

You can get rid of midges over seedlings in various ways. Before choosing one method or another, you need to slightly dry the top layer of soil and see how severe the pest damage has occurred.

Then the boxes in which the midges appeared need to be isolated and try to get rid of the invasion.

Specialized means

Ready-made insecticide-based preparations effectively eliminate midges. Before using them, carefully read the instructions for use.

Such drugs are available in various forms:

Aerosols. For example, Dichlorvos is a universal poison. Spray the soil and the plant itself with the product. To protect people from inhaling the substance and slow down its volatilization, you can cover the sprout with a bag.
Powders. Grom-2 helps a lot. Place it in the ground according to the instructions, and after a while the black midges and springtails will disappear.
Preparations for the preparation of solutions. Aktara, Aktellik, Muhoed, Fitoverma, Karbofos have proven themselves well. Seedlings should be watered with these products in accordance with the frequency and dosage. During the period of water treatment, plants do not need to be watered.

After you get rid of the insects, the room where the seedlings were processed should be well ventilated.

In case of severe infection, the seedlings need to be transplanted into new and treated soil, after washing the seedlings under running warm water. Contaminated soil must be thrown away - it is not suitable for reuse.

Folk remedies

If for some reason you do not want to use specialized drugs, then folk remedies will come to your aid. Flower growers and gardeners have developed their own effective methods for controlling midges at home.

Among them are:

Potassium permanganate solution. Dissolve potassium permanganate on the tip of a knife in 1 liter of warm water. Water the seedlings with the resulting solution.
Wood ash. Chop and lightly sprinkle the surface of the soil with it; this is a fairly effective remedy.
Traps. Hang fly tape over the seedlings. You can also make a homemade trap. Pour jam or fermented compote onto the bottom of the plate, cover it with cling film on top and make several holes the size of the midges.
Matches. Stick them head down into the ground. 4 matches are enough for 10 square cm. Once the wax is washed away, replace them with new ones.
Natural fungicides. Place lemon zest, peeled and chopped garlic, ginger, cloves or tobacco on the surface of the ground. In addition, the edges of the boxes with seedlings can be lightly coated with Asterisk balm. The strong smell will repel insects.
Alkali. You can make a soap solution: finely crumble laundry soap into 200 ml of water. Spray the solution on the seedlings and the surface of the soil.
Fumigator. Place a fumigator near the seedlings overnight for several days.

In these simple ways you can get rid of midges and also prevent their appearance.

What types of midges are there?

Currently, about 2000 species of midges are found in the world fauna. At home, the most common:

domestic - fruit flies that appear next to rotting fruits, vegetables and on indoor plants;
green – winged species of aphids and lacewings;
black - sciarids, otherwise soil mosquitoes, they are more often found on seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc.;
white ones are whiteflies, they are less common, parasitic insects drink juice from leaves and stems and getting rid of them is much more difficult than black ones.

How to get rid of black midges on tomato seedlings

The black midge is an outdoor pest, but sometimes it appears on seedlings. Insects leak through windows or their larvae already live in the ground. You need to decide what to do if midges appear on the seedlings.

Method No. 1

You noticed that a midge is flying over the seedlings. Most likely it is a sciarid or fungus gnat. They are attracted to abundantly moist soil, where insects lay eggs. If you reduce the intensity of watering so that the top layer of soil dries out slightly, you can repel fungus gnats.

The flyers themselves are destroyed using fumigators, adhesive fly tapes or anti-ant drugs. The latter need to be placed between pots with seedlings.

Method No. 2

If the midge has already laid larvae in the soil for seedlings, changing the watering regime will not solve the problem. Tap the container with the seedlings with your hand. Did a flock of insects fly up? Drastic measures are needed to get rid of the masonry. Water the plants with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. And three days later - with water flavored with citric acid and a drop of liquid soap.

Even our grandmothers knew how to treat seedlings against midges. The spread of larvae is prevented by ash, which is sprinkled on the ground for seedlings. Bury a clove of garlic or a pinch of tobacco - their smell repels worms.

Method No. 3

Mild chemicals are another method of treating seedlings. Try the following:

Fufanon;
Grom-2;
Aktara;
Fly eater.

As a last resort, use Dichlorvos. After treatment, plants are covered with polyethylene and taken out of the living room so as not to harm people.

