Bud mite on currants: how to easily get rid of the pest

Signs of pest damage

At different times of the year, seasonal signs of infection can be recognized on currants.

In spring and summer

The leaves of annual shoots acquire light shades, their surface becomes rougher, and at the top they become smaller and curly. Shoot growth stops. Multiple thin shoots of a reddish color appear, similar in shape to a broom, which do not bloom or bear fruit, but consume a lot of nutrients and gradually deplete the plant. The etiology of this pathological process is fungal or viral invasion.

The disease is incurable and eventually the currant bush dies. The currant mite is the carrier of pathogenic microflora.

in autumn

The buds affected by the mite increase in volume, as if they are swollen, and look like a torn head of cabbage. They contain thousands of females, ready to lay eggs with the onset of spring.

Characteristics of the parasite

This yellow-brown ectoparasite is invisible to the human eye; its characteristic features can only be seen with a microscope or in an enlarged photo of a bed mite. They are quite peaceful - they do not bite their prey, they feed on dry skin flakes and dandruff - these particles contain a certain amount of bacteria and other microflora, which is the animal’s diet. However, they are not capable of biting through the skin.

Bed mite (Cimex lectularius)

The life activity of the parasite has the following features:

• feels good both in neglected rooms and in immaculately clean ones;
• the highest activity is from three in the morning to seven in the morning;
• the flattened body shape and chitinous “frame” reliably protect the tick from external influences;
• live in upholstered furniture, folds of mattresses, in bed linen, behind wallpaper, etc.;
• able to live comfortably in conditions up to +50 degrees Celsius;
• Duration of existence is about a year.

Measures to combat kidney mites

To get rid of the pest, diseased buds are removed from the bush, the plants are treated, and the rules of agricultural technology are followed. Control measures can be combined to increase their effectiveness.

Removing buds and shoots

In early spring (in the middle or second half of April), when enlarged buds are detected, infected shoots are cut and burned. After destroying the affected part of the plant, the bush produces new healthy growth. There are no pests in the soil.

Bush processing

Plant processing involves the use of folk remedies, biological and chemical preparations, among which organophosphorus compounds are isolated due to their high toxicity.

Folk remedies

Before the bushes begin to bud, the plant can be treated with hot water. The optimal temperature is +80 °C. One bucket of water is consumed per adult bush. This is one of the most affordable and safest ways to combat pests.

Currants are treated during the flowering period (second half of May) and after it with a lime-sulfur solution or a solution of colloidal sulfur suspension, for which 75 g of the suspension is dissolved in 10 liters of water.

Common folk remedies for treating the plant are infusions (the ingredients are mixed with 10 liters of water):

Before use, the infusions are filtered.

Chemicals

The use of acaricides or insectoacaricides (Apollo, Kontos) is allowed. Spraying is carried out at intervals of 10 days two or three times. The air temperature should be above +5 °C with low air humidity and no wind. The last one is during the budding period.

Organophosphorus compounds

Organophosphorus agents (Phosfamide, Nitrafen) are allowed to be used only after harvesting.

Biological drugs

Biological agents (Fitoverm, Aktofit) are effective at temperatures above +19 °C in dry air and calm air. It is recommended to carry out three treatments with an interval of seven days. It is useful to alternate and combine biological products with biofungicides.

In autumn, bushes are sprayed with any acaricides.

How do bed mites get into the house?

Parasites enter human homes in one of the following ways:

1. Clinging to clothes or things. Even sitting on an old sofa while visiting, spending the night in a hotel, or going on a trip to nature can become a vehicle for a tick.
2. On animal fur. If there are dogs, cats or other pets in the house that like to walk outside, then they too can bring the parasite into the house.
3. From the neighbors. Through microcracks, ventilation shafts, openings for wires and sockets, ticks are able to move to a new habitat.
4. While shopping. By purchasing even completely new furniture, appliances, and carpeting, you can bring these unwanted guests into your home. Especially if the warehouses were negligent in disinfection.

Advice! Bed mites are afraid of constantly ventilated rooms, direct sunlight, and large open spaces.

Prevention of tick-borne infestation

To avoid or minimize damage from ticks, you should follow simple rules:

• Plant seedlings in compliance with the recommended distance for them, avoiding thickening.
• Avoid proximity to gooseberries, which are also often attacked by mites.
• Carry out pre-planting treatment of seedlings: by soaking in water at a temperature of +45 °C for 15 minutes;
• Actovertin (10 g per 10 l of water) or Colloidal sulfur (40 g per 10 l of water) for 20 hours.

