Onions and garlic are unpretentious; they can grow even with minimal care. But it should be remembered that the most dangerous pest for them is the onion fly. It is not easy to detect, so you need to pay attention to the appearance of the plants. The fight against onion fly is a simple process, but it must be started immediately after detecting the first signs of damage to the plantings.
Life cycle of a pest
Onion fly- This insect is 6–8 mm in size and has a light gray color. Outwardly she resembles housefly. Males have a pronounced dark stripe on their abdomen.
In spring, females lay 4–30 eggs. at a time on parts of the bulbs protruding from the soil, shoots and onion leaves. Eggs white, oblong in shape, with a longitudinal groove approximately 1 mm long. After 5–10 days, larvae emerge from them, the length of which does not exceed 10 mm, the body is narrowed from the side of the head, the food is fleshy scales of bulbs. If they appeared in one clutch, they will stay in a group and eat away all inner part bulbs. After three weeks, the larvae move into the soil next to the plant and pupate, then young flies emerge. Females lay eggs almost throughout the summer season.
Start spring summer coincides with the time when cherries bloom - in April. The duration of this period is up to 50 days. In July, a new generation of insects appears, after which the process of oviposition occurs again. The onion fly overwinters in the ground at a depth of 5–20 cm in the form of pupae. This type of insect is common wherever onion plants are cultivated: throughout Russia, Europe, Asia and North America.
Signs of the appearance of onion flies in the garden
Insect larvae are quite difficult to see with the naked eye, since they are mainly found in the soil. The presence of a pest can be determined by appearance plants. Sure signs of its presence are that garlic and onions slowly develop, their feathers turn yellow, dry out or wither, and the plants themselves emit bad smell. Bulbs affected by insects become soft, sluggish and rotten. These vegetables are not recommended for consumption.
Effective remedies against onion fly
If preventive measures were not produced or for some reason did not have an effect - no big deal, since it is easy to fight the onion fly. This insect doesn't like strong odors, therefore, the beds should be sprayed with decoctions of valerian, wormwood, wild rosemary, infusions of pine needles and mint. These products are safe for people and plants, for this reason they can be used frequently and without fear for the harvest.
You can also remove onion flies using other substances. Experienced gardeners It is recommended to use wood ash. This natural remedy will bring double benefits: firstly, it will destroy the pest, and secondly, it will serve as a fertilizer for the soil, which will have a positive effect on the yield of growing crops. As a rule, in the spring and autumn months there are always dry tree branches on the site. After burning them, ashes remain, which can be collected and used when an insect appears. To prepare the solution, add ash to water and water the plantings.
The next proven remedies for onion flies are peat and manure. Peat is no less effective than ash, but it is used much less frequently, since it is not available in all regions of the country. Manure repels insects and at the same time fertilizes the soil. It can be used in two ways: the first is to dissolve it in water and water the beds with the composition, the second is to spread it on the site.
An effective remedy for onion flies is tobacco dust, which is sold in specialized retail and online stores that sell gardening products. This product can be used in its “pure” form, that is, scattered over the surface of the soil at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. component per 1 m² of area. It is often used in combination with sand or naphthalene in a 1:1 ratio. You can pollinate the soil with a mixture of tobacco dust, wood ash and ground pepper. After the procedure, weeding should be carried out. You can also spray infected beds with tobacco infusion. To prepare it, you need to add 200 ml of the product to 10 liters of water and let the composition brew for two days.
Folk remedy - salt for onion fly
To get rid of the pest, you need to water the area with saline solution. An excess of product should not be allowed in the ground, as this may negatively affect plant growth. Considering the fact that the onion fly does not like salt, the first treatment is carried out 14–20 days after the bulbs germinate. The solution is prepared in the proportion of ⅓ part of a package of salt per 10 liters of water. It is recommended to repeat the procedure with the same composition two weeks after the first, but in an increased concentration of the main component (0.5 packs). The third time you should treat the onions against onion flies with salt after three weeks in the proportion of ⅔ package per 10 liters of liquid. 4–5 hours after the planting procedure you need to water clean water. Recommended pouring saline solution under the roots of plants, without affecting their above-ground parts.
