Diseases of the family onion and its treatment. Diseases of onions - we save the crop from viruses and fungi. Onion diseases and treatment - how to quickly and effectively fight

There is a wide variety of diseases of green onions, and the quality and benefits of the crop will depend on their proper treatment. The fight against fungal and viral infections is long and difficult, therefore it is better to get involved in the prevention of diseases on time. Knowing the first signs of the onset of the disease, you can prevent the mass spread of the pathogen.

A popular type of onion grown on feathers is the batun (Ural family, Seryozha, Semiletka, Maisky). He has a fairly well developed ground part, the feather is thin and can reach 1 meter in length. There are many more nutrients in greens than in onion feathers.

You can plant bulbs or sow seeds. Landing begins in early May. Bulbs are planted to a depth of 3 cm. In July, you can cut the greens, and after a while it will grow again. Since the batun grows in one place for several years, then the next year you can harvest the first crop after a month.

For the sake of greens, Schnitt onions are also grown. Long narrow leaves with a strong odor can grow up to 50 cm. A small bulb can also form, which is also used for food. Varieties such as Bohemia, Lilac ringing, Chemal, Honey plant are known.

Leek forms delicate and fragrant feathers, flat, like garlic leaves that fan out. The bulb is absent, but there is a thick, white stem. Popular varieties include: Vesta, Columbus, Elephant, Casimir, Alligator.

Shallot allows you to cut greens several times over the entire season. Recommended varieties such as Afonya, Aristocratic, Starorussky, Leader, Green, Dwarf.

You can get greens from onions. For this, medium-sized turnips are selected. The following varieties are better suited for these purposes: Soyuz, Strigunovsky, Rostov, Bessonovsky.

Planting turnips or onion seeds on greens begin to be engaged in at the end of April, but provided that the soil warms up to +12 degrees. Already in mid-summer, you can harvest the first crop. If you plan to collect fresh herbs in the spring, then the seeds can be sown in mid-summer.

How to grow onions on greens in open soil?

Onions on a green feather can be grown both from seed and from seeds. You can plant the vegetable tightly to each other or, observing a distance of 3 cm. A tight planting does not allow the bulb to form, and all the forces are sent to expel the green feather.

The process of growing onions on a feather begins with the proper preparation of planting material. Most often they use turnip onions. Bulbs of medium size are selected (3 cm in diameter and weight not more than 45 g). The selected healthy planting material is dense, without damage, stains and dents. They clean the excess husk.

The process of heating and disinfection will help protect future crops from viruses. It is recommended to warm the bulbs at a temperature of +40 degrees for 8 hours. Then hold in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or salt.

What to fear?

When planting onions on a feather, you need to be prepared for the fact that diseases and pests can appear. They often cause a complete loss of crop. To prevent this from happening, you need to know the main signs of the problem and try to prevent further development.

The green feathers of plants affected by the fungus cannot be cut off for use in food. If individual bulbs with signs of defeat appear on the bed, they must be removed, and the rest of the greens cut and dried at a temperature above 50 degrees. This will destroy the pathogens.

Diseases

Growing green onions begins with preparatory work that aims to destroy the pathogenic flora. Under favorable conditions, fungi become more active and lead to the death of the crop.

The most common infections of green onions include rust, peronosporosis, mosaic. Each disease has its own distinguishing features.

Onion rust is a fungal disease that can affect all types of onions. Oval, slightly convex yellow spots form on the leaves. As the disease progresses, feather growth stops, they dry out and die. The development of rust is facilitated by humid weather and excessive watering, as well as an excess of nitrogen.

Powdery mildew (peronosporosis) is a fungal disease. This disease spreads very quickly and destroys the entire crop. Yellow spots appear on the leaves, a little later spores of gray-violet color appear. Plaque is especially noticeable in the morning, after dew. Over time, spots increase, and all feathers turn yellow, dry.

Peronosporosis develops in conditions of high humidity, lack of fresh air due to too dense plantings, insufficient intake of solar heat and light.

The disease is treated with folk remedies based on wood ash, whey. After using chemicals, you can not eat greens. It is necessary to reduce the amount of watering and remove the fertilizing with nitrogen. At the same time provide the plant with a sufficient amount of potassium and phosphorus. It is these components that help fight disease.

The causative agent of Onion Mosaic is the virus. Light yellow spots appear on green leaves. Over time, the spots grow, the feathers begin to curl and dry from the tips. The reason may be a dense planting of plants or an invasion of pests.

Green onion mosaic disease can be treated with folk remedies. Well-proven tincture of wood ash. 300 g of ash are diluted in 10 liters of water and boiled for 30 minutes. After the solution has cooled, add 35 ml of liquid soap. The finished composition is sprayed with the green part of the plant.

Another fungal disease that affects onions is cervical rot. Infection destroys the onion head. The neck of the bulb thins, dries and rots. A gray coating appears, which, as the disease develops, turns into large black dots. If diseased bulbs are planted the next year, the feathers will be weak, lethargic, pale green in color with a bloom.

Pests

The main pests of green onions are onion flies or moths, thrips and nematodes. The plant slowly develops, the feathers begin to turn yellow and dry, despite proper care and timely application of fertilizing.