How to treat a tick bite?

Reactions on the skin caused by contact with a tick must be eliminated with special medications. Also of great importance in reducing the appearance of stains on the epidermis is proper care of bed linen and the elimination of linen mites.

First aid

If there is a skin reaction, the following treatment methods should be performed first:

• take an antihistamine;
• apply a cream to the skin that will eliminate unpleasant symptoms, for example Fenistil;
• If the skin is swollen, apply a cold compress.

Drug treatment

To eliminate unpleasant symptoms, you must use the following medications:

1. Diazolin - quickly reduces unpleasant allergy symptoms and eliminates skin rashes.
2. Suprastin - used even for small children, has a rapid antihistamine effect on the body, eliminates itching and tearing.
3. Tavegil is recommended for use when the body’s reaction to ticks is minor. It has a slow property of reducing unpleasant symptoms and does not cause side symptoms.
4. Fenistil - reduces unpleasant symptoms, has a cooling effect, and prevents the further development of an allergic reaction.
5. Zinc ointment – ​​eliminates redness and unpleasant symptoms.
6. Bepanten - the product is used to restore the skin, reduces the unpleasant symptoms of itching and swelling.

Traditional methods

To reduce skin discomfort, you can use the following effective alternative treatment methods:

• Vinegar. Apply a small amount of vinegar to cotton wool and wipe the affected area. Carry out the procedure every 2 hours until symptoms disappear.
• Ice. Apply ice to the bite site; this procedure reduces swelling and itching.
• Tea. The used tea bag should be applied to the bite and left for half an hour, securing it with a bandage.
• Apply propolis. The use of propolis can relieve unpleasant symptoms and eliminate swelling. A small amount of propolis must be rubbed into the skin.
• Soda. Prepare a paste of water and soda and apply to the epidermis, leave until completely dry.

Mr. Summer Resident recommends: mite-resistant currant varieties

Breeders have developed currant varieties resistant to bud mite:

Treatment of an allergic reaction

If you diagnose yourself with these signs of allergy to bed mites, you should contact a dermatologist as soon as possible. It will be useful to wash the damaged area with soap or soda solution, and then treat it with an antiseptic.

The following will help relieve itching:

• essential oils of wormwood, cypress, mint, lavender, lemon, geranium, coniferous plants;
• a cotton pad soaked in pure vinegar;
• ice for drinks, wrapped in a clean towel;
• a squeezed bag of black or green tea;
• lotions made from decoctions of plants that have healing properties - aloe, chamomile, plantain, calendula.

A dermatologist can prescribe the necessary medications to treat allergies from tick bites

It is important to note that the listed remedies only alleviate the symptoms, but do not cure the allergy itself.

Advice! Drink activated carbon (according to your body weight - one tablet/5 kg) - this will help remove toxins that cause allergic irritations.

The following medications are used for treatment:

• Tsindol – “drying” of rashes;
• Akriderm – fight inflammation;
• Afloderm, propolis tincture – copes with itching;
• Tavegil, Ofloderm – relief of reaction symptoms;
• Rescuer, Fenistil - a remedy for relieving puffiness;
• “Star” - fights pathogenic microbes on the surface of wounds.

Note! All medications must be prescribed by your doctor!

Description

The body of the kidney mite is worm-shaped and white. Females are about 0.3 mm long, and males are shorter - about 0.15 mm. The tick's head ends with a mouthpart similar to a wedge-shaped proboscis. The insect has two pairs of legs with feathery bristles. Tick ​​larvae are elongated-oval, light in color.

The bud mite parasitizes black currants and gooseberries, but sometimes damages red and white currants. Ticks overwinter inside the kidneys, and one kidney can house from three to eight thousand individuals, and in large kidneys - from 8 to 30 thousand ticks. Buds occupied by a large number of pests appear larger and more convex. At the beginning of spring, they swell to the size of a pea and look like tiny heads of cabbage with deformed leaves sticking out. But those buds in which there are few ticks do not differ in appearance from healthy ones, and this makes it difficult to fight the pest.

Ticks spread both with planting material and with the help of wind, birds and other insects. Female ticks live from 20 to 45 days, each of them lays from 5 to 100 eggs. Eggs develop from one to two weeks, and larvae from one week to a month. The first generation of mites appears at the end of currant flowering. In one season, a tick produces five to six generations of offspring: two in spring and three in summer and autumn.

• Mealybug / Pseudococcus