Onion fly: how to fight it chemically
There are many methods for exterminating insects. Each person chooses which one to use individually. Chemical preparations for onion flies help quickly get rid of the pest, but create the danger of pesticide accumulation in grown products.
An effective way to rid green spaces of the pest is to water them with a solution of ammonia. To prepare it, add 3 tbsp to a standard 10–12 liter bucket of water. l. drug. Watering the plantings should be done in the afternoon.
Even if it was possible to destroy insects after one procedure, for preventive purposes it must be repeated twice, because flies can settle in the same place up to 3 times per season. The frequency of treatment is once a month.
Onion fly, how to fight it using chemical methods:
- Spraying the area with a solution of the drug Dachnik (concentration 0.15%), gives an effect of 77.8-79.3%.
- Sprinkle onto the soil surface and then loosen it with a preparation designed to combat soil pests. The recommended dosage of the product is 50 g per 10 m².
- During the mass summer of insects, use insecticidal preparations to combat onion flies.
- Treatment with pesticides and the insecticide Bazudin (20 g of granules per 100 m²) during oviposition shows good results in the destruction of pest larvae. It can be applied during sowing of the material and after 2-3 weeks in the furrows next to the young seedlings, followed by watering.
Important... Traditional methods of combating onion flies are more preferable than chemical ones. They are more economical and guarantee an environmentally friendly harvest.
Onion fly, larva: how to fight
The onion fly larva poses a threat to leeks, chives, onions, garlic and bulbous flowers. It makes its way through the husk into the inside of the onion and destroys its fleshy scales.
Four ways to remove pests from your garden:
- In the fall, dig up the soil after the onions, so the onion fly larvae will end up on the surface and die from the cold.
- Use deworming medications. To prepare the composition, dissolve 5 tablets of the product in 10 liters of water.
- Mix naphthalene and sand in a ratio of 1:10. Sprinkle the resulting mixture onto the ridges infested with small worms.
- Water the plants and plantings with the solution laundry soap(50 g solid product per 10 liters of water).
Onion fly: combating it with preventive methods
It is much easier to prevent an insect from appearing than to quickly get rid of it later in order to preserve the harvest. To date it has been developed large number a variety of pest control methods.
Four effective preventive measures to combat onion fly:
- Correct landing. A nearby bed of carrots can protect onions and garlic from insects. Surprisingly, the onion fly cannot tolerate the smell of this root vegetable, so it does not live in such places. If these plants are planted nearby, there is a minimal chance of them being damaged by insects. You can also get rid of the pest if you plant strong-smelling crops near the onions, such as tomatoes, lovage and wild rosemary.
- Maintaining crop rotation. Plants cannot be cultivated in one place for several years. If the pest has settled in the soil, it will immediately overwinter, and in the spring it will begin to eat the plantings. To stop its reproduction, the onion should be returned to its original place no earlier than after four years.
- Before embedding in the ground, it is necessary to inspect planting material for infection, since it may contain larvae. In this case, even treated and clean soil will not save the seedlings. To protect the material from onion flies, before planting it must be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate or placed in hot water(45–50ºС).
- Damaged plants must be removed from the site and burned.
If an onion fly appears in the beds, how to fight the insect and preserve the plants becomes the main question for gardeners. There are many agrotechnical, chemical, and folk methods of control. Each of the above methods is effective, which has been repeatedly proven in practice.
If used to kill insects chemicals type of insecticides, you are likely to spoil the crop, since harmful substances when cultivating the soil get inside the bulb and remain in it. Over time, poisons accumulate in the fruit and can affect the health of the person who eats such vegetables. Unlike drugs, folk remedies are completely safe both for the land and for summer residents, so you can use them to treat crops without fear for yourself and your loved ones.
Preparations for onion fly
- Karate Zeon;
- Bezudin;
- Aktara;
- Metronidazole;
- Fly eater.
Preventive measures to combat onion fly
Rather than trying to fight insect pests that have already established themselves on a crop, it is better to take care in advance to prevent their occurrence. How to protect onions from onion flies:
- It is worth doing crop rotation regularly.