The main methods of pest control include proper soil preparation in the fall. The site is deeply dug, cleaned of weeds. Next year, it is advisable to plant other vegetables in this place, for example, carrots, corn, herbs. Methods of struggle:

In the event of a problem, you can water the aisles with saline, avoiding getting on the greens. 20 g of sodium chloride are dissolved in a bucket of water.
From time to time, you can sprinkle the beds with a mixture of wood ash, ground pepper and tobacco dust.
Helps tincture of tobacco and ground pepper. Preliminary 300 g of tobacco is poured with water for several days. Pour 5 g of ground pepper and 20 ml of liquid soap into the finished infusion. Before spraying, the concentrate is again diluted with water.

Very attentive to the preparation of planting material. Seeds or seeds must first be warmed up and disinfected.

Top dressing

Many compounds than to feed onions to greens. It is especially important to fertilize the soil during the period of active growth of feathers. You can treat the beds with a solution of the drug Agricola 2, Effekton-O, Vegata.

Of great benefit is wood ash, which is sprinkled with aisles. You can make an ash infusion. To do this, 200 g of ash are poured with hot water, insisted for a day, and then the beds are watered.

For intensive growth of greenery, the soil must have a sufficient nitrogen content. In order to prevent fungal diseases, beds with green onions are fed with potassium salt.

The first top dressing is carried out after the first thinning. You can make an infusion of cow manure or bird droppings. Organics can be replaced by mineral composition. A mixture of ammonium nitrate, potassium salt and superphosphate is suitable.

The second dressing of onions on herbs is carried out after another two weeks. Suitable top dressings based on phosphorus and potassium. A mixture of 35 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium chloride is scattered on the beds where onions grow.

Additional fertilizer may be required when pests, diseases and changes in the appearance of plants occur. For example, with a lack of nitrogen, the leaves grow slowly, yellow spots appear on them. The deficiency of phosphorus is indicated by the appearance of large brown spots.

Proper watering

When growing onions on a feather, you need to set the watering mode. Any varieties of onions selected for greens need to be watered once every 10. If the weather is dry, then the frequency of watering is increased. It is advisable to water it with warm, settled water early in the morning or in the evening, after sunset. While the feather grows water, it is better to pour under the root. You can water onions on the greens until the harvest.

Insufficient or excessive moisture can cause the green onions in the garden to turn yellow. With a lack of moisture, the soil can become loose, and with an excess, the risk of rotting will increase. What to do in this case? If the cause was a lack of moisture, then you need to resume watering. You can check the soil moisture by deepening a wooden stick. If it remained wet by 10 cm, then watering is postponed for 2-3 days. It is best to organize a drip irrigation system, it is also recommended to mulch the soil.

When growing onions, you must adhere to strict recommendations, since this plant can be destroyed by harmful insects. When the first signs appear, crops should be processed using folk methods. In the article, we will consider what onion pests are methods of dealing with them.

The main pests of onions in the country. Onion fly

The main pests that affect onion plantings include:

onion fly;
stealthy beetle;
onion bug;
root tick;
a bear;
onion moth;
stem nematode;
winter and potato scoops;
trips.

The characteristic signs of onion damage with an onion fly include decay and yellow of feathers. If no action is taken, then the affected plants will die. In late spring, the larvae penetrate and infect the soft tissues. Secretly-minded beetles cut feathers, laying larvae in the bulb, which eat the soft tissues of the plant. Onion sheath leads to rotting of the bulb as a whole, and the root tick penetrates, gnawing the rhizome of the bulb. An earthen bear gnaws on the feathers and roots of the plant, damaging young onions.

The distinguishing features of onion damage by onion fly is rotting and yellowness of feathers.

Caterpillars of onion moths penetrate the middle of the leaves, feeding on tissues, which leads to the drying out and death of feathers. The worms of the stem nematode infect the leaf parts, spoil and wrinkle the onion head, and the caterpillars of the scoop bite young shoots near the surface of the soil. Potato scoops feed on leaves and eat soft tissue, forming large cavities in the bulb. Trips can be recognized by affected leaf plates: silver spots and black dots on feathers.

Check out the basics of onions in the country in our infographic.

(click to enlarge)

Folk ways to fight the onion fly

The onion fly looks similar to the usual one, but up to 1 cm long and gray in color, and the larvae are white in color without legs and a clearly defined head. They hibernate shallowly in the ground, and with the onset of heat they lay eggs on the first shoots between the leaf blades. Larvae appear after 5-7 days, they fall into the middle of the onion head, eating soft tissues.

As a result, the culture rots, leaves turn yellow, and after 2-3 weeks the larvae crawl out to form a cocoon. Two weeks later, a fly appears, it especially affects a plant planted at a later time.

The main pest control measures include:

alternation of agricultural crops;
planting early ripe varieties;
planting near carrots, as a specific carrot flavor repels a harmful fly;
watering with dissolved table salt without contact with feathers. To prepare the solution, 200 grams of salt should be dissolved in 10 liters of water, watered for the first time when the feathers grow by 5 cm, the next every three weeks;
spraying with special drugs. The lime mixture with the addition of tobacco dust in a ratio of 1: 1 scares off excellently, and the amount is calculated based on the planting area (10 grams per 1 m²). Another sand mixture with naphthalene is used in proportions of 10: 1.

Crypto-beetle beetle and methods of extermination

Crypto-beetle beetles differ in length up to 2.5 mm with a thin and long rostrum. Larvae of light yellow color without legs up to 7 mm long. They hibernate under the remains of plants on the side of the road, and with the onset of spring they gnaw holes in leaf plates and eat the flesh. Important: a characteristic feature is the presence of white spots on the surface of the plates.

