How to protect grapes from birds and wasps. Protection of grapes from wasps and birds

August day ... Such as are at the end of summer. The heat that melts the air and the juices of the trees, the sky is clear, but already slightly gray and faded. Harvest time, joy and reward for work. You worked, the sun warmed, the water fed, the earth fed. And here it is, the reward - luxurious bunches of grapes are poured with juice and sweetness. Black, pink brushes white grapes pleasing to the eye and uplifting. And you are waiting for this last moment, the moment when you pick a ripe sweet brush and taste juicy fruit. You approach the vineyard to admire the long-awaited harvest. And you see that the largest berries, the sweetest brushes are spoiled. Some are simply pecked, and some are gnawed and hanging like skeletons.

You can imagine the state of a person who grew, watered, groomed his grapes, and someone simply destroyed him. You can wave your hand in despair and indulge in despondency, you can get angry, stomp your feet and come to nothing.

Or you can try to eliminate the obstacle that has arisen and save the crop. Start acting like in the fairy tale "Humpbacked Horse" - go to the vineyard and guard it in anticipation of the robbers.

The darkness of the night gradually dissipates, the predawn breeze rises, and a cloud appears on the horizon. She flies in search of a free breakfast. Hungry for the night, looks out for delicacies and descends on your vineyard in a friendly noisy flock. Then you jump out and start clapping your hands, scaring away the birds. Birds take off in a flock and rush to look for another place of bread. You will have to watch the vineyard all morning, clapping your hands, until the feathered robbers are satisfied in other lands. If you look further, you will notice that after breakfast in the morning, our thieves are resting, enjoying the loot. But somewhere closer to sunset, when the heat subsides, everything will happen again. Hungry clouds of birds fly around their territories in search of prey. One acquaintance of the grower in these dangerous times of the day explodes firecrackers, scaring off thieves. In his case, it helps. His vineyard is quite far from other farms, and the birds, frightened, fly away in search of prey far and never return, until the next bout of hunger.

For our vineyard, this method did not fit. Near the neighboring gardens, and the birds fly away not far. And their intelligence is well developed. One or two birds appeared, looked out for a treat, and the whole flock is already there.

The approach to protecting your vineyard from birds in each region and even the economy is individual. And it depends on what kind of birds prevail in the region, how the vineyard is located (as in the case of my acquaintance), and what you have available for protection.

The harvest is especially affected by birds when the chicks hatch. The first brood in June and the second in August, the second just coincides with the ripening of the grapes.

Usually, small birds such as tits, sparrows, warblers, wagtails peck at a grape only once to get drunk, then they leave it, and then wasps come into action. If every day to put drinking bowls with fresh water for birds, then in some cases this is enough to stop damage to the crop.

Big birds are not so harmless. Starlings, rooks, jays, magpies - just expect serious leprosy from them. If small birds only peck, then large ones simply devour to the ground.

Some summer residents put rattles, someone hangs shiny tapes or brown tapes from tape cassettes, for some reason plastic bags are always blue. In our case, these methods helped, but not for long.

At first, we also hung different ribbons fluttering from the slightest breath of wind, put up scarecrows - it didn’t help, the birds adapted after a few days.

They tried to put rattles, they helped, but only for one season. After a new generation of chicks grew up under the ratchet, it stopped working.

As you know, birds are scared away at airfields by recording the calls of birds of prey. I wanted to test this method, but did not know who could scare this bird. Once we managed to record the cries of birds on the recorder when the snake got to the nest and ate the chicks. We tried this post. As soon as the recording was turned on, the birds reacted and immediately scattered.

It didn't take long to rejoice. The following year, on the contrary, a lot of curious birds flocked to these cries. They flew up to the source of the screams, sat down in a row not far away and looked at the place where the sound was coming from. Then they together ate everything that could be profited in the immediate vicinity of the source of sounds, and were like that. They have adapted.

They say that when they decided to shoot them in Uzbekistan, they reacted by laying more eggs and increasing the number of broods from two to three.

The birds continued to attack us.

There was nothing left to do but start covering the grapes.

On occasion, they bought a marriage at a hosiery factory, several kilograms of white synthetic elastic stockings, and they began to put them on each tassel during its maturation. They saved the crop, but it took a lot of time to cover in this way ...

In the end, we thought about covering material.

We bought a tulle-type mesh with a small cell in the Fabric store. It turned out great, it was a pleasure to watch how the absurd sparrow sometimes penetrated into the shelter, and then called for help, finding no way out. Such a net is good, but dear, you can’t buy up the whole vineyard.