Methods for controlling midges are varied. Which one to choose depends on the availability of components and the desire of the gardener. Follow the instructions strictly, and you will save your tomato harvest from annoying insects.

Midges on tomatoes usually appear when it rains frequently at high air temperatures. Small midges are difficult to notice right away: some of them live as close to the soil as possible, others hide on the underside of leaves. Tomatoes are damaged not only by adults, but also by their larvae. The problem is that these miniature pests carry pathogens of viral diseases and other insects that are dangerous to tomatoes on their paws.

Two species of midges colonize tomatoes. Some are black, they scurry, jump or fly from one plant to another. The second midges are white. The main part of them is hidden on the underside of the leaf, and flies into the air if you shake the plant.

Black midge

Another name for black midge is fungus gnat, tomato gnat or soil fly. The size of the body is 3-4 mm. Reproduction occurs in moist soil, on semi-decomposed organic remains. They like to lay eggs in places where fertilizer is applied in the form of an infusion of bird droppings or mullein.

The eggs are translucent and whitish in color. The larvae are worms from 3 to 8 mm long. Their body is white and their head is black. They live until pupation in the upper layer of soil. They pupate in the roots.

The larvae cause significant damage - they gnaw off the main part of the roots. If there are few pests, then the consequences of the damage are not noticeable: others quickly grow to replace the eaten roots. If conditions are favorable, midge reproduction increases and the damage becomes significant. The plant looks depressed, is stunted, and fruits are not produced.

In hot, dry weather, adults damage the growing point of tomatoes. Bacteria are often transferred from infected plants to healthy ones.

White midge

White midges are miniature whitefly butterflies. Their body size does not exceed 3 mm. The wings seem to be powdered with white dust. Eggs are laid on the underside of the leaf. The larvae are mobile at first, then they stick to one place and stay there until they transform into new butterflies.

Both midges and their larvae suck nutrients from the leaves. The upper surface of the leaves becomes covered with white dust, then turns black. The leaves dry out, the fruits also become covered with plaque and spoil.

If the temperature drops below 10°C, the life of whitefly butterflies stops. But low temperatures do not harm the eggs; their development cycle simply slows down. When the temperature rises, new butterflies will emerge from the larvae and repeat their life path.

The larvae overwinter on the remains of leaves in the top layer of soil.

White midges on tomatoes, what to do, folk remedies

In hot, dry weather, adults damage the growing point of tomatoes. Bacteria are often transferred from infected plants to healthy ones.

The larvae overwinter on the remains of leaves in the top layer of soil.

When fighting black midges, it is not enough to treat only adult individuals. It must be remembered that the larvae hide in the soil, between the roots. To get rid of them and prevent the appearance of new flies, you need to treat not only the tomato bush, but also the soil in the circle around the trunk.

To combat the larvae, “Bazudin” granules, the protection of which lasts about 6 weeks, or “Grom-2” are dropped into the top layer of soil around the plant. Its effect is longer - up to two months.

To distribute the granules evenly, they are mixed with coarse dry sand. The application dose per plant, or per 10 sq.m., is written on the packaging. Distribute at a depth of 2 cm, sprinkle with soil. The first time after application, the tomatoes are not watered.

To destroy flying individuals of fungus gnats and whiteflies, the same means are used.

The easiest way to combat midges is with systemic preparations that are absorbed by all parts of the plant. The impact on pests occurs when an insect lands on the leaves and begins to drink juice from them. It is effective even when some time has passed after spraying.

Systemic insecticides should not be used if there are less than 25-30 days left before harvest. Chemicals get into the fruits and do not decompose for a long time, and this is dangerous for humans.

In such cases, it is better to use enteric contact drugs: “Aktara”, “Decis-pro”. They are not phytotoxic to tomatoes and contain fast-acting substances.

Safer are products that contain substances of biological origin. For example, “Fitoverm” - tomatoes can be harvested two days after treatment, it is safe for the environment, and quickly decomposes in the soil.

When re-treating whiteflies, you should change insecticides, because these butterflies develop immunity to the same pesticides.

Treatment of tomatoes against midges is carried out in dry weather, in the morning or evening hours. Treatment in bright sunshine is not carried out for two reasons:

causes leaf burn;
the drug quickly evaporates from the surface of the leaf, without having time to affect the pest.