To combat the crypto-beetle bug, it is necessary to quickly remove infected crops and onion feathers. Contamination may result in yellowing and drying of the feathers.

Female beetles lay eggs inside the plate, after 15 days, larvae appear, feeding on soft tissues, without violating the integrity of the leaf. Up to a dozen larvae can be in one onion feather; as a result, it turns yellow and dries. After another 20 days, the larvae crawl out, form pupae, from which beetles emerge. They eat planting, and with the onset of cold weather leave for the winter.

The following methods apply to folk methods and measures to combat such a pest:

cutting and burning of infected crops with simultaneous watering and fertilizing;
loosening of the plot during the formation of pupae;
collection of plant waste followed by destruction.

Defeat onion shepherd

A characteristic feature of this pest is a green body with a bronze tint and two strips of gray on the back. Larvae of gray-yellow color grow up to 1 cm and have a flat bottom. They hibernate in soil or bulbs, and begin to fly in July. The female lays eggs on onion feathers or the ground near the onion in small groups, and after 10-12 days, larvae appear. They eat soft tissue, penetrating the bow. As a rule, the onion inside becomes rotten, the little creeper penetrates into it from below, which distinguishes it from the onion fly. After about 20 days, the larvae form pupae (the next generation), which begin to fly in August. They are fought with in the same ways as with the onion fly.

Root tick and folk methods of extermination

A small root tick affects the onion not only during the growth period, but also in storage. The tick has an oval body up to 1 mm long and 8 legs. In winter, they are found in plant waste, penetrate deep into the soil, and in the spring they attack nearby plants. If onion crops are nearby, then the tick infects the bulb from below, gradually turning it into dust, as a result of which the plant begins to rot or dry.

The defeat of the root tick occurs during improper storage, when the temperature is more than +12 degrees, which is a favorable condition for the reproduction of ticks

The female root tick lays eggs under the scales of the plant, especially during storage under adverse conditions (temperature above + 12 ° C and high humidity). Several generations of ticks can grow in a year.

crop rotation;
treatment of onion heads before planting. To do this, onion heads must be kept in hot water for about 10 minutes;
harvesting in dry weather;
storage and sowing with the addition of a mixture of dry chalk;
autumn digging of the soil with the destruction of plant waste.

Bear and Onion Moth

The bear belongs to omnivorous pests, this is a brown insect up to 5 cm long, on the front legs of which there are incisors for digging the ground. It eats not only roots, but also stems, makes moves in the ground, damaging the crop. In the ground at a depth of 15 cm there is a nest of the pest, in which it lays eggs, and larvae appear after 21 days. Particularly favorable environment for the bear are greenhouse conditions and plentiful watering. To get rid of it, you must adhere to the correct crop rotation, remove weeds in a timely manner and dig the ground in the fall.

Caterpillars of a dark brown yellowish-green butterfly up to 1 cm long. Insects spend the winter in plant waste, and with the arrival of heat they lay eggs on leaf plates and after a week the caterpillars penetrate into the middle, without violating the integrity of the skin. To combat, fertilizers are applied and used in the same ways as for the destruction of root ticks.

Stem nematode destruction methods

This is a small thread-shaped worm. In winter, it is in onion heads, seeds or ground, and if you plant the onion in uncultivated soil, the stem nematode penetrates the tissues and lays eggs there.

The pest eats onion juice, it grows slowly, and too affected seedlings die. The leaves are deformed, they turn yellow over time, and the bulb becomes soft due to a damaged cavity between the inner scales. Attention: the peak of the disease occurs in the last month of summer, while continuing to infect onions during storage.

The following preventive methods are used to combat the nematode: Bookmark only healthy tubers for storage; Weed control; Use of mineral fertilizers.

The fight against the stem nematode consists in the careful selection of healthy bulbs and their healing before planting, and you can plant the onion again in this area no earlier than after 4-5 years.

Tip # 1. In order to improve the health of the onion, it should be kept in hot water (45 ° C) for 10-15 minutes, and at a temperature of 50 ° C the time can be reduced to 5-7 minutes. Important: it is better to disinfect small onion heads at a temperature of 45 ° C.

Methods of dealing with scoops and trips

Scoops are inconspicuous butterflies, the caterpillars of which hit the roots and top of the plant. Eggs are laid at the end of summer, which after winter turn into larvae and caterpillars that actively infect bulbs.

In order to get rid of them, you should regularly destroy weeds, loosen the soil and dig it in the autumn. You can also use folk methods, namely treat with a decoction of wormwood or infusion of white mustard.

To prepare a decoction of wormwood, it is necessary to boil 1 kg of grass in three liters of water for 20 minutes, and then treat the area 2 times with an interval of 7 days. To prepare a mustard infusion, 2 g of the powder should be dissolved in a glass of water and insisted for two days, and then diluted to one liter.

Thrips eat almost all plants and along the way are carriers of onions that are dangerous

One of the most dangerous pests for onions is tobacco and onion trips.This is a whole group of small harmful insects that are unremarkable and suck the juice from the plant, bending the stem and softening the bulb.

Fight with trips should be even before sowing, for which it is necessary to dig the soil well and destroy all plant debris, and process the soil in the greenhouse with karbofos after harvesting.

Tip # 2. In the summer, loosening the soil between the beds helps with the aim of effectively destroying tripper pupae, and not very affected onions can be treated with celandine broth, mustard infusion, tobacco or hot pepper.

