The biggest trouble for the gardener - pests eating a crop grown with love and hard work. Some of them multiply too quickly, hardly noticeable and are capable of destroying cultivated plants in the shortest possible time. About one of those parasites who eat cabbage, let's talk in this article.
How to detect aphids on cabbage (signs)
Aphids are very difficult to notice, the adult parasite is only 2 mm in length. Insects use the lower part of the leaf plate to see them, you need to check the cabbage leaves more often. Aphids multiply very quickly, so the sooner you find it, the better. After settling the culture with aphids, the leaf plates of the plant begin to discolour, between the veins the leaf tissue seems to decay. With prolonged dominance of the leaves are deformed, rolled into tubes, the growth of the culture slows down significantly. On the leaves after the life of insects sticky dirty spots remain.
Wound up aphid on cabbage: what is the danger
Insect pests feed on cabbage juice, while the culture weakens. In a nutrient-free plant, all life processes are disrupted. Inhibited growth, development, in the end, the culture simply dies. When breeding, the aphid creates whole colonies on cabbage, the whole horde destroys both cabbage and the plants growing nearby.
Attention! According to statistics, varieties of early cabbage are affected by four percent more than late-ripening varieties. It is especially important to follow the seedlings.
Cabbage must be freed from aphids as early as possible, if you do not take measures against insects, many plantings will die. Aphid, besides the direct harm to the plant by eating, carries about twenty viral infections. Since this parasite is almost omnivorous, it easily passes from culture to culture. Biting into the plant tissue, the aphid carries diseases from sick plants to healthy ones.
How to process cabbage from aphids, the best methods of dealing with aphids in the garden
If you find aphids on cabbage, there are several options that can be done. Consider in more detail each of them.
Mechanical methods: how to process cabbage without chemicals
To get rid of aphids by mechanical means, you can use abundant watering with cold water. This method is effective when there are few insects; you can also wipe the leaves with soapy water.
Did you know? In ancient Greece, cabbage was revered as a symbol of sobriety. With the help of juice from cabbage and now relieve symptoms of hangover.
Chemicals from aphids on cabbage
Against cabbage aphids are effective chemical control measures. One of the safest drugs for humans is Deltamethrin. This insecticide has a wide spectrum of action, it consists of natural pyrethrins, it is effective not only against aphids. After treatment, the insect nervous system is affected and they die, the effect of the drug lasts two weeks. Another safe method of protecting cabbages from pests is insecticidal soap. Soaps are made on the basis of flax or olives, including fatty acids in the composition. When treating plants from aphids with plant infusions, soap significantly enhances the effect.
How to deal with aphids biological methods
Aphids on cabbage may not appear if you know how to deal with it using biological techniques. Umbrella plants are good helpers in pest control. Sow around the cabbage parsley, dill, carrots, repel a lot of garlic and fennel. Amateur likes to enjoy earwigs, which can be lured to the site, putting pots with wood chips. Another method to get rid of aphids on cabbage - both folk and biological means - is birds. Aphids love sparrows, tits, linnet. To attract them to the site, hang up feeders for them and feed them, especially in winter.
Interesting! Such a dish as sauerkraut, came up with the Chinese. This food was fed to slaves driven to the construction of the Great Wall of China.
Folk remedies for aphids on cabbage
Protect cabbage from aphids will help tested popular method - a solution of tobacco and ash. 200 g of each ingredient insist in 10 liters of hot water during the day. Tomato or potato tops no less effective. A kilogram of crushed raw materials is poured with 10 liters of water, they insist for three days, filter and spray the plants. The whole above-ground part of the cabbage is eaten, therefore it is safer to use herbal remedies of plant origin than to spray chemical preparations for aphids. Yarrow helps from pests: 200 g of crushed leaves per two liters of boiling water, insist hour, strain. A solution based on onion peels and onions: 200 g of crushed onions and its peels, pour 2 liters of boiling water over, insist, strain and dilute with ten liters of water. The infusion of celandine is what the cabbage is treated not only from aphids, but also from caterpillars and cruciferous flea. Take 200 g of finely chopped foliage, pour two liters of boiling water and bring the volume to ten liters of solution after straining.
Important! Spraying should be done in the evening, trying to spray all parts of the plant. If you add about 50 g of soap to the herb solution, the effect of the treatment will increase.
Prevention: how to protect the crop from aphids
Cabbage prevention from diseases and pests is simple: maintaining crop rotation and proper care. All crucifers have the same pests, choose the predecessors correctly when planted, for cabbage these are onions, carrots, legumes. Aphids on cabbage may appear due to poor nutrition of the plant, before processing with top dressings, make sure that the dosage of fertilizer complies with the instructions. After harvesting, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the soil from plant residues; eggs of aphids overwinter in cabbage stalks and weed residues. 
Cabbage - very useful and tasty product, a storehouse of vitamin C. It is healthy and tasty, both fresh and after processing (in hot dishes), in winter blanks. To protect the culture from aphids, start preventive measures in advance, as the aphid multiplies almost continuously.