- The location of the plant should be changed annually.
- In the fall, it is necessary to dig up the garden (the fly remains in the soil for the winter and falls asleep at a depth of 20 cm).
- After harvesting, you need to remove all organic debris from the garden, leaving no food for pests.
- It is necessary to spray the garden with saline solution three times a year (when the sprouts grow 5 cm, then after 2 weeks, and the third time after another 20 days). After treating the soil and plants with a spray bottle, wash off the salt from the sprouts, and three to four hours after the procedure, you need to water the onions with plain water.
How to fight onion fly with folk remedies
Like other pests, the fly brings a lot of problems to gardeners, but it is not at all difficult to fight it. There are several proven means that can quickly eliminate the pest and save own harvest. In this case, there is no need to use different aggressive chemicals, poisoning the soil and plants. Find out how to treat onions against onion flies.
Use of wood ash
Treating onions with salt to prevent onion flies
- a third of a pack of salt should be dissolved in a ten-liter bucket of water (the amount is indicated approximately);
- You need to water the onion shoots with salted liquid when they reach 5 cm;
- after watering, 4 hours later, it is worth thoroughly rinsing the tops of the plant with clean water;
- to consolidate the result, after 10 days the procedure is repeated, increasing the amount of salt (take 400 g).
Uses of potassium permanganate
Treating onions against onion flies with ammonia
It is worth starting the fight against insect pests with the use of ammonia, since this is one of the most effective means. How to deal with onion fly:
Methods for controlling onion fly larvae
Video: How to save onions from onion flies
The onion fly or onion flower fly (Delia antiqua (Meigen)) in the south of Kazakhstan can give up to 4 generations. In the wild, it is a phytophage of wild onions and other lilies, as well as iris.
So why can a problem become a disaster? It's simple - in April-May a very small amount of the pest wakes up (you can focus on cherry and dandelion blossoms), closer to June the fly begins to lay eggs in the soil or on onion shoots. It only takes a week for an egg to become a larva. The larvae instantly penetrate the bulb, damage it and remain in the bulb until pupation, and sometimes move on to the next vegetable. A month later, a fly emerges from the larva, which, in turn, also lays eggs and so on throughout the season.
The second generation flies appear already in June. To lay eggs, females need extra food nectar of flowers. For egg development optimal conditions is the temperature 17-22 degrees and humidity 75-80%. It happens that a prolonged spring with low temperatures causes hibernation in pupae, and part of the spring generation goes into winter diapause.
The fly causes more damage to onion crops on sandy loam and loam, and less damage on peat bogs. In addition to onions, the pest loves chives, shallots, leeks, and tulips. Doesn't disdain garlic either. Among the visible manifestations - the tips of the onion leaves turn white and dry out, and this is provided that the bulb is not severely damaged or only upper part, but if the larva manages to get to the pulp and to the root collar, the onion will begin to rot and it will be too late to save it.
Effective folk remedies for onion flies
So, it becomes clear that protection against onion flies is possible early spring, and the most the best option there will be not the destruction of awakened individuals, but the prevention of their appearance.
In contaminated areas, you can try to save onions from from the onion fly by spilling the Nemabactom bed - predatory nematodes will climb into the womb of the larvae and eat them from the inside. But for this you need to maintain a humid environment. If this biological product is not available in your region, try to find “Protection” soil, it also contains predatory nematodes, and they will get rid of fly larvae in a couple of weeks.
Addition: recently in the project " productive vegetable garden» our charming colleague Tatyana shared her experience of protecting seedlings treated with tar. We highly recommend taking a moment to watch this video:
There is an assumption that Liquid smoke can also be treated, so look more often at our arsenal of folk remedies for protecting plants from pests and diseases, and choose a method according to the situation. But also comprehensive protection do not ignore - crop rotation and mixed plantings In general, they can replace spraying and dressing of seedlings.
These are the most common and effective popular measures combating onion fly, which can cause irreparable damage to the crop. The main rule that is important to remember is that you need to start protecting onions from onion flies in advance, then it will be more difficult. Perhaps the chances of saving the harvest will be reduced to zero. We hope our recommendations on how to protect onions from onion flies will be useful to you.