For example, 1 kg of hot pepper is boiled for one hour in 10 liters of water, after which it is insisted and bottled for one day in dark bottles. Before use, 125 ml of tincture in 10 l is diluted and the affected plants are sprayed.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Question number 1. What folk remedies effectively destroy secretive beetle beetles?

Such pests are helped by such folk methods as mustard powder, black pepper and wood ash, which are sprinkled between onion beds.

Question number 2. When should the affected onion be sprayed?

It is better to spray onion plantings in the evening, in calm weather, when the street is already not hot. To achieve maximum efficiency, crops should be treated at the beginning of the infection period and the procedure should be repeated periodically.

Question number 3. How to get rid of harmful butterflies with calendula?

To destroy harmful butterflies on onion beds, a pharmacy calendula is used. For this, it is necessary to insist 100 grams of flower seeds in 5 l of water for two days, and then spray the onion.

Question number 4. How to choose the bow for planting and do I need additional disinfection?

Yes, additional onion treatment is necessary. This eliminates the infection of crops and the death of the entire crop. Before planting, in addition to carefully selecting the bulbs, they should be held in hot water at a temperature of 45 ° C for 10 minutes and at 50 ° C for 5 minutes.

Question number 5. Is it true that alder scares a bear off?

Yes true. To do this, between the beds of onions it is necessary to insert alder branches at a distance of 1 m from each other, periodically replacing them with fresh ones.

4 common pest control mistakes by gardeners

Sometimes gardeners make typical mistakes when growing onions, they are discussed in the table.

The main mistakes gardeners in pest control	How to fight (ways)
lack of crop rotation	It is necessary to adhere to crop rotation, which helps to avoid damage to crops by pests
improper storage	You can store onions in the basement at a temperature not exceeding 5 ° C; before that, they are stored in well-ventilated rooms
excessive watering	Abundantly water onions only at the beginning of growth, and 3 weeks before harvesting, watering is completely stopped. This provides long-term storage without rotting bulbs.
burial	When planting bulbs, they are buried in the soil no more than 1 cm, which will ensure growth and long-term storage

This culture is susceptible to so many viral and bacterial diseases. If you do not start the fight with them on time, you can easily lose the entire crop. The first dangerous disease is downy mildew (peronosporosis). Here are the main symptoms:

leaf wilting;
pale spots on green feathers;
light plaque;
yellowing of feathers and their death.

Signs of downy mildew

Most often, this disease manifests itself in springtime, when a fungus wakes up after winter. First, he settles on feathers, after which he passes to the fetus, affecting the entire culture. The cause of downy mildew usually lies in poor-quality planting material or in non-observance of crop rotation rules. The disease begins to develop actively with increased humidity, and with the onset of cold or heat it does not die, but slows down its development. Having noticed the first signs, remove all affected areas of the plant. If you grow a crop on turnip, you can process the plant with the drug Oksihom, diluting 20 g of the product in 10 l of water. Perform procedures every 10-14 days.

However, if you grow onions on a feather, it is forbidden to use chemicals. In this case, be sure to temporarily stop watering and stop fertilizing with organic fertilizers.

Another dangerous disease is gray rot. Usually, this disease begins to appear when harvesting last year's harvest - spores of the fungus penetrate the fetus through the neck of the onion when dried. When stored on the fruit, dark spots appear, the tissue leaks, inside the bulb is soft, cloudy, resembles a boiled fruit. It is impossible to fight the disease, but it can be prevented. When growing onions, be sure to treat it with special means - for example, Switch or quadris, following all the tips described in the instructions. There is also a folk method, which consists in artificially accelerating the maturation of turnips. For this, it is necessary to limit the use of nitrogen top dressing and strengthen the use of potassium phosphorus. This will contribute to the rapid growth of bulbs and premature drying of the leaves. Thanks to this, the onion neck closes faster, which prevents the fungus from penetrating inside.

Another disease that manifests itself during storage of bulbs is bacteriosis, which leads to softening of the fetus, the appearance of an unpleasant odor. When the bulb is cut inside, rotten soft tissues can be seen. If nothing is done, bacteriosis can destroy the entire harvest. Follow all recommendations for and care for it, do not forget about the rules for storing fruits, and also remove infected fruits on time.

The most famous pest of onions and other garden crops (lettuce, garlic and even tulips) is an onion fly. The main signs of damage include leaf wilting, openings from the neck - they are eaten by larvae postponed by flies, and deformation of the bulbs. To get rid of the onion fly, buy drugs such as Fly-eater, Medvetox or Antto be used according to the instructions. From folk remedies, you can take tobacco dust, which is diluted in water and sprayed with the resulting solution to the garden during the growing season. Another enemy is the onion root eater. She is a rare guest in our gardens, but the damage is very serious. In addition to onions, he likes to eat beets, carrots and potatoes. To determine its appearance is simple: the leaves turn yellow, then fade, the bulbs themselves soften and smell unpleasant. Against the root eater, take the previous drugs.

Onion fly - a dangerous pest

Shallot aphid is a pest that loves not only onions, but also strawberries, carries various viruses on its paws, which can cause serious illness of your plants in the garden. Onions affected by aphids grow more slowly, leaves are deformed and fade. Fighting this insect is quite difficult for several reasons. It is forbidden to spray onions with feathers using pesticides, otherwise it will not be possible to consume it as food. Biological agents are a complex and rather expensive option. The main role in the fight against aphids is assigned to agricultural techniques: before planting, onions need to be soaked in hot water, remove weeds, observe crop rotation rules.

