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The season of winter is considered to be
the exact period for controlling
pests and also to take preventive measures
to avoid pests for upcoming months. Winter
season is known to restrict the populations
of pests and plant diseases. However, then,
there exists few pests during this season
and cause menace. The destructions caused
by these winter pests in plants are observed
to be worse than in other seasons, and it's
due to lack or improper monitoring of them.
Since it is difficult to identify the pests
in the garden
because of snow or frost, the appropriate
controlling measure for pests becomes hectic
for the farmer to carry. Some of the pests
include Black citrus aphids, woolly apple
aphid, scale, lemon tree borer, etc. Characteristic
measures need to be taken for controlling
such pests are as follows:
Aphids: Aphids are destructive insects
found commonly in fruit bearing trees, and
they can be minimized by developing the
colonies of wasp which will serve as a beneficial
insect to control aphids. Other beneficial
insects like ladybirds, hover flies, etc.
can be encouraged as a treatment for aphids.
Some flowering plants such as daisy can
also be adopted to keep the aphids away
from trees. Organic treatment of this insect
is done by spraying neem oil and homemade
garlic oil to repel the insects from breeding.
Neem
oil has the capacity to subside the
population of all kinds of aphids effectively.
Scale: Scales are commonly occurring
insects in trees belonging to citrus family.
These are small insects feeding on sap part
of the plant, and they are resistive to
general pesticides because of the waxy coating
over their body. Thus spraying of organic
neem oil will be a cheap and advanced solution
to get rid of them.
Lemon tree borer: These types of
borers attack the trunk of the tree and
by trimming the affected parts they can
be removed. Trimmed parts are burned during
winter for warmness. Injecting kerosene
into the holes of the borer can kill the
borers in the colonies inside the trunk.
Other than pests certain fungal diseases
occur in this season, which makes the plants
vulnerable. Commonly occurring fungal disease
includes powdery
mildew, Rust, etc. These infections
reduce the efficiency of the plants. Spreading
of infections is rapid and its difficult
remove the fungus completely. Treatment
of such conditions are exactly met by using
organic products. Organic type of treatment
helps the plants not only to control the
disease but also to prevent it.
Author: Adam Teaser - neem
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