All summer residents strive to obtain a rich harvest from their plot. They fertilize the soil in a timely manner, monitor the health of the plants, weed the area, getting rid of weeds. This is not an easy job, which can be significantly complicated by the appearance garden pests not only spoil vegetables, but also significantly reduce the overall yield of garden crops.
One of these pests is the onion fly. She looks a lot like an ordinary fly, but has a different color. This pest is considered one of the most dangerous, as it can completely destroy the onion crop. Today we will talk about how to deal with onion flies in the garden.
What is an onion fly?
The main difference between an onion fly and a regular one is its color. The pest has an ash-gray or less often ash-green color. This color is wonderful hides it from birds and other insectivorous predators.
The onion fly is somewhat smaller in size than its fellows. The length of its body does not exceed 10 mm. The body of an average onion fly is no more than 6 mm long. Small sizes bodies allow the pest to easily hide inside plants and remain undetected.
The onion fly appears in the beds at the end of April, beginning of May.
When a fly appears in a garden, it first lays its eggs in the already warmed soil, the remains of last year’s harvest, and weeds. After a certain period of time, larvae emerge from the eggs, which at the first opportunity move to the onions growing in the garden bed. Tiny white worms feed on onion pulp. The more larvae, the higher the chance of crop loss.
Bulbs affected by pest larvae soften and become vulnerable to moisture and fungus. After some time, the onion rots and begins to emit an unpleasant odor.
It is worth noting that the pest larvae destroy not only the most common onions, but also other types of onions: leeks, chives, as well as garlic and onion flowers.
How can you identify onion fly?
This pest is excellent at hiding from predators and the gaze of gardeners. It is difficult to detect its appearance in the garden, but it is possible. The following signs will help the summer resident:
- Softening the bulbs.
- The onion began to rot.
- The onion feathers began to break and turn yellow.
- A characteristic unpleasant odor emanates from the garden bed.
- Some plants in the garden dry out completely.
The effectiveness of onion fly control depends on timely detection of the pest. If time is lost, it will be very difficult to cope with the pest. The fact is that the larvae of this insect go from larva to pupa in just 3 weeks. If you don't make it on time destroy the larvae, then very soon there will be even more onion flies in the garden, ready to lay new eggs. In this case, the sexually mature queen lays eggs all the time. During its life cycle it is capable of laying up to 60 eggs. The scale of the disaster will increase exponentially.
Onion fly: how to fight it?
Fighting onion fly in the garden is a long and labor-intensive process, which does not always allow you to save the harvest. Therefore, it is wiser to prevent the appearance of the pest in the garden. But first, let's talk about methods of struggle.
You can fight onion fly traditional methods and with the help of modern chemistry.
Traditional methods
Our ancestors long ago figured out how to get rid of onion flies. Experienced gardeners know about traditional methods of pest control and successfully apply them. At the same time, all gardeners agree that spraying onion beds with infusions, whose aromas repel the pest, is considered the most effective.
It is worth noting that this method of control is not only effective, but also completely safe for both the plants themselves and humans. For this reason, spray onions solutions of plants with a spicy odor.
Another effective way pest control – treatment of onion beds ammonia. To do this, you need to dissolve 3 tablespoons of alcohol in 6 liters of water. The resulting solution should be watered onions 3 times during the summer with an interval of 1 month between waterings.
Please note the fact that watering with ammonia solution is beneficial for onions. Ammonia contains nitrogen, which promotes active protein production.
Banish the onion fly from the garden bed You can also do this in the following ways:
Modern chemistry
Many gardeners believe traditional methods not effective enough and prefer to use modern chemistry in pest control. And this despite the fact that chemical preparations are often much more expensive than folk remedies. In addition, chemicals can harm the onion harvest. However, the risk is justified by the absolute effectiveness of the chemicals.
How to treat onions against onion flies? Experts recommend the following drugs:
Prevention
Prevent onion flies from appearing The following activities can be carried out in the garden beds:
Conclusion
Folk remedies for fighting onion flies are effective only if the infection was detected at the initial stage. Therefore, it is very important to carefully inspect the beds in the spring. Otherwise, you may be left without a harvest.
