Treatment of a spider mite attack on balsam at home
A spider mite often appears on a balsam houseplant. It can be difficult to spot him. The fight against the pest usually begins after damage to the flower, when the leaves are covered with black dots and a fine spider web. You can fight a tick with folk remedies or with the help of chemicals. In order to prevent a pest from attacking balsam, you should use preventive methods of protecting balsam from insects.
Brief description of the plant
The perennial indoor plant balsam is also called the flower Vanka wet and Impatient. It is very whimsical to care for, but beautiful, with a bushy stem and oval, serrated leaves. Balsam blooms from May to December with flowers of irregular shape, white, yellow or red.
What a pest
The spider mite is the most common among the Arachnids family. It is a small insect with a convex back and a flat belly, with a color ranging from yellow to green, and in females it is red. The size of the female reaches one millimeter, the males are half as large. They multiply very quickly - on average, two weeks pass from laying eggs to maturation.
How to identify
Among indoor representatives of flora, the spider mite, first of all, chooses balsam - because of its juicy stems and leaves. It is quite difficult to detect the pest, given its scanty size. When examining a flower, you should pay attention to red dots, which may turn out to be female spider mites.
If this stage is missed, then black dots with a thin cobweb on the leaves are an occasion for immediate control of the pest.
Reasons for the attack
Drought is the main cause of insect attacks on plants. The pest thrives in dry and hot environments. If the flower is rarely watered and not sprayed with water, there is a high probability that the balsam will be damaged by a spider mite.
Possible consequences
If the flower is not relieved of the disease in time, it may die. A lot of pests accumulate on the leaves, the greens of Impatiens turn white and look burnt, the flowers are entangled in cobwebs. As a result, the balsam sheds leaves with flowers and dies. The spider mite also poses a threat to the indoor flora growing nearby.
How to fight at home
There are two ways to deal with spider mites: by resorting to chemicals or using folk remedies. It all depends on the degree of infection of the plant.
Acaricides
Acaricides are chemicals designed to kill mites on crops. Effectively affect parasites of animals and birds.
Actellic
Actellik is a chemical substance of the second hazard class, toxic to people, animals, birds. Completely safe for plants.
When processing balsam with Actellik's solution, the active substances of the drug enter the plant sap, thereby destroying spider mites in hard-to-reach places. Also, pests are destroyed by vapors of the drug, the result can be seen the very next day. One ampoule of the drug is diluted in two liters of water.
The disadvantage of Actellik is a strong, unpleasant odor. Therefore, it is better to process the plant on the balcony with open windows.
Sunmight
Sunmight is an odorless tick repellent ideal for indoor plants. When spraying, it is necessary to process the leaves, stems and topsoil. Sunmight destroys eggs, larvae, adult insects within four hours and continues its effect for three days.
One gram of powder must be diluted in a liter of water. After processing, the remaining product is not subject to further storage.
Apollo
Apollo is considered one of the effective drugs. It fights many types of mites, when spraying it destroys not only adult insects, but also their larvae. This product is not dangerous for pets and people. But during the treatment of the plant, like any acaricides, do not forget about the safety rules. Dilute one drop of the drug in a liter of water.
Application rules
If there is a need to use acaricides at home, several rules should be followed.
- First you need to prepare the workplace, remove unnecessary items and food from the surface.
- Wear rubber gloves, respirator.
- Before you start preparing the solution, read the instructions
- When spraying acaricides, there should be no people or pets in the room.
- It is necessary to process not only the plant, but also the place where the flower was. Two hours after treatment, ventilate the room and do wet cleaning.
Treatment with folk remedies
Not all indoor plant lovers resort to the use of chemicals to combat spider mites. Many people prefer proven folk remedies.
Before using the infusion, it is necessary to remove leaves and flowers damaged by a tick. Rinse the plant with a warm shower stream; after the balsam leaves dry, - process with folk remedies.
On a note! When an indoor flower is infected, the nearby plants should be examined for infection. After - do preventive spraying.
Garlic composition
One of the popular folk remedies for fighting the pest is garlic infusion, which will not be difficult to prepare.
Pass a small head of garlic through a press. Transfer the resulting gruel to a jar, pour 0.5 liters of water into a container, close with a nylon lid. Keep the garlic infusion in a dark place for five days. After the composition, strain, dilute with water one to one, process the plants.
Dandelion roots
The infusion of dandelion roots is popular among gardeners. In this recipe, the root of the plant can be replaced with leaves.
Heat five liters of water to 40 degrees, add four hundred grams of chopped dandelion root. Cover the container with liquid, let it brew for three hours. After the broth, strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Process the plants with the resulting broth.
Prevention
It is possible to rid the plant of the spider mite, but the appearance of this pest will have a detrimental effect on the flower. Therefore, it is easier to prevent the appearance of the parasite than to try to get rid of it.
There are several rules to help prevent balsam from getting infected:
- Inspect the plants every day for the first signs of a tick.
- Wipe the flower leaves with a damp cloth twice a week. In the process, rinse the fabric in hot water.
- Monitor the watering of the plant, do not let the soil dry out.
- Spray regularly. Dry air and lack of moisture can lead to the appearance of spider mites.
- Apply fertilizers on time.
- Monitor the cleanliness of the surface of the earth, promptly remove fallen leaves.
- A newly purchased houseplant is not recommended to be placed next to other flowers. First you need to make sure that the plant is not infected; for this, the flowerpot with the flower is isolated from other plants for three weeks.