Folk remedies are used to repel pests. To do this, prepare solutions with hot pepper, dandelions, garlic, onion peels or mustard:

prepare the mixture - 1 tbsp. a spoonful of pepper, 3 tablespoons of mustard, a chopped head of garlic. Pour 5 liters of hot water and leave for 2-3 days. Strain, add a little liquid soap and moisten the tomatoes, not forgetting the lower part of the leaves;
1 kg of fresh dandelions, 1 tablespoon of washing powder - pour a bucket of water and leave for 24 hours. Strain. They process not only all parts of the plant, but also the ground around the bush;
2 heads of garlic are crushed, placed in a liter jar, filled with water and left for 5 days. Dilute in 5 liters of water. Spray in cloudy weather or in the evening, after the sun stops burning.

Dill is sown between tomato bushes. It attracts insects, for which whiteflies and fungus gnats are a delicacy.

If winged pests have attacked tomatoes in a greenhouse, you can close the windows and doors and turn on the fumigator. You cannot be in the greenhouse yourself at this time.

When attacked by whiteflies, doors and windows are left open in greenhouses for several nights in a row. When the temperature drops to 10°C, the butterflies will die.

Fly traps, or bright yellow cardboards on which a sticky agent is applied: long-drying glue, Vaseline, oil or honey, help against midges. They can be tied to bushes or secured to pegs.

To combat fungus gnat larvae, stop watering tomatoes for a while - they die in dry soil.

To combat small butterflies and midges on tomatoes, try to use chemicals only as a last resort. If pests are detected in time, when their invasion has not become large-scale, the above-described folk remedies are very effective and safe. In the fall, remove all plant debris and dig up the soil no less than half a spade's length. In a frosty winter, most of the larvae overwintering in the soil will die.

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Tomatoes are one of the most valuable crops for domestic vegetable growers, which, with proper care, will provide the family not only during the season, but will also allow them to stock up on preserves for the winter. However, this plant is not so easy to grow, and even more difficult to save from diseases and pests.

Modern varieties are unpretentious and produce a rich harvest with minimal effort. But caring for a tomato requires knowledge and skills. Difficulties begin from the first days of growing seedlings. A little later, gardeners have another headache - how to get rid of pests and prevent diseases with the help of drugs or folk remedies.

Tomatoes belong to the nightshade family, which is loved by many insects and pathogenic bacteria . The latest are:

Blackleg. First, the root collar becomes dark in color, then rots, which leads to thinning of the stem and death of the plant. The disease spreads quickly and can destroy a plantation in a short time.
Late blight affects leaves and fruits, which dry out and rot. When infected, it can destroy 80% of all plants.
Brown spotting appears when there is high humidity or low temperature. This is a fungal disease. The spores are easily transferred and can persist in the soil for a long time. Symptoms include brown spots on the undersides of leaves with a gray coating.
Mosaic, which cannot be treated, is one of the most dangerous diseases of tomatoes. When infected, pigment spots are formed that resemble a mosaic. Next, the tomato leaves curl and wrinkle, and the bush withers before our eyes.
Gray and brown rot , the appearance of which is promoted by coolness and humidity. A tomato is infected if first small and then large watery spots are noticed on the fruit.

As for pests, the most dangerous ones include:

nematodes that damage roots;
spider mite;
scoop caterpillars that spoil the above-ground parts;
sprout fly that attacks tomato seedlings. The eggs are in the ground, and with the heat, larvae appear, damaging the sprouts.

In addition, the Colorado potato beetle and aphids can spoil the tomato harvest.

White flies on tomatoes are another problem for gardeners. They wonder what are these white flea beetles on tomatoes? These insects are whiteflies, which increase their numbers almost instantly and, if measures are not taken to destroy them, will leave the plantation without a harvest. Small moths attack greenhouse crops, but can also destroy plants in open areas.

Having discovered white midges on tomato seedlings, you need to get rid of them urgently. This insect is a particularly dangerous pest of nightshades and cucumbers, and therefore threatens the entire area. Finding white midges on tomato seedlings is not difficult: if you touch the bush, the insects fly away. Also signs of the appearance of parasitic white insects are:

The leaves dry out and curl, and a coating appears, first white, then turning black. The bloom is a sooty fungus called blackhead that spreads to the stems and destroys the crop.
Tomatoes are white inside.
The above-ground parts turn yellow, giving the impression that the bush lacks moisture.
Tomato ripening is uneven.