However, onions can be saved even if the pest is detected late. To do this, the beds need to be treated with chemicals. But then the risk of chemical contamination of plants remains.
The choice of control method remains up to gardeners.
The onion fly is the closest relative of the domestic and blow flies. It is slightly smaller than them, and can be mistaken for a young individual of another species, so we do not attach much importance to it and sometimes do not suspect that we are dealing with a dangerous pest.
Only in an enlarged photo can you carefully examine the onion fly and find the differences.
Onion fly in all its glory
Pest biology
Let's find out what onion fly is in order to understand how to fight it. This is a two-winged insect from the family of flower flies. her body gray in length ranges from five and a half to seven millimeters. Life cycle flies with complete transformation.
Reference! Insects with complete metamorphosis go through the following stages of development sequentially: egg, larva, pupa, imago.
Nutrition
As happens in many insect species, the nutrition of adults and larvae is divided according to the food item. If adult insects feed exclusively on pollen flowering plants, then their voracious children prefer the bulbs of lily crops. Moreover, onions are most often affected, whose juicy scales are mainly devoured by the larvae.
In addition to onions, the pest onion fly can affect the following daylilies:
- tulips;
- leek;
- garlic;
- chives;
- batun;
- and others.
Development
Having overwintered in the depths of the soil, up to 20 centimeters, the larvae of the onion fly emerge from their puparia with spring warming and turn into adult insects. Biologists note that the emergence of flies coincides with the flowering of dandelions, apple trees, cherries, elderberries or maples.
Reference! Puparium is a false cocoon of some types of flies in which an insect, ready to fly, overwinters.
First, the flies gain strength by feeding on pollen, and then the female lays eggs on the soil next to the seedlings of bulbous plants, as well as on dry scales of bulbs, feathers or leaf axils. Each female is capable of laying up to fifty eggs, and the duration of the spring summer can last up to one and a half months. So, it is difficult to determine exactly when your plants may be infested with fly larvae.
The egg is incubated for 3-9 days depending on the temperature environment, after which the hatched larvae penetrate inside the bulb. Moreover, the ways of their penetration inside are different:
- under the scales near the feather exit;
- through the bottom.
In any case, the larvae, having made their way inside, begin to feed intensively, eating away the bulb from the inside.
The larval stage of the onion fly lasts from ten to twenty days. During this time, the insect can destroy more than one plant, since, having devoured one bulb, the larva will not fail to move to the nearest neighboring one.
After this, the larva pupates and turns into a pupa. The onion fly also lives in this generation for 10-20 days, after which a new transformation into an adult insect occurs. The so-called July summer of the onion fly begins.
Reference! IN southern regions There may even be 3-4 generations of flies per season.
Signs of defeat
The fight against onion fly should begin immediately if the following signs of damage appear:
- the tips of the onion feathers first turn white, then turn yellow and dry out;
- general inhibition of onion plants was noticed;
- An unpleasant putrid smell appeared near the onion bed.
If you notice something like this, you need to pull out several plants and examine them more closely. The fly larva is easy to notice with the naked eye, because it is quite large - up to one centimeter in length, and looks like an ordinary medium-sized maggot.
Prevention
It is always easier to prevent an attack than to heroically fight it later. Therefore, prevention against onion fly will be better protection your garden lily crops. Let's consider all the preventive measures that are currently recommended for our areas.
Useful events
Don’t be surprised by the title of this subtitle; later we will try to explain that there is also bad advice on the Internet. Among the useful recommendations, let us first mention crop rotation. This technique not only partially unmasks onion plantings for the pest, but also prevents diseases from accumulating in the soil. To the same bed bulbous plants It is advisable to return it no earlier than after three years.
Second in order, but not least, how to deal with onion fly, we will call the method of combined plantings. Almost every gardener knows that carrots and onions have a beneficial effect on each other, each of the crops repels the pest of its neighbor: onions, and onions. In addition to carrots, other umbrella or celery crops can be planted in this capacity with onions:
- leaf and root parsley;
- parsnip;
- all types of celery.
