Cacti are succulents. These are plants that can survive for a long time in drought conditions. They absorb water during rains, accumulate it in their tissues and thus survive in dry time.
Did you know? Previously, cactus needles were used in medicine. They sewed up wounds. Sterilized them on hot coals.Cacti are common in home floriculture. They have various forms and are completely unpretentious to the conditions of detention. Many cacti bloom beautifully. In some species, flowers appear rather rarely and for a short period of time, therefore their flowering is considered an unusual phenomenon.
It's nice when healthy plants please the eye, but if a cactus dies and you don't know what to do, you first need to determine the cause of this condition. For example, white spots appeared on the cactus - what is it? Since cacti, like other domestic plants, are susceptible to various pests that need to be controlled, we will take a closer look at what cacti pests are and how to control them.
Spider mites
This pest can get on the cactus from other infected plants, so it is difficult to avoid its appearance if you have a large collection of flowers. The fertile environment for the emergence and development of the spider mite is dryness and high air temperature.
Spider mite pierces the epidermis and sucks the juice from the plant. This insect is very small in size - no more than a quarter of a millimeter. Spider mites slowly move, but multiply rapidly. Signs of their appearance are shiny brown spots that occur on the surface of the plant.
In the people of this pest is called the "red spider", but this is not the exact name, because it is a tick, and not a spider, and only females are red, males are brown or gray.
They lodge over the entire surface of the plant, and sore spots are covered with small yellow spots.
The skin of the cactus, which was damaged by a spider mite, will never recover.
This pest prefers fleshy species, such as ekhinopisty, rebution, chametserus, silvestri. Ticks can be found on them much more often than on all other types of cacti.
Important! Ticks are omnipresent, and if they appear on one cactus, they will definitely appear on other plants. To save a non-infected cactus from a spider mite, the diseased plant needs to be isolated.If you find spider mites on your cacti, here are a few methods for dealing with them:
- the "red spider" is afraid of water, so regular spraying prevents its appearance;
- spray and wipe the plant with alcohol, soap, garlic tincture;
- process the affected cactus with karbofos 0.06% 2-3 times every six days;
- process with a mixture of 1 l of water, 3 g of denatured alcohol, 4 g of green soap and 2 g of anabazine sulfate, using a brush, lubricate the affected areas of the cactus; repeat the procedure after three days for three weeks;
- spray a decoction of cyclamen tubers: 100 g of tubers per 1 liter of water, boil until the tubers have melted, then strain, cool and apply to the affected areas of the plant, repeat the procedure after six days;
- spray with a mixture of 1 l of water, 4 g of green soap, 5 g of Persian chamomile infusion, a day after spraying, wash the plant with warm water.
In the most efficient way cacti treatment from spider mite is considered treatment with ether sulphonate solution (1 g per 1 l of water). The tool kills not only pests and their larvae, but also mite eggs.It is necessary to fight with the pest before its complete destruction. To prevent the appearance of a tick do prophylaxis: spray the cactus with ether sulphant once every three months.
Today, the most popular drugs to combat the "red spider" are sunmite and nonaron. If you have a tick affected by many plants, check the effect of a new drug on one cactus. Follow the instructions carefully to achieve the desired effect.
Mealybugs
If you have white discharge on your cactus, then, most likely, this is a manifestation of vital activity. mealybug
It has several names: shaggy aphid. This pest lives in the folds of the stem of a cactus or spines. Traces of his stay - these are white secretions, in which the female of the worm lays eggs. Usually these shaggy lumps can be found in places where water does not fall.
The hardest thing is to find a worm on cacti that are covered with white fluff or white hairs. Mealybugs have a size of 5-7 mm and a white wax coating on the body. They settle on all the cacti that are in your collection.
Fight with this pest can be in different ways. For example, assemble them by hand with a cotton swab previously soaked in a weak alcohol solution - ¼. But this method is only suitable for weakly damaged plants.
If there are a lot of cheeses, you can wash them off with a strong stream of water. Put the rubber hose on the tap, and press the free end with your finger to form a powerful jet and direct it to the cactus. To increase the effectiveness of treatment, add dish detergent to the water.
It is also good to treat the plant with a pesticide and be sure to inspect the roots of the cactus, there may be root worm.
Important! If cacti are sick, do not rush to destroy them. With the right diagnosis, it is possible to prescribe the right treatment for almost every disease!
Rootworms
These are the underground relatives of the stem worm, which settle on the roots. A favorable environment for their reproduction is dry soil. Rootbird weakens the roots of the plant and creates a favorable environment for the appearance of rot.