It should be noted tobacco thrips. White spots with dark dots appear on green leaves - these are dried feces of the pest. The quality of the bulbs is also reduced - they are smaller, dry. During the growing season, spray the onion with the drug Aktara and Zeon twice a season. It is very important that the interval of treatments between these two drugs is no more than a week. It is also worth mentioning about the onion tick, from the actions of which summer residents from Moscow to Krasnodar suffer - the aura of its habitat is huge. It affects not only onions, but also garlic, some other decorative crops. The mite causes maximum harm during storage of fruits: from the bulbs damaged by it, as a result, weak and nondescript plants develop. And if the storage technique is not followed, the reproduction of the tick occurs at lightning speed.

The best measure to combat this insect is competent prevention. The storage location of root crops should be disinfected by fumigation using sulfur drafts. Also, before laying root crops for storage, they need to be thoroughly dried in the open air, and then warmed for about a week at a temperature of +35 ° C. Remember the crop rotation rules: this crop should not be planted where perennial herbs, cucumbers and legumes were previously cultivated. And to protect the onion sets from the pest, before planting it should be processed in a solution Actellica (0,1 %).

More prevention - less worries

The best method of struggle is quality prevention. After all, most of the diseases and pests are transferred to the garden with infected planting material. Sevoc before disembarkation must be disinfected with high temperatures. Do not forget about thorough loosening and disinfection of the soil before planting, because fungus, viruses and insect larvae can winter in the soil. They can also spend the night in plant debris that do not need to be used in the preparation of compost. You can plant a crop in one place after at least 4 years, and the best predecessors for this plant are cabbage and tomatoes.

To repel pests, it is not always necessary to use pesticides - many popular recipes are also suitable. For example, plants with a pungent odor will help drive insects away. It is best to use carrots - just plant it near onions. You can sprinkle beds with tobacco dust, slaked lime, sprayed with infusion of wormwood. And the most important rule - you need to buy seed from trusted and reliable sellers who sell high-quality and healthy onions.

Very often, onions begin to turn yellow leaves ahead of time. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, for example: acidic soil; lack of nitrogen, copper or potassium; the plant has come under freezing; excess moisture in the soil.

All these reasons can be easily eliminated and our onions will come to life again and turn green.

But the onion may turn yellow from the attack of pests, and this is more serious and not so easily eliminated. How many enemies do the onions have?

Quite a lot, but the most malicious of them: onion fly, onion bug, tobacco thrips, onion crypto-venom, onion moth, onion root tick and stem nematode.

These damage not only directly various types of onions, but also garlic, tulips, daffodils, lilies and other decorative bulb crops.

Each of onion pests insidious, but often they act together and then the yield loss is huge.

In addition, pests are carriers of many onion diseases.

Onion fly

Onion fly is perhaps the most dangerous pest of onion and is found in all regions of Russia.

Bulbs affected by the larvae of this fly can no longer be saved.

Especially the onion fly “loves” onions, although garlic and other onions are also not deprived of its attention.

Outwardly, this pest is very similar to a housefly, has a yellowish-grayish color and a length of 6 to 8 mm. Worm-shaped larvae of an onion fly are whitish in color and up to 8 mm long.

Pupa of the fly overwinter in the areas where onions or other bulb crops were grown, under unharvested plant debris or in the soil at a depth of about 10-20 cm.

In the spring, when the mass flowering of dandelions and cherries begins, flies emerge from the pupae.

For some time, they feed on nectar on flowering weeds, and then the female flies begin laying eggs on the soil next to the bulbs or directly on dry scales.

The larvae are not long in coming and, after about a week, they are already amicably attacking the growing onion bulbs.

In the lower part of the bulb, they eat out a common cavity in which several dozens of larvae can feed simultaneously.

Plants affected by the larvae of the onion fly begin to turn yellow and dry out, the bulbs rot and easily pull out of the ground, since there are almost no roots.

Feast on larvae in bulbs for about 20 days, and then go to the soil for pupation. Over the summer, two generations of this pest can develop, and in warm regions even three.

Onion grub

An onion bug is also the most harmful insect, like an onion fly.

In addition to various types of onions, garlic and decorative onion crops (especially she prefers gladioli, tulips and daffodils), the shepherd can even harm tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and beets.

True, unlike onion flies, it is not distributed throughout Russia. Eastern Siberia and the Far East are spared this pest.

An adult female is larger than an onion fly and reaches a length of 10 mm, has a greenish-bronze hue. The larvae of the onion beetle are vermiform greenish-gray in color and the whole body is covered with short spines.

They can hibernate both in the bulbs that remained in the ground after harvesting, and in the bulbs laid for storage.

Larvae pupate in the spring, and at the beginning of summer, a massive flight of adult beetles begins. They begin to lay eggs between the dry scales of the bulbs and after a week new larvae appear.

During the summer, two generations of germs usually manage to develop. Bulbs affected by this pest rot and quickly decompose from fungal and bacterial infections.

Thrips

It is extremely difficult to notice these tiny insects (length not more than 1 mm), therefore we often pay attention to them only when thrips are already in a large enough quantity on our plants.

They infect plants both indoors and outdoors. Sucking juice from the leaves and inflorescences of onions, thrips do not allow the plant to develop normally.

First, whitish spots appear on the leaves, then the leaves bend, turn yellow and eventually dry out.

Female thrips remain for the winter in the soil and in plant debris at a depth of 5-7 cm, in greenhouses, hotbeds and onion storages under dry scales.

