Sunflower pests: description, photo, methods of struggle

Sunflower is an annual tall and rather powerful plant. The root of the flower goes several meters deep into the soil. From the main root sprout about a meter to the sides of the side roots. The stem of a sunflower is strong and thick, with a loose core. On one plant there are from 15 to 35 leaves, rough and pointed. At the top of the stem is a large inflorescence surrounded by green leaves.

Outside inflorescences are infertile flowers. In addition, the sunflower has flowers of both sexes of orange or yellow color. The fruits of sunflower are seeds with a core inside. Depending on the type of plant, the rind of the fruit has its own color: from white to black.

Sunflower, unfortunately, has many enemies. In this article we will tell you what pests and diseases in sunflower are and how to deal with them.

What is dangerous for sunflower meadow moth

A meadow moth on a sunflower is critically dangerous in a period of increasing its population, which occurs cyclically - once in 10-12 years. The pest reduces the yield by up to 60%, and in some cases can cause a 100% loss of plantings. The highest threshold of harm - ten individuals per 1 square meter.

To protect the sunflower from the meadow moth, deep plowing, tillage between rows, loosening with hilling, treatment with preparations during the development of caterpillars, as well as effective chemical preparations - bitoksibibalin and lepidotsid are required.

Fighting Sunflower Shponoskoy

Sunflower shponoska - small insect 4-5 cm in length. The beetle itself is black, covered with gray hairs. On the abdomen it has a long spike, and the antennae look like strings. Short wings do not completely cover the abdomen. The legs are reddish yellow, and the head is always lowered down.

Female shpononosok lay eggs in the sinuses of the leaves. Then yellow larvae appear from them with a brown head and three pairs of legs covered with long hairs. The larvae infect the plant, penetrating into the very core, and make long strokes there. Usually they eat the first third of the stem, starting from the bottom. In the fall, the larvae turn into pupae and hibernate.

Effective anti-spyware measures: deep plowing, timely cleaning, processing with a vantex, given by a stable or fufanon.

How to protect the plant from sunflower moth

It is almost impossible to fully protect your planting from this dangerous pest. The least susceptible to it are sunflower hybrids of armor varieties. Their seeds have a durable inner shell, which the caterpillars cannot gnaw. This shell is formed a week after the start of flowering. As a result, the pests eat only the leaves, and the grains remain intact.

Cotton scoop

Cotton scoop - one of the main pests of sunflower, which is especially common in southern Ukraine.This is a butterfly with a wingspan of 30-40 mm. Its front wings have gray and yellow shades, and the rear wings are light with a burgundy stripe and a dark spot in the middle. The caterpillar of the cotton hill reaches 35-40 mm in length. Her body is covered with small spines. Color - from light green and yellow to brown. The pupa is reddish-brown in color, has 15-20 mm in length. Overwinters in the soil.

To overcome the cotton shovel, it is necessary to destroy the weeds in time, to produce deep autumn plowing, to cultivate the soil between the rows 6-8 cm deep.

Sunflower

This beetle reaches a length of 20 mm, its body is covered with yellow hairs. Barrel larvae are pale yellow, without legs. Females lay eggs inside the stem of the sunflower. To do this, they gnaw the skin to form a pad with a diameter of 5-8 mm with a deep gap in the middle. One female lays up to 50 eggs.

Sunflower pest control will be effective if you:

• sow the plant early;
• after harvesting, cut the stems as close to the ground as possible;
• remove the tops from the field;
• time to get rid of weeds.

How to deal with aphids on a sunflower

Most aphids love to nibble at the sunflower during a period of prolonged drought and high air temperatures. But most of the insects are eaten by ladybugs.For this reason, aphids can not cause much harm, and processing plants with chemicals is not required.

In rare cases, aphids are quite numerous, aggressive, and can seriously harm landings. The danger of an insect is that after its attack on the sunflower, the buds of the plant are not revealed. As a result, a good harvest will not be. In this case, the processing of chemicals is a must.

Measures to struggle with clickers

• Many larvae of the nutcracker perishes during the mechanical processing of the soil. It is most effective to carry out such a procedure before the insects penetrate deep into the soil.
• Time to weed, especially wheat grass.
• Acidic soils need to be chilled; this has a detrimental effect on the larvae of the pest.

But such measures can only reduce the number of clickers. Seed treatment is the only and most effective way to protect against clicking.

What are dangerous sables (darkling) for sunflower

The darkling larvae are very similar to clickers, but have a few differences:

• in the larvae of the Slow-witted, the front pair of legs is larger than the rest;
• their head is bulging;
• markedly developed upper lip.

This pest goes out early from wintering, practically with the first warming. Chernotelki gnaw seedlings of sunflower, and then eat them, which reduces the harvest.

The most popular measures to combat the slow-moving steppe: tillage, deep plowing, cultivation of fields. We still need to weed in time, especially wheat grass. Comply with the seeding rate, fertilize and feed the plants to enhance their initial growth. Before sowing, it is necessary to treat the seeds with insecticides.

Cornfish

Cornfish is an oval beetle with a gray shade, 7-9 mm long. It has elytra of the same width. Pests overwinter in the surface layer of soil and under various shelters. Insects live for 2-3 years, and the larvae develop from 12 to 14 months. To the surface, pests begin to emerge in the middle of spring. Females lay up to 500 eggs in the first layer of soil during the growing season.

Black beet weevil

Beet weevil is a black beetle of rather large size. This pest has no wings, and the head is flat and small with a long proboscis. The abdomen is covered with hairs and black dots.

Sunflower protection against pests:

• apply organic and mineral fertilizers to the soil;
• regularly remove weeds;
• loosen the soil;
• process seedlings with effective preparations;
• after harvesting it is good to loosen the soil.

Sunflower bugs

These pests cause problems by sucking juices from different parts of the plant. The most dangerous is the defeat of the seed. Further their necrosis occurs. Also, pests have a negative effect on the sowing and commodity qualities of seeds. The maximum allowable number of pests is 10 insects per plant. To fight a meadow bug, you need time to destroy weeds and plant debris. If there are a lot of pests, spray the sunflower with Kemifos and Karbofos-500.