If there are too many pests, they can crawl out of the soil and transfer to healthy plants. Most often this parasite occurs in winter. The first, and sometimes the only, amazed ekhinopisy.
Control measures with root pests: shake the cactus out of the pot so as not to destroy the earthen room. If you find white-blue lumps between large tubers, clean the roots of them and wash with soapy water. After that, immerse the cactus in the chemical solution, and then dry.
It will be possible to plant the plant in the soil after a few weeks. It is also good to make a bath for the roots: water the plants abundantly, fill with water at 40 ° C. Bring the temperature to 55 ° C, slowly pouring hot water, and keep the roots for 15 minutes. Then gradually cool the water to 25 ° C, diluting with cold. We put in the sun after 14 days.
If after two weeks the parasites did not reappear, then we can assume that you defeated them. If the damage is strong, then it is better to remove the roots, treat the cactus with toxic chemicals and root it again.
For prophylaxis in the summer, water the soil in which the cactus grows with soapy water with a toxic chemical. It is very important that the soil is completely saturated. Repeat the procedure before hibernation.
Root nematodes
Nematodes - This is perhaps one of the most dangerous pests of cacti. Small roundworms that cause morphological changes in plants - thickening or cysts on the roots. Favorable environment for these pests - stagnant dampness.
The root nematode affects the roots as a result of secretions from the salivary glands. Affected roots die off, but pest eggs remain in the ground and their distribution continues. Another type of nematode forms cysts that destroy roots.
Another type of root nematode - free-living. They do not attach to the roots, but are constantly in motion, multiply very quickly. They move independently over short distances, and over long distances through soil, plant pots or tools.
If nematodes are in conditions unfavorable for development and reproduction, then they go to the stage of rest and can stay in it even for several years, in order to become active again in favorable conditions.
How to cure a cactus from nematodes? Effective method of struggle with nematodes is disinfection with boiling water of dishes for plants and tools. You can make the roots of a cactus water bath 45 ° C.
The most effective method is transplanting plants to another soil. In this case, be sure to remove diseased roots, and if the damage is strong, cut off all the roots and plant the cactus on a new rooting.
Shchitovka
This pest is found on cacti much less frequently than bites or ticks. If you notice small flat scales on the plant stemmeans shield struck the plant. Her color ranges from red to dark brown.
Fake guards have a gray-yellow or gray-brown color. These pests deplete the plant, sucking the juice out of it and bringing it to death. Shchitovka moves very slowly, it seems to us that it sits in one place and does not move. If there are many pests, the stem becomes covered with sticky secretions.
Sometimes flaps are confused with brown specks that form a fungal or bacterial infection. To check, try to knock off the stain, if it is a scab, then there will be a wet place, and under it will be a whole skin. If you were unable to remove the spot, then it is not a pest, but a disease.
To save the cactus from shityovki, remove it from the stem with a cotton swab moistened with alcohol. If the spines on the cactus are thick, then do not manually remove the pests, and water the plants with a solution of confidor or aktar.
After this treatment, the shitovki die, they can be shaken off the flower. One treatment is usually enough, but in some cases it is necessary to repeat the watering with aktar in 6-7 days.
Mushroom mosquitoes
Fungal mosquitoes circle around the plant or crawl on the soil surface.
Did you know? Adult mushroom mosquito is absolutely harmless. Dangerous for cacti are the larvae of this pest, which hatch from eggs. The larvae look like worms that live in mushrooms. They differ in that they have a black head and a transparent body up to 8 mm in length.
Larva of mushroom mosquito feeds on organic waste from the soil. Affected plant slows growth, ceases to bloom. If the disease is running, the cactus dies, because the larvae eat the young roots of the plant.
To get rid from mushroom mosquitoes, you need to dry the soil, and then water it in moderate quantities. From adults, use adhesive tape by hanging it near the plant. It is possible to prevent the deposition of the eggs of the fungus mosquito into the soil by laying dry sand on top. It is convenient to destroy the larvae by treating contaminated soil with an insecticidal agent.
Slugs
Non-spiky and soft-stemmed cacti are subject to slugs. If you notice pulling strips of mucus on the plantit means that it is affected by slugs, which are activated at night and feed on the soft parts of the cactus, flowers and seedlings. Slugs need to be collected manually and set traps.
Mokritsy
Cacti are attacked by pests such as woodlice. They feed on decaying organic matter, but can also savor the young tender shoots. Lackers are night residents. To fight with them are used traps from halves of potatoes or carrots with stripes carved into them. During the day you just need to collect woodlice with traps.
For more information about what cacti are, about their diseases and treatment, you can learn from the literature.