Onions also do well next to nightshade crops. Pests especially do not like the pungent smell of tomato leaves and potato tops. One of the good protectors for plants are marigolds, which in general should be companions of almost all plants damaged by insects.
The third type of prevention is sprinkling between rows wood ash. This method also has a second positive component - soil enrichment nutrients, first of all, much-needed potassium.
Another important point in growing any crop – mulching of plantings. Thick layer organic material on the soil simply will not allow a fly to reach the soil or the seedlings of your onion, which means there will be no oviposition with all the attendant details.
An excellent way of prevention is to spray onion plantings with repellent odorous infusions. Such prophylactic drugs against onion fly are:
- tomato leaves;
- tobacco dust;
- sagebrush;
- valerian;
- mint and lemon balm;
- needles.
Advice! Tobacco dust and ash can be used to dust plants after rain or watering.
Supporters organic farming They categorically do not recommend digging up the soil, and in all articles devoted to how to get rid of onion flies, chilliness is almost the main thing preventive measure. And so the authors rewrite this advice from article to article, justifying it by the fact that when digging, supposedly the larvae will end up on the surface and die. Here are a few objections:
- Onion fly larvae overwinter shallowly, from 5 to 20 centimeters, and the soil freezes to this depth even without digging in almost all regions of the country.
- What prevents the larva from burrowing again, or do you need to dig on the eve of frost?
- Perennial onions grow in one place without digging for several seasons. Following the logic of the “diggers,” these onions should not exist at all, since pests should simply live under their roots, and in the spring eat up what they haven’t eaten since the fall.
Another harmful advice on how to treat the soil against onion flies in the fall or during the growing season is saline solution. Moreover, it is recommended to carry out triple treatment. At first, 300 grams per bucket of water, then 450, and at the end 600. What will happen to soil microorganisms in this case is easy to guess. Salt, as the strongest preservative, will destroy all microscopic life in your garden. Therefore, treating onions with salt to prevent onion flies is undoubtedly bad advice.
Pest control
What are the methods of combating the onion fly if it has nevertheless penetrated your beds and the damage to the bulbs has already begun? Here, too, they advise in two ways: there are truly biological folk remedies, and there are others that would be better to mention. But let's be objective and mention both points of view. Let's start, as before, with good advice.
Tar
Birch tar against onion fly can be used in two cases: pre-sowing soaking of bulbs before planting and treatment of crops 10-14 days after full germination. In the second case, for better adhesion, add to the solution liquid soap. Composition of the drug:
- water – 10 liters;
- tar – 1 tablespoon;
- liquid soap – 20 grams.
If necessary, re-treatment should be carried out no earlier than two weeks later.
Ash composition
The following composition helps against onion flies, completely destroying the larvae:
- ash from the burned tree branches or dry weeds - 200 grams;
- tobacco dust – 1 teaspoon;
- ground hot pepper– 1 teaspoon.
This dry mixture is sprinkled between the onion rows if there are signs of pest damage. But the composition can also be used as a prophylactic agent.
Cruel ways
Here we will describe to you the methods that can be used on another planet, and own plot It's better not to mess it up. Various types of onion fly killers can be used: chemicals, How industrial production, and “folk”. Although they can only be called folk in quotation marks, because they are directed against nature.
Let's not advertise the poisons that pollute our planet, let's just say that they are mainly used by large vegetable producers who do not care about people's health. They themselves probably bowed after chemical treatments they won't eat.
A popular method is how to get rid of onion flies using ammonia. It’s as if people have ammonia in barrels by itself, and not as a product of the chemical industry. To improve your education, we present to you this practical recipe, as some may think:
- bucket of water;
- three drops of iodine;
- a drop of potassium permanganate;
- boric acid - half a teaspoon;
- ammonia - one tablespoon.
After mixing this powerful potion, go to the garden and water a mug of the solution on each plant. Mother Earth will say “Thank you” to you!
Conclusion
There are quite a few ways to truly control pests. folk remedies, available to every gardener. These include various infusions of plants, combined planting, and mulching. Do not pollute your soil with chemicals, because our descendants still have to live on it and enjoy its benefits.