Aphids on roses and pest control methods

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Roses - a real decoration of the garden, like all plants, are susceptible to damage by pests, including aphids.

For the beauty of the flower and the marvelous aroma, the rose has long been considered the queen of the garden. Flower lovers will always find a corner in the garden for their favorite flower and consider the time spent in caring for it to be the best vacation. Hoeing the soil, feeding the plant, the hostess constantly whispers the magic words of tenderness, and the grateful flower unfurls the flower glass even more magnificent, enveloping the hostess with a delicate aroma.

Pest Description

Aphid is a small plant pest, 0.5-2.0 mm in size, belongs to the order of the winged. Visible to the green organs of plants with the naked eye. There are several groups of pests of green, gray, orange, black, which colonize the entire plant in colonies. The body shape is ovoid with long legs, which the insects use rather reluctantly. Aphids belong to sucking pests, therefore, a mouth apparatus equipped with a proboscis clearly stands out on the head. There are wingless and winged forms. During flights, winged forms carry viral diseases, which cause severe damage not only to roses, but also to other plants in the garden.

External signs of aphid damage

External signs of damage are manifested in the following:

sucking juices, aphids contribute to the deformation of buds, shoot tips. Sometimes damage begins with folding leaves.
the whole plant is covered with a liquid shiny coating with a sweetish taste. It is called honey dew. This is the favorite food item of black garden ants,
the appearance of ants, anxiously scurrying along all the growing organs of the rose bush, indicates the arrival or hatching of eggs of the aphid colony,
the leafy apparatus of the rose becomes thin, curls, the leaves turn yellow, and the buds fall off without blooming.

Aphid severity level

Aphids are classified as dangerous pests. If urgent protective measures are not taken, then huge quantities of breeding aphids can quickly destroy the green mass of plants, which leads to a sharp decrease in the decorativeness of bushes. They not only harm the plant themselves, but also are carriers of dangerous diseases, including viral ones. Sugar secretions quickly reproduce black soot fungus, which covers the leaves of plants with a continuous mycelium, reducing the intensity of photosynthesis. When flying to garden crops, they infect trees with cancer and other dangerous diseases that lead to the death of perennial garden crops. It is the aphids that attribute the spread of more than half of the known phytopathogenic viruses.

Preventative measures

It is impossible to get rid of aphids by a single treatment of already diseased plants. It is necessary to constantly examine plants and carry out preventive measures in order to protect against damage by pests, including aphids.

Prevention includes agrotechnical measures, such as choosing a site for the rose garden, lighting, proper watering, and top dressing. Of particular importance is the care of roses. They need:

systematic inspection to identify pests,
removal of dried leaves and faded glasses of roses, pruning of sick, weakened shoots, which are most often affected by pests and diseases,
periodically (once a month) washing the plants with clean water or soapy solutions. The aphid is inactive and when flushed with a stream of water, as a rule, does not return back, dies.

Natural Aphid Enemies

The natural enemies of aphids are ladybugs, small beetles, earwigs, ground beetles, lacewings, riders, a dead lion, weevil bugs. The birds that settled in the garden do not bypass their aphids. A positive role is played by insecticide plants.

Ladybugs and germs are referred to the orderlies of gardens and kitchen gardens. Adults eat whole days aphids. Moving larvae of beetles also feed on aphids. In one day, one larva eats up to 200 individuals. Favorite habitats of useful flying insects (listed above) are umbrella plants (wild and garden carrots, dill, fennel and others), as well as flowering plants, especially yellow and orange colors. To attract beneficial insects on the flower beds, in mixborders, flower beds of mowed lawns, and flower beds, you can place garden flowers that provide a flower conveyor from early spring to late autumn. Garden buckwheat, odorous dill, calendula, marigolds, tansy, sweet clover, lavender, thyme and others must be included in this conveyor. Of course, these measures will not completely destroy the aphids, but the natural balance between the number of beneficial and harmful insects will play a positive role in protecting roses from aphids and other pests.

