Appearance and habits of the onion fly
The onion fly has ash-gray, greenish back and a length of approximately 8 millimeters. It is at first glance very similar to a regular household fly. These insects appear in may and June, when it begins to blossom, cherry and dandelion.
Females lay eggs on the dried scales of bulbs or in the soil near the plants. After a few days hatch into larvae, which immediately eats into the bulb and begin to make moves close to the surface. After two weeks, the larvae pupate and in July formed the second generation of flies.
Damaged bulbs are soft surface in wet weather begin to rot. Further, they can be affected by fungal diseases. Seedlings that were affected by the onion fly, begin to wither and turn yellow. Affected may be well as flower bulbs, onions chives, leeks, garlic.
Preventing the destruction of onion crops
To prevent the destruction of the bow, you have to think about protection in advance. When the harvest is already assembled, it is necessary to remove all residues, in the autumn it is necessary to thoroughly dig the soil deeply, as onion fly is able to spend the winter at a depth of 20 inches. Thanks to the digging, the larvae will be on the surface, and then over the winter they will surely die.
Onion sets before planting it is necessary to handle hot water. To do this, place the onion in water with a temperature of 50oC, wait 5 minutes and then dry thoroughly. Now you can plant onions in a flower bed.
Early sown onions will avoid a strong defeat of the first generation flies. It is necessary to plant it away from where it grew last year. Place it is necessary to choose well-ventilated. Better to plant in the same bed where the carrots. Pests can't stand onions carrots and pests carrot — onion, it turns out mutual benefit. Onion fly hates the smell of tomatoes, so it is possible to plant them too anywhere near.
When the feather bow is a length of about 8 inches, you can sprinkle the onions with salt solution. To do this, mix 30 grams of salt and 1 liter of water at room temperature. When watering try not to fall on the pen. Three hours after the irrigation solution to irrigate the garden bed with clear water. The procedure can be repeated after 10 days.
You can pour the onion extract of the roots of dandelion. Take 200 grams of the root and fill it with ten gallons of boiling water. Steep for weeks. The solution should be used for watering the beds every 2 weeks.
Folk remedies of struggle against the onion fly
Near plants can produce soil mulching with peat. This will prevent flies to lay eggs near the bulbs. You can work the soil in the tobacco and cigarette dust, with a small addition of lime or ash. The composition of the mixture: tobacco dust — 1 tsp; wood ash — 200 g; ground red or black pepper — 1 tsp of This mixture sprinkled on the soil along the rows with a calculation of 1.5 kilograms of the mixture per 10 square metres of land. Further, the soil proryhlit somewhere in the 3 cm deep. The treatment is carried out before the appearance of the first and second generation onion flies.
You can not produce dusting and spraying. In a bucket mix 200 grams of tobacco dust or tobacco and three liters of boiling water. Two days later add water to top, stir in a teaspoon of red or black pepper, 1 tablespoon of liquid soap. The solution should drain and spray them with plants and soil.
For treatment suitable insecticides, such as Basudin". Treatment with it it is necessary in the second decade of may. The granules are mixed with sand or sawdust and then applied to land. It is important to take methods of spraying or dusting in advance, before the beginning of the summer this insect. Such a timely approach will protect the crop from onion fly.