They fly out in early spring and initially settle on weeds, then move to vegetable crops.

Females lay eggs under the skin of the leaf and after about a week larvae appear.

They regularly feed on 8-10 days and go into the soil to a depth of 10-15 cm, and after 4-8 days a new generation of thrips attacks our plants.

Up to 3-6 generations of thrips can develop per season, and in greenhouses even more - 6-8 generations.

The thrips that fall into the store multiply throughout the winter. Under dry scales, the surface of the bulb becomes wrinkled, sticky, with spots.

Thrips harm not only onions, but also to such cultivated plants as: cucumbers, melons, eggplant, garlic, cabbage, radishes, parsley, flowers and many others.

Onion Secretive Hunter

The onion crypto-leaves also leave whitish stripes on the leaves of the onion.

This is a small bug, only 2-3 mm long, black with whitish scales on the body and a proboscis bent down.

Appearing after wintering (end of April - beginning of May), the crypto-carnivore feeds on sprouted old, uncleaned bulbs or on perennial onions. Then they switch to new onion plantings.

Beetle females gnaw small holes in the leaves and lay eggs, from which yellowish larvae hatch after 7-14 days (depending on the weather).

They carefully begin to eat the inner juicy pulp of the leaves, without touching the upper shell.

As a result of such damage, the leaves begin to turn yellow from the top, curl up and dry out ahead of time.

Onion moth

Onion moth primarily annoys all types of onions and garlic, but sometimes it can be seen on decorative liliaceae.

Most of its activity occurs in warm, dry weather. The larvae of this small butterfly penetrate into the tissues of the leaves and eat them from the inside, while leaving the skin intact.

Leaves wither first and then completely dry.

Trying to find food for themselves, the larvae of onion moths climb even into inflorescences, and through the neck of the bulb and into it.

Over the summer, onion moth can give 3-4 generations of their own kind. The first generation begins to harm our landings in May and June.

The front wings of this butterfly are about 1.5 cm wide and brown in color with white dots.

They hibernate mainly on soil under plant debris.

Onion root tick

This pest damages a lot of plants, especially bulbs of onions, garlic, tulips, daffodils, other bulb plants, as well as gladioli corms, root tubers of dahlias and many other crops.

First of all, an onion tick settles in damaged or diseased plants. The tick is hygrophilous and in moist, warm (26-28ºС) storage conditions develops very rapidly in just 10 days.

The female tick has a broadly oval whitish vitreous body only about 1 mm long with brown legs and mouth parts. She can lay 350 to 800 eggs.

A tick penetrates the bulb through the bottom and, when fed, so exhaust it that the bottom turns into dust.

They damage the rudiments of peduncles and leaves, thereby greatly reducing the quality of planting material.

By planting tick-borne bulbs on a bed, we further promote its spread to intact plants.

And to notice these tiny pests is very difficult, unless, of course, they have not yet severely damaged planting material.

An onion root tick is distributed with the remains of damaged plants, soil and equipment.

Stem nematode

This small (only 1-1.5 mm) worm-shaped pest gives summer residents a lot of trouble.

The stem nematode is able to breed on many types of ornamental and vegetable plants, damages almost all bulb crops.

The nematode penetrates the plant and lays eggs in it. It is very difficult to fight it, since in our areas it can, being in a state of suspended animation, live without eating for several years.

Carefully monitor the planting of onions, garlic and if you see that the leaves begin to lighten, curl, swellings appear on the lower part of the leaves, then urgent measures must be taken.

With further reproduction of the pest, the bulbs in the ground begin to rot, and the aerial part of the plant dries up.

The nematode hibernates on the plant debris of onion crops, but a rather significant part of them falls on the bulbs and in the storage.

How to deal with pests

Our main task is to prevent pests from onion planting, since it is very, very difficult to cure plants affected by larvae, as I wrote above.

We will defend ourselves with all possible methods, both agricultural and mechanical, and chemical.

So what can we do:

Agrotechnical methods

1. Immediately after harvesting, we carefully remove all plant debris.

2. Be sure to dig these areas in the fall and thereby destroy the wintering areas of pests.

3. Try not to grow onions in the same area for several years, since in this case the number of pests in this place will increase from year to year.

4. It is advisable to plant onions and other bulb crops as early as possible, this will enable young plants to grow stronger by the time pests appear.

5. Timely liming of the soil will help in the fight against the stem nematode.

6. In those areas where the onion or garlic was damaged by a stem nematode, bulb crops can be planted again no earlier than after 4-5 years.

7. During the period of mass pupation of the larvae of the onion crypto-hopper, we often cultivate row-spacing with subsequent watering and top dressing, as well as remove damaged leaves and destroy them.

8. More carefully, seed must be selected.

Mechanical methods

1. In order to prevent the onion fly and the female lizard from laying eggs on the plants, planting can be covered with any covering material.

2. The same effect can be achieved by mulching. It is good to use peat crumb for mulching. All flies, and onions are no exception, avoid peaty soils.

3. You can cover the planting of onions with spruce paws, which at first protect them from the cold. When leaves appear on the surface of the earth, the branches are removed, and the showered needles will perfectly protect the plants from the onion fly.

4. During the summer, regularly remove and destroy affected plants, do not forget to weed and weed.

5.Before laying the onion for storage, dry it thoroughly, sort it out, and later on during the storage process regularly remove diseased onions.

