These pests are out to blue spots - tips to combat

Content

• These pests are out to blue spots - tips to combat
• In case of infestation with printers threatens total failure
• How to detect an infestation with the spruce gallbladder
• Tips

The book printer is the blue sprite's worst enemy

These pests are out to blue spots - tips to combat

There are two main types of pests that target your blue spruce. Find out what these are and how to identify the plague ghosts here. There are also useful tips for effective combat.

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In case of infestation with printers threatens total failure

They are 4-5 mm long, have a brown body and nest in hosts under the bark. The bark beetle type of the book printer (Ips typographus) has specialized in the infestation of spruce trees to multiply there explosively. Under high infestation up to 25,000 beetles nest in their blue spruce, so the tree is lost without rescue.

Since effective control agents are lacking so far, you should keep the little invaders away from your spruce only as part of prudent care. In a healthy tree, the juice flows so abundantly that the pests drown in it. Therefore, water regularly without causing waterlogging. Avoid nitrogen-rich fertilization and injury to roots and bark. Pheromone adhesive traps catch on approaching printers in early infestation.

How to detect an infestation with the spruce gallbladder

If your blue spruce is littered with small, pineapple-like bile in spring, the Fichtengallenlaus (Sacchiphantes viridis) will drive its ominous work. In the galls, the next generation of lice grows, sucking the leaves from the juice. Under high pressure, the needles turn brown or the entire shoot dies. How to tackle the pests:

Mulch regularly with wilted grass clippings, keep the spruce bugs at a distance. One of the most effective methods of prevention is the abundance of beneficial organisms in the garden. Lacewings, parasitic wasps, ladybirds and all kinds of birds enthusiastically hunt for the parasites.

Tips

Plant a blue spruce in your garden, avoid the proximity to rhododendrons when choosing your location. In the summer, the pathogens of the fungus disease Spruce Needle Rust (Chrysomyxa), which make a preference for a change of hosts on their spruce and there can cause considerable needle drop on the flowering shrubs.