Saving currants from aphids with folk remedies and drugs
Save currants from aphids
Aphids on currants - a fairly common phenomenon. It damages all types of shrubs. Red and white aphids are more common on red and white, leafy and shoot varieties are found on black ones. Treatments are very effective in dealing with it, and, at the same time, it is rather difficult to fight aphids because of its high reproduction rate.

Aphid classification
Currant is attacked by several types of aphids:
- red-gall aphid, found mainly on red and white currants;
- shoot aphid attacks black, red and white currants;
- leaf aphid affects all species;
- flower aphids on currants are relatively rare.
All types of pest have wingless and winged forms.
Biological features of the pest
Aphids parasitize on plants, sucking the juice from young shoots. Insects form colonies; the color of individuals most often corresponds to the plant on which they feed. On the currants are parasitic aphids of yellowish-green color, however, black pests can also appear. The body of the aphid is translucent, very gentle, dimensions 1.1-1.8 mm.
Eggs laid on the bark of young shoots near the buds winter. The spindle-shaped eggs are black and easy to see.

Eggs aphids.
In the spring, larvae emerge from them, feeding on sap of young leaves and shoots. After the molt of the larva, adult wingless individuals appear, continuing to feed on currants. This generation of the pest multiplies asexually (parthenogenesis). Aphids colony on currants can reach several tens of thousands of individuals. Aphids multiply rapidly: the founding female lays hundreds of eggs. For 7-10 days, new individuals appear and also lay hundreds of eggs.
By the middle of summer, when lumbering of young shoots begins, the pest generates a generation of winged females, which fly over to grassy plants. The winged generation can appear even when the colony has grown too large and the food supply has become lacking. Winged aphid overcomes very long distances.

Having settled on grassy plants, the pest feeds on them until the end of summer. Here again, several flightless generations are born. At the beginning of autumn winged males and females appear, the process of sexual reproduction takes place. The speed of this reproduction, as compared with parthenogenesis, is very small, but it is this progeny that transfers the winter and begins a new development cycle.
In the fall, the founding females return to the currant and lay eggs on the young growth. For the season may appear 10-20 generations of pests. High migration ability and speed of reproduction greatly complicate the fight against aphids.
Currant Damage Caused by Red Gallion Aphids
It mainly attacks red and white currants. It affects young leaves, located on the tops of the annual growth.

Colonies of insects appear on the underside of the leaves and suck the juices out of them. As a result, numerous red swellings (galls) appear on the upper side. From the bottom of the sheet, there are recesses in which colonies of aphids sit. When insects suck out all the juice from a leaf, it collapses and dries up, and the colony moves to a new leaf.
Red gall aphids should not be confused with gall midge, which causes similar damage to currant leaves. These are different types of insects. Krasnogallovaya aphid affects the tops of the shoots and young leaves, gallitsta settles in the lower part of the bush. Aphrophagous aphid attacks mainly on red and white currants, while the gall midge prefers black.
The nature of damage to the shoot and leaf aphids
These pests affect all types of currants, they have no particular selectivity. In addition, insects can attack all garden trees, shrubs, vegetables and flowers.
On the currant damage grows annual shoots and young leaves on their tops. Aphid colonies always arise from the underside of the leaves. The leaves are curled into a lump, inside which sit insects feeding on their juice. As the shoots grow, the lumps remain in the middle of the branch, but the colony can move higher to the newly growing leaves, then they all turn into lumps along the branch. In the middle of summer, insects leave the currant, and the formation of lumps stops. Damaged leaves may fade slightly and become yellowish-green, but they never fall off.
When the shoots are damaged, they are bent and thinned, numerous small punctures are noticeable in the places of damage. As a result, the young growth does not develop well, the wood does not have time to ripen to cold and freezes in winter.

If you do not fight with aphids, then the plants can dry out and perish.
With severe damage to aphids saplings and young bushes, if you do not take control measures, the plants dry out and die.
How to deal with aphids
The fight must be conducted systematically throughout the season. One treatment can not completely destroy the aphids. All treatments must be carried out from the underside of the leaves, since this is where insect colonies are located. Processing currants on top is completely useless. Control measures are at the same time preventive measures, protecting currants from aphid attack.
During the season, spend at least 4 treatments. The fight against krasnogallovoy and ordinary aphids of all kinds is conducted by the same means.
Processing currant chemicals.

Currant treatment for aphids.
Aphid control chemicals are very effective, but due to their high reproduction rate, insects appear on the currants again and again. Therefore, spraying is carried out throughout the season. Preventive treatments should not be done, because insects may not fly, and the treatment of bushes from other pests is in itself a good prevention.
Folk remedies to combat aphids
Folk remedies to combat aphids are very effective. Often, if there are not so many insects, you can get by with them. The essence of folk remedies consists in treating currants with compounds containing burning and irritating substances. The covers of aphids are very soft and tender, it is extremely sensitive to such active substances. They cause damage to the integuments of insects and lead to their death.
Currant treatment.
Ladybugs and their larvae feed on aphids. Ladybug larvae look like small worms with spots on the sides. Often gardeners take them for pests and destroy. You need to learn to recognize these helpers.
Ladybugs - helpers in the fight against aphids
Eggs of a ladybug are oblong-oval, yellow. Females lay them on those plants that are most often affected by aphids, so that future offspring have a food base.
The larvae are initially small, about 1 mm long, look very scary, looking like monsters from the world of insects. As they grow, they molt 3 times and reach a length of 1 cm by the end of the larval stage.

The body of the larva is segmented, off-gray or black with blue tint. On the segments of the body grow hairs that look like thorns. On the back are symmetrically arranged orange specks with spinous processes.
At the sight of them, there is a feeling of disgust (it started in my garden!) And the desire to immediately destroy them. No need to hurry, with a large number of larvae of ladybirds struggle with aphids is to ensure that they do not interfere with feeding.
Ladybug larvae are very agile and extremely voracious. In search of food, they can climb the bushes to the very tops and eat up to 300 aphids a day. In case of danger, the aphids emit a special aromatic substance that warns the colony of predator attacks. Winged individuals fly away, wingless become prey of larvae.

That's how the larvae of a ladybug save a currant from aphids.
The growth rate of ladybird larvae depends on a sufficient amount of feed. The more of it, the faster the transformation occurs.
It is necessary to study the signs of ladybird larvae. If the bushes are processed, the helpers and pests will also die, but the aphid will reappear, but ladybirds are unlikely, since their development cycle is much longer.
Ladybugs themselves, also feed on aphids. They are no less voracious than their larvae. Thus, ladybugs simply save currants from aphids.
Aphid attack prevention
The pest's greatest friends are the ants. They herd the aphids, collect its sweet discharge and transfer the insects to a new place. Therefore, the fight against aphids includes the removal of all ants from the garden.
It is necessary to mow the weeds around the perimeter of the plot, since pests can parasitize them.
But mostly prevention does not give the desired effect, since the winged female can fly anywhere and at any time. The most effective prevention is the time to start fighting with aphids.
Video "Aphids on currants"