Folk methods

Tireless gardeners use various methods of pest control onions at their sites and never cease to amaze with their ingenuity.

Here are some tips I found in the literature:

1. The use of ordinary table salt. When the onion leaves become slightly higher than 5 cm, it is necessary to begin to water the onion with saline. This solution is about 150 g of salt per bucket of water. Stir well and very carefully, trying not to get on the leaves and on the ground around, pour the solution strictly under each onion. After this, it is advisable, just in case, to wash off the salted droplets that have fallen on the plant with clean water from a watering can. Then, after three hours, we pour the rows of onions already with clean water. After 10-14 days, if the threat of onion damage persists, you can repeat the treatment, while increasing the dose of salt to 200 g.

2. Salt for fighting onion flies can also be used as follows: soak the onion set for 2 hours before planting in a fairly strong salt solution. Then carefully wash the onion sets several times in clean water and leave it moist overnight, and plant it in the morning on the beds.

3. Many summer residents sprinkle along various rows various deterrents, for example: tobacco dust, both in pure form and mixed with ash; fluffy lime; naphthalene mixed with sand. And due to the fact that the smells quickly disappear, sprinkle the planting every week.

4. Another recipe for a deterrent: take 100 g of wood ash, one tablespoon of tobacco dust and one teaspoon of ground pepper, mix and process the soil around the bulbs. Such an amount of the mixture goes to the processing of 1 square meter.

5. The following infusion has proven itself: 200 g of tobacco dust (shag) is filled with 2-3 liters of hot water, mixed and left to insist. After 3 days, add water to the infusion, bringing the infusion volume to 10 liters, pour 1 tablespoon of liquid soap and 1 teaspoon of ground pepper (black or red) into the infusion. The resulting solution is filtered and sprayed both the plants themselves and the soil around them.

6. But Tatyana Alekseevna from the city of Novosibirsk is saved from the onion fly with the help of birch tar, which can be bought at a pharmacy or in garden shops. To do this, take a small container and dilute the clay in it to the consistency of liquid sour cream, then add 2-3 teaspoons of tar. When planting in this mixture, dip the bottom of each bulb. The second tar treatment is carried out when feeding onions, adding 2 teaspoons of tar in a bucket with top dressing.

7. As a prophylaxis against onion flies, you can dust the planting of onions and other bulb crops with the following vigorous mixture: ash and carefully mashed carrot seeds. They say that it’s a very effective remedy.

8. And, of course, do not forget to plant our helpers such as stunted marigolds next to bulbous plants, which not only scare away the onion fly, but also prevent nematodes from multiplying.

9. For the prevention of stem nematodes, heat treatment of planting material is very important, which must be carried out for quite a long time (4-6 hours), and at a sufficiently high temperature (42-45ºС).

Chemical methods

Use insecticides only in exceptional cases.when the number of pests is already very large and can not be dealt with in other ways.

1. You can use the following permitted drugs: Medvetox, Zemlin (3 g per sq. M), Flies (5 g per sq. M). These drugs are applied to the surface of the soil and then loosened.

3. Against tobacco thrips, spraying with Iskra DE (1 tablet per 10 liters of water) or a fitoverm well helps.

4. At the first detection of a plant damage by thrips, it is possible to spray with an infusion of yarrow or some other insecticidal plant.

5. Keep in mind that thrips quickly develop resistance to chemicals, so they must be alternated. This fully applies to insecticidal plants.

Before using any insecticides, carefully read the instructions for them and strictly follow the recommendations.

If you grow onions on a feather, using drugs is strongly not recommended.

Therefore, I advise you to plant such an onion separately from the main onion plantings on a turnip.

Well, dear gardeners, we already know quite a lot about onions: and how to grow onions and; met one of the perennial bows (); they learned what lay onions in the process of vegetation and storage. Now here we met with pests of onions.

We will talk about the large onion family more than once, since each type of onion is worthy of our attention.

See you soon, dear readers!

Onion diseases and their treatment

Onion diseases are often associated with non-observance of crop rotation and agricultural practices. This culture belongs to liliaceae, therefore, like other representatives of the species, it needs to perform all necessary measures to protect against bacteria and insects.

For reference to the reader

Onion (lat. Allium) is a unique plant that can be biennial and perennial. At the same time, it belongs to the liliaceae family (lat. Liliaceae) according to botanical characteristics: appearance, development and structure of the plant. And to the onion family (Latin Alliaceae) by production criterion: harvesting and storage, purpose and method of cultivation. When describing a culture, it is often referred to the subfamily - Onion.

Diseases of the onion and the fight against them

The culture is susceptible to many bacterial and viral diseases. So that they do not destroy the crop, it is necessary to study onion diseases and their treatment, a photo and a description of the signs of infection that we prepared will help to quickly determine the type of infection. There are various chemical preparations, but alternative recipes are no less effective.

Downy mildew (lat.Peronospora parasitica)

Such a disease as downy mildew (popularly) is called ononosporosis of onion, a control measure that every gardener should know about. External signs of infection are:

leaf wilting;
the presence on the feathers of vague pale spots with a gray tint;
formation of plaque on the leaves;
gradual yellowing of the green and its drying.

Such onion diseases photo below in the article, most often manifests itself in the spring. Starting with feathers, the fungus gradually passes into the fruit, affecting the entire plant. The cause of infection is poor-quality planting material or failure to comply with crop rotation rules. Onion sets affected by peronosporosis can retain spores of the fungus until the next sowing season.