White fly on tomatoes is also dangerous because it can infect viral diseases such as leaf curl, chlorosis and jaundice. The main damage is caused by larvae, so if there are only butterflies on the seedlings, the crop can still be saved.

Important! Whitefly feces are also dangerous. They contain spores of sooty fungi.

White flies on tomatoes are not afraid of chemicals, but, nevertheless, there are effective ways to combat them:

fumigation;
biological methods;
traditional methods;
preventive measures.

Fumigation with sulfur bombs in a greenhouse helps get rid of not only midges, but also their offspring. This method is best combined with the use of insecticides and chemicals, such as Confidor extra, Aktara, Pegasus, Fosbecid. It is recommended to spray twice to ensure that the pest is destroyed. Treatment activities are carried out in warm, dry weather; after spraying, the bushes are covered to create shade. It is better to re-treat with another drug in order to destroy insects that are immune to the first drug.

Important! Chemical treatment should not be carried out during flowering and fruit formation.

The biological method is considered the most gentle option. It can be used even during flowering and fruit formation. The method is based on involving in the fight the natural enemies of the whitefly - encarsia, which is an entomophagous insect that parasitizes the eggs of the white midge. To start a “war,” the parasite pupae are placed on cardboard sheets near the bush, from where they move onto the plants and infect the whitefly larvae.

An example of folk remedies is hardening. Pests do not like low temperatures, so if possible, you need to take the seedlings to a cool place more often if the whitefly is infested on the window.

Traps with glue have a good effect. To do this, apply glue to scraps of plywood or cardboard painted yellow and place the trap on the bush. You can use fly tape instead.

Another excellent folk remedy is to wipe the leaves with infusions of garlic, yarrow or soap solution. Add 150 g of chopped garlic cloves to 1 liter of water and leave for 5 days. Next, add another 6 liters of water to the concentrate and spray the plants.

To make a soap solution, a piece of laundry or tar soap is grated and diluted with water until liquid, and then the bushes are thoroughly treated using a sprayer. This product can be applied repeatedly.

However, it is better to prevent the appearance of midges than to later rack your brains on how to get rid of them. Therefore, it is important to use preventive measures from the first days of planting seeds for seedlings:

ventilate the room where young tomato bushes stand more often;
carry out disinfection;
dig up the area more often, especially before planting seedlings;
Do not store compost at home, which is a bait for whiteflies.

Dangerous insects also include black midges, also called country aphids and leafhoppers. Its appearance is indicated by ants and lethargy of plants, despite the treatments and watering. It’s worth looking at the back of the leaves and it becomes clear that a pest has appeared - black midge on tomatoes. Many gardeners know how to deal with it, and this must be done immediately.

Important! One individual aphid is capable of producing more than 100 thousand eggs.

The following preventive measures are known:

planting fragrant herbs that attract wasps, lacewings, hoverflies, and ladybugs;
planting crops that repel black midges: onions, garlic, calendula, dill;
weed elimination;
destruction of anthills.

If, despite preventive measures, black midges still appear, you will have to resort to radical measures - chemistry. Preparations based on fatty acids, vegetable oils and pyrethrins are considered milder. The following agents are effective against aphids:

If you don’t want to water your tomatoes with chemicals, then you need to use folk remedies. For example, treatment with the same soap solution. There are three options:

2 tbsp. spoons of liquid soap are mixed with 0.5 liters of water and 250 ml of sunflower oil are added;
20 g of crushed laundry soap and 1 tbsp. ash is mixed with 10 liters of hot water;
2 tbsp. spoons of liquid soap are mixed with 5 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp. sunflower oil, 0.5 liters of water, infuse for 1 hour.

In the fight against black midges, spraying infusions have proven themselves well:

3 cloves of garlic, 20 g of hot pepper and 3 teaspoons of mustard are infused in 5 liters of water for 3 days;
Brew 200 g of onion peels in 3 liters of boiling water;
400 g of celandine are infused for 1 day in 1 liter of water, then boiled over low heat for 30 minutes. The filtered composition is diluted with 10 liters of water and infused in a cool, dark place for another 2 days.

These solutions treat not only bushes, but also the soil underneath them against black midges.

Nightshades can be destroyed by numerous insects, although all modern varieties are hybrids. Such plants do not have natural protective properties against fungal diseases and insects. In this regard, tomato plantations need constant protection from diseases and parasites. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly carry out preventive measures, and if the plants are still affected by an illness or some kind of midge, you need to immediately take action to save the tomato.