Recently we found a Chinese mesh with a small cell at an affordable price in the Everything for a Fisherman store!

It turned out well. And the sun is enough for the brushes, and protection is available.

Such a net can even be disposable, called "Chinese fishing nets" (90 meters) - 350 rubles. Lovely price!

But the experience with stockings remained in the “operational”. We continue to put stockings on bunches of grapes when there are few of them on the bush and it makes no sense to entangle it with a net.

If someone is lucky and has an army camouflage net left at home from Soviet times, then it will fit, the crop under it, like behind a stone wall, and for many years, although it lets in less sun than a thin nylon net.

In the west, special bird nets have long been used, and trees and shrubs are also covered with them. Yes, and we have supermarkets in big cities with a diverse range of protective nets. If there is an opportunity to get into such a store, then there you can pick up what is necessary and convenient.

The country house is my weekend getaway and permanent summer residence. I planted a small vineyard in the surrounding area. I bought planting material at exhibitions and forums, and the heavy clusters that appeared eventually promised to turn into tart homemade wine. Just carefully studied several suitable methods for its manufacture. But I had to endure a shock no less than the heroes of Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller The Birds.

The birds visited the plantation for the first time at the end of August. At first, I didn’t even understand who daily tormented the most ripe bunches and littered the ground with fallen berries. Finally, at dawn, I saw a feast. The talkative flock pretended not to notice me. Juicy ripe berries burst under the blows of small strong beaks. I walked between the rows, assessed the damage and realized that the dream of good harvest becomes ephemeral.

I decided to apply a biological method of protection. If we consider a small impudent bird as an element of the food chain, then you can find justice for it. I remembered how famously cats dealt with young birds in the spring. But it turned out that the cats that grew up on the Whiskas react sluggishly to flying live food. Our Persian lout didn't want to work as a plantation watchman. After all, it is much more pleasant to lie on the floor of a cool veranda all day. When I finally forced him to move closer to the grape bushes, I discovered an idyllic picture. The cat settled down in the shade of grape leaves, and through half-closed eyes watched the sparrows shamelessly gobbling up ripe berries. Most of all, I was outraged by the merciful purring of the cat, it seemed that our Matvey was simply enjoying the company of birds.

A neighbor advised to build a high pole and try to lure peregrine falcons. These unspoilt hunters won't turn down a free lunch. Moreover, in winter I had to watch how the predator silently glided in the air, clutching a gaping sparrow in its paws. I found suitable boards, and then I imagined that a bird might show interest in our growing ducklings, and decided to abandon the adventurous idea.

As time went on, the morning bird chirping evoked in me only a feeling of rage. A sweet smell of decay floated over the vineyard, the wasps were actively tasting the berries bitten by birds. I was already inclined to believe in the high intelligence of birds: they chose the ripest bunches and never returned to damaged fruits. One evening I noticed several magpies, they literally devastated the grape bush, leaving the broken cuttings of leaves to hang down lonely.

We resigned ourselves to losses, although it was such a pity for the time spent, and the seedlings of elite varieties were not cheap. The next year, I did not want a repetition of this situation, they began to look for a way out. If your vineyard is on the migration path of the bird tribe, then in the fall you cannot avoid the invasion. They say they stock up on antioxidants intuitively, and have chosen the most affordable source for this purpose - smoky blue grapes. After the expansion of starlings, rooks and other migrants, my once-manicured vineyard was a pitiful sight. Logic dictated that what was needed was a fence, something blocking free flight over my miniature plantation. The simplest solution is .

But there were some nuances, I had to see thin fishing nets stretched on posts around vineyards, strawberry beds. The treacherous line worked as well as a snare, stiffened bird bodies swayed in the loops, and some fought desperately in agony, unable to free themselves from the deadly grip. I would not want to clean the network from such a load every morning. On the other hand, this sight could have traumatized my wife. Women's nature is sensitive and contradictory. Inventing the hundred and first cooking recipe chicken fillet, beautiful ladies will weep inconsolably when they see a wounded and dying sparrow.

I did not retreat and persistently sought useful information, did not abandon the experiment. They advised me to hang up posters everywhere depicting the huge eyes of birds of prey. They assured us that the little birds would sense the danger and avoid our garden. Naive attempts ... I used up a bottle of black ink and hung "frightening banners" in the aisles. The birds unanimously ignored my amateur artistic attempts, but my friends had a reason to gloat and alternately call me either Dali or Picasso. After the first rain, the makeshift exhibition hall turned into soaked sheets of cardboard.

Through trial and error, I found the right solution. It still turned out to be, but it was made of dense polymer fiber with ultraviolet stabilization. The bird will not get through the cells, and will not get entangled in them. A stretched mesh fabric forms a barrier, colliding with it, tits and sparrows will simply have to change the trajectory of movement. Maybe they will fly to neighbors who have not yet had time to close their vineyard with mesh armor.

Now I can calmly listen to perky tweets, and not think about losses. When I see a bird, there is no desire to grab a shotgun. It seems that transparent nets float in the air, they are stretched on thin frames or fixed on stretch marks, or even directly on the vines. It's nice to feel like a winner ... Now I want to delve into the catalog, choose new grape varieties for autumn planting. I am already looking for a small wooden barrel for the wine of the future harvest.

I love birds: useful and funny, they destroy garden pests. I am not sorry to donate a couple of bunches and even more to the birds in the heat. But what if a cloud-like flock of jackdaws dives into the vineyard? Or do a dozen or two sparrows cleanly clean an unripe, barely colored elite variety that has entered its first fruiting? If not the whole bush is eaten, then the berries will be damaged for sure, even green ones. Yield losses can reach 80%. The use of birds in nature makes it impossible to use extermination measures, but protection is still necessary. Otherwise, having tasted the grapes, they will fly again and bring others.

What birds harm grapes

I personally have magpies one by one and jackdaws in flocks eat all dark grape varieties and exclusively muscat white varieties. Sparrows and wagtails intensively ate the variety Taiga and dark Amur hybrids stole colored, but still immature "signals" Valianta, but from my few labrus varieties they ate only Zilgu. Irga canadensis in these lovely birds is a regular dish of the first half of summer, then comes the turn of grapes. Starlings and thrushes are harmful, but only after the departure of the chicks. There are goldfinches, but they haven't bothered me yet. An oriole was once seen, long and delicately pecking at one berry Khasanskiy Sweet. Everything would be...

What should be done to protect crops from birds?

All methods come down either to isolating grapes (clusters or rows), or to scaring away birds by optical, sound or combined methods. I will list what "works" for me. When there are few grapes, then at the stage of softening the berries, I protected especially valuable brushes with double nets for packing vegetables. In 2012, there were much more grapes both in quantity and in varieties - new varieties entered into intensive fruiting. And my fight with birds was forced to move to a new, more sophisticated level - after all, I love not only to grow grapes, but also to consume. Now we have to close the trellis fragments on both sides with special bird nets. It helps, but not always, as birds can peck through the net if the clusters are close, or find loopholes. With a signal crop, long brushes can be reliably protected with cut plastic two-liter bottles.

Birds usually come to feed after sunrise or sunset, different types while reacting differently to protection methods. For example, waving panicles of a tape recorder scare away starlings, but jackdaws are not afraid of them. All birds are afraid of blue scarecrows, noise, mirror surfaces, birds of prey. Blue (not blue!) plastic bags and ribbons from them, hung on trellises, scare away flocks of jackdaws and starlings.

For the second year now, I have been successfully using the invention of one of the Oskol winegrowers - a sparkling noise maker made from a plastic bottle with blades, a stick and a CD, much more effective than just CDs that birds get used to in a week. And here, even with a slight breeze, there is movement, and noise, and sparkling. For the first year, our know-how has been working in the vineyard - a kite in the form of a black bird on a five-meter telescopic rod. It's a pity, he needs human control, and so beauty, no one dares to fly up. It is better to alternate these methods - birds quickly get used to sources of imaginary danger.

I advise my fellow vine growers to be vigilant in time and choose the appropriate method of protection, because it is better to preserve what we have than to regret later the loss and damage to the fruits of their labor. In addition, it is useful to change ways so that the birds do not get used to it.

Foreign methods of grape protection

In Japan, on high formations, special caps are used to protect hanging bunches of grapes from birds, which are fixed above the brush.

By analogy, I use plastic disposable plates for this purpose, converting them into caps with scissors and a stapler.

In Europe and the USA, inflatable balloons with five huge eyes are popular to scare away birds from vineyards. You can also make yourself one - from a large children's ball or an inflatable ball, drawing bright round eyes on it with waterproof paints. Balls are better to take bright blue, orange, white or black and tie over the trellis racks.

The secret is that the eyes are located at the equator of the ball through 72 degrees. Then, in any position, at least two eyes will look at the intruder. After a while, the balls need to be moved to another place. Checked - it works!

Unfortunately, birds cause damage to vineyards. In addition to damaging the berries (pecked berries are a significant loss of yield), they create additional prerequisites for attracting wasps and bees to the vineyard, and serve as a source of rot development.

In civilized countries, nylon nets or stainless steel nets are used against birds. It's all too expensive for us.

But there are other ways too. So tested the use of 12 mm tape with tension. She squeals and shines in the wind, but as soon as the wind subsides, the birds sit on her, and the chickens step over and continue their work. If chickens inflict serious harm, then change the formation to a high cordon. Then the bunches will start only from 80 cm from the ground, and there will be fewer sores, and the chickens will enjoy aesthetic pleasure.

Birds of stuffed predators are not afraid (verified). Now, if they are laid out in the vineyard, they will be frightened for 5-7 days, and then they will “make friends”.

In Uzbekistan, wind rattles are built in vineyards to scare away birds. They also use balls pasted over with pieces of a mirror. The ball rotates, the reflected rays of the sun give strong brilliance. Birds are terribly frightened, although spiteful critics claim that hunger is not an aunt and some individuals eat grapes with their eyes closed.

But there can be no unambiguous solutions here, much depends on the ingenuity and variety of methods used.

In addition to bees, wasps love ants. Ant gel went on sale today. Apply gel to stems. I applied it to the insulating tape wound around the vine. Let's hope that at least these freeloaders are finished.

But with wasps, it's not so simple. I regularly have to go with a jar of Dichlorvos-super and spray inside pipes and other places where sweet lovers have organized nests. It's time to hang up plastic bottles filled with sweet water. That's just sugar or jam will not work. Grapes taste better! But a teaspoon of honey per 1 liter of water can attract wasps. Honey, of course, is a pity, but the harvest is even more offensive.

Hang more bottles. If you hang a little, then you will only attract "feathered" from all over the area. If you are allergic to wasp stings, be extremely careful when changing the bait, or better yet, entrust this work to someone else.

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There will always be pests in the vineyard and garden plot that are ready to eat all the berries without a trace. If they are scared away nearby, they will definitely head to the neighboring territory in search of food. So it is impossible to leave the vineyard unattended. You definitely need to come up with something to get rid of insects, birds, rodents - everyone does this, and whoever doesn’t can be taken by surprise. Even if they are not now in the vineyard, the danger still exists. It is important to know how to save grapes from wasps, birds, bees at the first sign of their appearance, and maybe in advance.

Insects and birds always fly in the vineyard or cottage. What to do - so conceived by nature. You might think that if their population is small, they will not do much harm, there can be no talk of their invasion. Is it really? Is it really worth sharing with them? Part of the harvest will have to be sacrificed even with a small amount of the population that settled nearby. Does it need to be done? They eat the harvest with pleasure, although they could eat something else, not grapes, not fruit-bearing garden plants. We still have to fight them. Protecting bunches of grapes from birds, wasps, bees is part of the care. Grape - cultivated plant, a miracle of selection. He feels better when he is taken care of. You can install baits for insects in the vineyard next to the bunches - with delicious honey, beer, fish. This is how they usually protect the crop from wasps. Wasps do not eat berries, because there is something more tasty nearby. Lures help, but they're not the best. effective method, to be honest.

The feast usually begins with the fact that one of them bites through some of the berries and those, spoiling, attract the attention of other pests. Bees are incapable of this. Rarely they are able to damage the peel. But birds and wasps easily cope with this task. Flying over the vineyard, sparrows and other birds pick the berries and peck at them. Juice begins to flow from them and insects react to its aroma. It is the birds that are the instigators in most cases.

The wasp is a carnivorous insect. They can damage even dense grape skins. Breeders are trying to develop a variety that would be resistant to their effects. But it is so hard. The variety should please the person. Berries should be fragrant, tender. There is no way to smooth out the conflict. And the birds will still bother. They spoil bunches chaotically. As a result, they lose their attractiveness.

Ants can also harm grapes. The easiest way to deal with them is with only one method - to destroy the anthill. But bird nests are always located at a height. It is dangerous to destroy a wasp nest or a bee hive if there are no overalls and protective equipment. An angry swarm can bite. There are cases when a person then ended up in the hospital. If several dozen insects begin to sting at the same time, and there are actually more of them in a swarm, a fatal outcome is likely. There is only one way out - do not attack, protect your territory, make it clear that the one who grows these plants and cares for them will enjoy the harvest. The fight against pests should not turn into their extermination, a brutal massacre or into torment, a source of remorse. You can pollinate the grapes yourself, do not wait for the help of insects. So, it's probably easier.

Air attacks

How to protect grapes from wasps is a good question. Dealing with them requires cunning. They attack from the air, they can live very far from the land. The easiest way to repel air attacks is with the help of a greenhouse. But it is more profitable, even taking into account the upcoming spending on protective equipment, not to build greenhouses, to leave the site open. The greenhouse is the right lighting, ventilation, heating. It makes sense to put it for year-round plant care. It allows you to harvest in the winter. Does not apply to pest control methods.

A specially made bag is a healthy compromise, reliable protection for grapes from wasps, birds, bees. We can say that a good method was still invented. As soon as technology began to allow, people began to invent the necessary tools. The answer to the question was found - how to deal with wasps, birds, bees in the vineyard correctly, effectively.

Features of bunch protection bags

Producers offer all lovers of viticulture to buy an individual bag made of strong mesh, with ties, and thus protect the grapes from wasps, birds, bees. This is all that is required so that they do not eat berries. The bag is put on each bunch. You can put a couple, or even three, in one grid - it depends on the variety, shape, size, proximity. It is easy to control the situation with them. The attack of the birds will be repelled, as they will not be able to distinguish the color of the berries during their ripening period. A dense mesh will not let you get to them even when the aroma of ripe, juicy grapes already attracts. Insects will also not be able to crawl through this mesh, break it.

Grape bags for wasps are made from safe, heavy-duty polymer material. There are different sizes on sale. It is an easily breathable material. Due to the presence of cells, it dries easily in the wind, under the rays of the sun. Such features help to avoid rotting, reproduction of fungi. The sun's rays still warm the bunches and the bag does not affect the ripening time. Characteristics of grapes, the taste of berries does not change in any way.

When the harvest is ripe, the time will come to harvest it, it will be possible to remove them. They are reusable. These bags are inexpensive, suitable for use in vineyards with a large area.

This method of protection looks very impressive from the outside, although it violates the natural harmony. The colors of the nets are bright, they look unusual. There are no negative emotions from such decoration. Landscape, landscape becomes slightly surreal, at the same time pleasing to the eye.

Disadvantages of the method

It is easier to understand how good a remedy is if its quality is questioned. Not beauty in the first place, unfortunately. It is necessary to make sure that pests do not eat berries, but you can also decorate a Christmas tree. To a person who has just started growing plants, such an idea may seem outlandish and suspicious - not only to cover the grapes for the winter with earth and other materials, but also to cover the bunches with a net in the summer. When can you admire the plant? Are pests really that dangerous? Alas, yes.

The mesh will not save you from ants - this is the first minus. Ants will easily get close to the berries. So this method of protection cannot be called universal, the attack of insects is not excluded. But aphids, on the other hand, mites can also attack at any time. From every pest must be sought the best remedy. Bags will get rid of the invasion of wasps, bees and birds. According to statistics, if it is possible to stop them, up to 30-40% of the crop is saved. That is how much they can eat in some cases, and the bags can save every percentage, make losses minimal.

The disadvantages include the fact that you need to make a little more effort than usual - it is easier to treat the bush with some kind of solution so that wasps, birds, and bees do not eat the crop. However, solutions that are effective and safe for human health do not exist. Even with a superficial analysis of the situation, it becomes clear that they will never be invented, just as a truly pest-resistant variety will not be invented.

Even if we assume that the desired solution is still found, we have to admit that it will not be of any use at all. While all the intruders die one by one due to the chemicals eaten, the damaged berries will begin to rot, and the neighboring ones will also deteriorate. It turns out that the crop will still be lost, the presentation will be spoiled. It is important not to let the skin of a single grape be pierced. Only wasp bags give such an effect. It is rational to try to find time for such processing.

Economy is also questionable. Until next year, the bags must be stored somewhere. They should be washed, dried - prepared at the end of the season for the next one. You can throw them away, sometimes it's more profitable, and buy again next year.

How to deal with wasps on grapes, violating, but not destroying the harmony of the biosphere, the natural food chain? Proper disposal of bags, safety for birds is not a minus of the method, but food for thought, a reason to think. After the crop is harvested, the bags should be inspected - how badly do the birds damage them? These pests are rarely caught red-handed, as they say. It's time to understand how often they try to break the grid, and how much it protects against their invasion. Can they eat it, damage the beak, or instinct tells them that it is better not to do this? Perhaps the bags are really worth saving for next year.

Conclusion

Baits from wasps less safe method in comparison with bags - this is obvious. It is necessary to fill them with delicacies all the time, take care of their attractiveness for insects. Birds were always chased away with a scarecrow, wind rattles. But in any flock there are always individuals who are not shy. You can hardly find anything better than bags.