The disease develops actively with high humidity and moderate temperature, + 15-20 degrees Celsius, and under adverse conditions it does not die, but only stops its development.

Landing must be done from north to south. Thus, each plant will be adequately lit by the sun. If the first signs of downy mildew are detected, the affected shoots must be removed. When growing onions on turnips, you can spray with Oxychom, 2 tablets of 10 g per 10 liters of liquid. The procedure is carried out every 2 weeks.

If you grow onions on a feather, chemical processing is unacceptable. In this case, it is necessary to suspend the organic fertilizing and temporarily limit watering. It is recommended to process beds with potash and phosphorus fertilizers. For prevention purposes, it is recommended to warm the harvested crop for 12 hours at a temperature of +40 degrees Celsius before sending it for storage. Sevoc is treated in a similar way a couple of weeks before planting. The storage room for 2 months is disinfected with bleach (0.4 kg per 10 liters of water).

Gray rot (lat. Botrytis cinerea)

Such a disease of onions in the garden, like gray rot, begins to develop when harvesting last year's harvest. Spores of Botritis fungus most often penetrate the vegetable through the still not closed neck of the bulb during drying. The first signs of the disease become visible already during storage of the crop:

the fruits begin to deteriorate at the base of the neck: gray rot becomes visible on the surface;
when pressed on the bulb near the neck of the tissue, they miss;
in the section, the affected layers of the bulb are visible: they are soft, cloudy, often gray, resemble boiled onions.

During storage, healthy fruits can become infected with spores through surface damage caused during harvesting or by insects. Favorable conditions for the development of the fungus: high humidity in the storage and high temperature.

During the growing period, the beds are treated with the preparations Kvardis, Bravo and Switch, strictly according to the instructions. The struggle with folk methods is to artificially accelerate the ripening of fruits. The restriction of nitrogen fertilizing and the strengthening of potassium-phosphorus - contributes to the rapid development and premature drying of the leaves, so that the neck closes faster.

Bacteriosis (lat. Bacteriosis)

Like gray rot, the disease manifests itself during storage:

the fruits become softened;
the incision shows rotten brown tissue between healthy scales with traces of fungal development;
unpleasant odor;
the presence of small flies.

The fungus penetrates insufficiently dried and damaged bulbs. Bacteriosis control methods are similar to gray rot. It is necessary to follow the rules of agricultural technology and storage of crops, to remove infected fruits on time.

Onion pests and the fight against them, photo signs of defeat

Pests of onions, photos of which you can find in this article, cause no less trouble than diseases. Insects infect the entire plant and are able to destroy the entire crop.

Onion fly (lat.Napomyza gymnostoma)

This insect has been active since mid-May. Oblong brown flies lay eggs between leaves, and hatched larvae penetrate the plant itself, feed on it and destroy it. Damaged bulbs rot right in the soil, and the feathers turn yellow and dry.

Answering the question: how to treat onions from pests, many gardeners advise using chemical preparations Mukhoed, Aktara or Karate. But it is best to use folk methods of repelling insects:

pungent odors: alternating plantings of onions and carrots will help scare off the onion fly;
sodium chloride solution: 0.3 kg per 10 liters of water - watering is carried out every 2-3 weeks;
sprinkling the ridges with ash is both fertilizer and pest protection.

Onion thrips (lat.Thrips tabaci)

Onion (or Tobacco) thrips winter in the remains of vegetation in the soil, and in the spring they move to young plants. Very small brown insects lay eggs at the base of the feathers, as a result of which you can see silver spots on the leaves and insect excrement (small black dots). Affected plants turn yellow and die.

Chemicals are most often used in industrial plantings, and gardeners recommend scaring away insects with the smells of tobacco, ash, carrots and naphthalene.

Onion tick (lat.Rhizoglyphus echinopus)

Root onion mite infects plants during the period of cultivation and storage. Most often, insects spread through infected planting material. The tick and its larvae feed on the roots and onion itself, as a result of which the fruits become loose and covered with “dust”.

Pest control of onion folk remedies is the timely prevention of infection:

planting material is heated at a temperature of + 35-38 degrees Celsius for a week;
during storage, the tick affects only damaged bulbs: it is necessary to discard a poor-quality crop;
first of all, it is necessary to fight with the tick precursors - the onion fly.

Prevention of onion diseases and how to scare away pests

The best way to combat diseases and pests of onions is prevention:

Most diseases and pests are transmitted through infected planting stock. For this, seed must be decontaminated with heat before sowing.
Almost all onion diseases and pests winter in the soil and on plant debris. In autumn, the beds are carefully dug up and disinfected. In no case should you use plant residues for composting. Re-plant onions in one place is possible only after 4-5 years.
Proper crop rotation will avoid many diseases. The best predecessors are tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage.

In a small garden, you can do without the use of pesticides. To repel unwanted insects, substances and plants with pungent odors are used:

carrot leaves produce fragrant volatile, which is not tolerated by the onion fly, therefore, planting onions and carrots are often adjacent;
the beds are sprinkled with wood ash, tobacco dust or its mixture with slaked lime (1: 1);
plantings are sprayed with wormwood infusion.

Total

Caring for onions can bring a lot of trouble to inexperienced gardeners. One of the important conditions for growing a good harvest is the safety and proper storage of planting material for the next season. Otherwise, it’s very easy to take care of the crop if you protect yourself from pests and infections in time, which is easy to do, knowing the onion diseases and how to deal with them.