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Tomato beds often attract pests. The most dangerous of them is considered to be the whitefly - it sucks the juice of the plant, which leads to its drying out and death. Both adult moths and larvae are pests.

What to do if there are white midges on tomatoes, how to deal with them, and what measures can be taken to protect the crop from pests - you will learn all this from our article.

Whiteflies often attack tomatoes grown in greenhouses or greenhouses. Insects appear when it rains frequently. The moth looks like an ordinary midge, only white. The pest most often appears in mid-summer under favorable conditions - high humidity and high air temperatures.

A gardener may not immediately recognize that pests have appeared on his site - whiteflies choose to live on the lower leaves of a plant or hide on their insides.

You can save the entire crop from white midges if there are only moths on the plants without larvae. The fight against small pests needs to be approached comprehensively.

The most common ways are:

fumigation;
chemical treatment;
biological drugs;
bait.

It is easy to recognize plant damage by the following external signs:

yellowing and curling of leaves;
uneven ripening of fruits;
discoloration of the internal tissues of tomatoes;
formation of plaque on the upper leaves;
presence of insects on the inside of the leaf;
when you touch the plant, a cloud of midges rises.

Many insects can parasitize nightshades. There are two types of midges living on tomatoes: some pests are black in color and are constantly on the move, not inhabiting the plant. Other midges are white and settle on the leaves of seedlings.

The most dangerous pest is the greenhouse whitefly. Her body size is 3 mm. The insect prefers to inhabit the inside of the lower leaves of seedlings, where it lays eggs.

Whiteflies carry viral diseases - leaf curl, chlorosis and jaundice. If measures are not taken in time, this may affect the growth, flowering of the plant, its leaves and fruits.

The moths themselves are not so dangerous - they can be easily eliminated using folk or chemical means. However, it is not so easy to deal with insect larvae - they have protection in the form of a special coating, which reduces the effectiveness of the drugs. In addition, if you use the same products, insects can develop immunity to them.

White midges are the most dangerous pests of nightshades. Despite their small size, the damage they cause can be colossal. As soon as midges or their larvae attach to the plant, they begin to consume its sap. Because of this, the seedlings begin to experience a lack of nutrients, which affects their fruits. As a result, the green mass of the plant dries out and falls off, and the fruits wrinkle.

The vital activity of small midges leads to the formation of plaque on the top of the leaf, which can cause it to curl. At first it has a transparent color, which later turns black, indicating the formation of sooty fungi. Parasites appear from insect secretions. They cover the plant stem and fruits.

It is important to note that not all control methods are effective at all stages of insect development. The plaque that forms on the leaves as a result of the vital activity of midges is a barrier against chemical and biological agents. Therefore, to quickly destroy pests, you need to use an integrated approach.

Manufacturers annually produce a large number of drugs against pests. Before purchasing the product, you need to study the instructions in order to properly treat the plant. Some drugs only need to be sprayed once, others need to be used regularly.

It is important to choose a drug suitable for a certain stage of insect development. So, moth repellents will not help get rid of larvae and pupae. Spraying is ineffective in controlling adults; they can fly from plant to plant.

Types of chemicals against whiteflies:

systemic insecticides - the drug penetrates the plant sap and poisons insects;
contact insecticides - act when the pest comes into direct contact with the treated plant.

Important! Systemic drugs should not be used during the harvest period. The last treatment should be no later than 25-30 days before harvesting the fruits.

The most effective drugs against white midges are:

The procedure is carried out on a warm, windless day.
Chemicals are applied using a spray bottle.
After treatment, you need to bring the plants into the shade or place a canopy over them to avoid burns.
Alternate medications regularly.
Use a product suitable for the specific stage of insect development.

Important! Do not immediately use strong chemicals; toxic compounds can accumulate in the soil and poison the plants.

The essence of biological agents is the use of living microorganisms that can resist the action of pests. In the case of whiteflies, manufacturers produce preparations with insects that can eat white midge larvae.

A cardboard with a biological product is hung on tomato bushes. After some time, microorganisms begin to spread throughout the plant, destroying whitefly larvae and pupae.

Fitoverm is considered the most effective biological preparation; after its use, you can harvest within two days. The product contains compounds that quickly decompose in the soil; they do not harm the plant.

Experienced summer residents note that folk remedies can effectively combat pests without developing resistance in them.

These methods include: