How to deal with a spider mite on cucumbers in a greenhouse

A frequent uninvited guest in greenhouses where cucumbers are grown is a spider mite. This pest of garden crops lives in polycarbonate greenhouses, and in glass greenhouses, just in greenhouses. That is, the design here does not have much significance.

Why the spider mite is a common problem for cucumbers in the greenhouse? All because of that. That this parasite loves fever and humidity. So, if the microclimate is at least minimally disturbed in the greenhouse, then this often leads to the development of infections or colonies of parasites.

In general, there are many reasons, you need to be able to determine a specific spider mite and take specific measures to protect your crop. Before considering specific measures to combat spider mites on cucumbers in a greenhouse, separate attention should be paid to the parasite itself.

Appearance and development features

The spider mite is a pest that can have a different color: from red to transparent. The tick does not reach more than two millimeters in size (extremely rarely, as a rule, growth stops at one millimeter). When favorable conditions for the life of the tick are created, it settles on the plant. Prefers to occupy the bottom of the sheet, can occupy huge areas. As a result of their life, colonies of flares leave marks on the leaves of the plant - these are small bright points.

Even a small settlement, if you do not take timely measures of struggle, can eventually grow into a large colony. A few weeks after infection, dots will appear on the plant, and the parasites themselves will quietly crawl along the leaves.

What is the harm

On a thematic view, this material has a lot of information about measures to combat spider mites on cucumbers in a greenhouse. But before starting the fight, you need to clearly understand what the parasite is dangerous for greenhouse crops, including cucumbers.

When a spider mite has settled on a plant in a greenhouse, it will multiply rapidly and occupy more and more areas. These parasites are especially fond of settling on cucumbers. They feed on cellular juice, gradually draining leaves. The leaves begin to dry, eventually fall off. This phenomenon leads in the end, if you do not take specific measures, to the death of the whole plant. Important others the reasons for the yellow ovaries of cucumbers.

The most active are the females of this parasite. After three days of living on the plant, they lay eggs, each up to four hundred eggs. In a year, one female can have up to two dozen development cycles in a favorable climate. Favorable for the reproduction of the spider mite is the climate within 23-33 degrees of heat and average humidity. That is, a greenhouse, regardless of design, is ideal for life and active reproduction of this parasite.

About fighting methods

It is necessary to immediately prepare for the fact that it will be extremely difficult to completely get rid of the spider mite. Therefore, gardeners growing cucumbers in a greenhouse should make every effort to prevent the appearance of parasites.

Advice! Feedback from gardeners suggests that methods such as spraying with water, ultraviolet irradiation, using tinctures of onions and garlic, laundry soap do not help.

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Next, we give a complete list of tools and methods that really helped gardeners and earned good reviews. It should be borne in mind that the methods were collected from all over the country, so some may not be suitable for a particular region and certain climatic conditions.

What measures and tools will help get rid of the spider mite in the greenhouse:

1. Planting cucumbers, on which a spider mite appears, must be alternated with tomatoes. Because, on tomatoes, this parasite does not like to live and breed.
2. Weeds from the beds should be removed on time and weeds should be removed immediately from the greenhouse. Because, they may have wintering ticks. It is very important to provide cucumbers in the greenhouse with proper care, properly prepare the soil for wintering, and process the greenhouse in the fall.
3. Important certain agricultural technology in the greenhouse. Be sure to leave between each plant when planting about a meter away, so that the pests could not easily move from one plant to another.
4. Humidity in the greenhouse should be high, because the mites simply can not tolerate it, but for the cultivation of cucumbers, such conditions are recommended. Here you need to focus on humidity 80-85% and above.
5. Watering and loosening, mulching the soil are the usual stages of care. But here you need to include inspection of plants on a regular basis in order to timely detect the pest at the very beginning and get rid of it faster.
6. The greenhouse in the season also needs to be inspected several times. If damaged plants are noticed, remove and burn them.
7. If the tick has already settled in the greenhouse, it will be necessary to spray with special preparations every 12 days. During the growing season and with severe infection, spraying can be carried out once every five days. Dilute 80 grams of colloidal sulfur and 10 ml of phytoerm, 100 ml of bitoxibacillin into ten liters of water. Alternatively, pollination can be carried out with ground sulfur, using three grams of the substance per meter of planting.
8. The natural enemies of the tick will also help the gardener. For example, you can populate a predatory tick in the greenhouse, which feeds on its cobweb. It will be enough to lay out a few leaves with a predator around the affected bush of cucumbers.

If the above methods for combating the spider mite on cucumbers in the greenhouse did not help with a photo, then you need to use harsh chemistry. Acaricides and other drugs with toxic compounds will help here. It is extremely important to carefully read the instructions for each product, do not exceed the dose of treatment, and carry out activities only in a protective suit.

Again, remember that ticks can even adapt to strong chemicals. So, do not try to remove ticks from your greenhouse from year to year with one remedy. Preparations must be periodically changed after the third time of use.

What chemicals will help

On the net, many positive comments about the tool Plant Pin. It helps to get rid of flares and aphids, for the processing of greenhouse cucumbers is also perfectly suitable. These are sticks that need to be placed in the soil next to the stem of a damaged plant. In the process of watering the garden, the active substances of the sticks begin to act. A big plus of the tool is that it helps fight pests in the early stages of their development.

In the form of release means Etisso - these are also sticks, but the active substance is different. When a stick is submerged in the ground, its active substance dissolves from exposure to water and poisons insects.

Important! Both drugs are toxic to humans. So, after using gloves to throw out, rinse hands well.

Another tool for combating ticks is suitable Actellik. You need to use it carefully and not only with gloves, but also wearing a gauze bandage. Open the ampoule and dissolve in a liter of water. Mix the solution and use to spray the affected plants.

Fitoverm the first few times will help perfectly, but then it will quickly become addictive in the plant and the spider mite will cease to die from the active substance. If you use the product according to the instructions, then for the first few times of spraying you can achieve excellent results. Read what to do if the cucumber seeds in the greenhouse crumble.

What problems can arise during the fight against spider mites:

• It is difficult to detect the problem, but it is important to do it. The sooner the fight begins, the higher the likelihood of success.
• In favorable conditions, the spider mite multiplies very quickly.
• Since ticks are distinguished by the properties of high adaptation to drugs, this causes certain difficulties in choosing a specific control agent for a long time.
• You can’t exactly get rid of the tick for two times, processing should be done often.
• The population must be completely destroyed in order to protect the greenhouse and the crop.
• The insect moves through the web they leave. It is also a protection against moisture and the action of drugs to destroy.
• Often it is necessary to apply shock doses of processing agents to obtain a result. A high concentration of drugs can be dangerous for people and animals, can lead to infection of the fruit.

These are popular folk remedies and measures against spider mites on cucumbers in the greenhouse, as well as specific chemicals. The gardener will be able to understand exactly what tool to use, in his case, if he initially examines the information about the parasite and understands how strong and dangerous the infection is.