The largest number of pests, including aphids, are destroyed by birds. A garden is considered lifeless, in which there are no birds meeting their sunny morning with their singing and whole days tirelessly exterminating pests. Bird feeders, birdhouses and other types of housing for birds in the garden will not only decorate it, but also provide natural protection from pests. It’s good to place several containers with wood shavings in the kindergarten with roses (and not only), in which earwigs with aphids serve with pleasure.

Aphid Control Measures

Aphid control measures are divided into biological, mechanical, chemical and folk.

Biological methods

Biological methods include the use of natural enemies of the pest and have been discussed in the sections “preventive protection measures” and “natural enemies of aphids”.

Mechanical methods

To mechanical methods include:

manual collection (with a single appearance, aphids crush it without removing it from the plant). If the aphid settled on the buds, then hugging the bud with your palm, wipe it with a movement from bottom to top. With small amounts, almost all the aphids on the buds will die,
washing off with a stream of water. Aphids are inactive and die when flushed. Rinsing can be carried out with a clean stream of water during irrigation or with specially prepared solutions.

Chemical methods

Roses are loved for the unique beauty of a flowering glass and aroma. The use of chemical methods on flowering plants is undesirable. All chemicals have their own specific and always unpleasant odor (hazard warning). Because of it, the aroma of a rose will not appear and inhalation of an insecticide is unlikely to improve the health status of the host.

If it is impossible to do without other means and the use of pesticides is inevitable, it is better to use natural insecticides against aphids, such as Py Spray Garden Insect Killer and Doff All in One Bug Spray. These preparations are made on the basis of Dalmatian chamomile and cause relatively little harm to the environment. The permit list also lists other natural or organic insecticides.

Tohropygamy can be recommended for the control of aphids chemical preparations of contact action. When the solution comes into contact with an insect, the latter dies (fufanon, karbofos). Another group of insecticides refers to intestinal preparations. Getting into the digestive system when feeding an insect, they cause its poisoning and death. But the most effective are enteric-contact preparations acarin, actellic, agravertine, decis-pro, actophyte. Such preparations as Actara, Confidor Extra, Commander are effective when applied to the soil and spraying vegetative plants.

On packages with pesticides always explains how to prepare a working solution, in what concentration to use. Before using the drug, be sure to familiarize yourself with its use in the description. Be careful. Toxic chemicals are hazardous to health! When working with insecticides, it is necessary to cover the mouth and nose with a mask, put on gloves, a bathrobe, and glasses. After work, change clothes and take a shower.

Folk methods of fighting aphids

Folk methods used to kill pests are more “democratic." For the most part, they do not kill, but only drive away pests with their smell, an unusual taste of decoctions and infusions.

It does not tolerate the aphid smell of Dalmatian chamomile, fennel. Lavender in the rose garden will drive out the aphids, and the hot pepper infusion is unlikely to be liked. Marigolds and fragrant pelargonium, nasturtium, calendula will not only expel pests from the rosary, but in combination with roses will enhance the decorativeness of the flower bed.

The literature contains a variety of infusions and decoctions of insecticide herbs, including fresh tops of potatoes, garlic cloves, onion heads, pharmacy chamomile, aconite, cowberry, marigold, livestock, dope, tobacco, Japanese Sophora, yarrow, celandine and others.

To prepare 1 liter of concentrate, 200-250 g of grass is taken, poured with hot water or boiled for 0.5 hours and left to infuse for 2-3 days in a sealed container. Then the concentrate is filtered, diluted in a ratio of 1: 3-1: 4 and the plants are sprayed. If necessary, produce a larger amount of concentrate, observing the same ratio.

In all decoctions, add green or laundry soap (without bleach). Soap decoctions are in better contact with the vegetative organs of plants that feed on aphids. Affected plants are usually sprayed in the evening, when beneficial insects finish their working day (bees, wasps, ladybugs, bumblebees and others).