Mustard against the Colorado potato beetle is often used by gardeners to grow potatoes and is sometimes much more effective than some special chemicals.
Colorado beetle
Most likely, garden plantings are affected precisely by this pest. The Colorado potato beetle eats potato tops, which disrupts the development of tubers and can cause serious damage to the crop.
The Colorado potato beetle begins its destructive activity during the flowering period of potatoes. Its delicate greens at this time are especially sensitive to damage. Ignoring this pest can reduce the yield in the suburban area by more than half. To combat such pests, many special chemicals are sold today that are effective against the beetles themselves and their larvae. But in order to reduce the amount of toxic substances used in growing potatoes and get a healthy crop, many gardeners prefer to process plants with proven years and folk remedies that are safe for humans. Very often, ordinary mustard is used for this purpose. Many other remedies are also effective against the Colorado potato beetle.
Natural insecticides
Dioica nettle infusion will help not only protect plants from pests, but also serve as a good top dressing. For its preparation, stalks and leaves of young nettles are taken, chopped carefully, filled with half of the bucket with this mass and added to the top with water. When the infusion is fermented, it is added to water for irrigation of potato beds in a ratio of 1:10.
Often used by gardeners to process potatoes, a product consisting of mustard and vinegar. Onions, birch tar, and elecampane roots are also effective against the Colorado potato beetle.
You can prepare an insecticidal concentrate from horsetail and dandelion. Two hundred grams of grass need to be poured with a small amount of water, close tightly with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. Then strain and apply for spraying the tops of potatoes, using 500 ml per bucket of water.
Up to 80% of pests can kill walnut leaves soaked in water (2 kg per 10 liters) . They are harvested from the fall and stored until the new season. Potato processing is recommended 20 days before the mass appearance of beetles.
Mustard vs Colorado potato beetle
There are many recipes for preparing an effective remedy for protecting vegetables from pests prepared with mustard. In addition, it can simply be planted in the aisles, and during flowering, plants torn from the root can be laid out in grooves near the potatoes. Mustard repels bugs well, forcing them to fly around this place.
An effective remedy is factory mustard and vinegar against the Colorado potato beetle. Reviews of gardeners using this tool, note the complete absence of pests in the area after treatment. To prepare the solution, you will need dry mustard (1 pack) and 100 grams of table vinegar. Dilute all this in a bucket of water and sprinkle the tops of potatoes. Processing is carried out twice - at the beginning of the growing season and after the appearance of a large number of insects.
You can prepare an aqueous solution of mustard when 200 g of powder is poured with 10 liters of water and the resulting mixture is infused for 12 hours.
Useful properties of mustard
Dry mustard against the Colorado potato beetle has been used with success, but this is not its only use in the garden. She landed not only as an insect repeller. In addition, mustard is also known for its many useful qualities. It grows very quickly, which does not allow weeds to develop. The soil structure at the site of mustard planting is noticeably improving; its leaching does not occur. Garden lands are cleared of scab, late blight. Besides the fact that mustard is effective against the Colorado potato beetle, it can scare away garden pests such as slugs, moths and wireworms.
In autumn, this plant becomes a good mulching shelter that protects the soil from freezing. In summer, its juicy leaves can be used to make salads and sandwiches.
How to grow mustard
Mustard seeds, although small in size, are easily grasped due to their bulk shape, so it is convenient to plant them. Planting is done in rows, leaving a distance of 10 to 15 centimeters between the seeds. Strong deepening is not necessary. On average, the depth should be 1-1.5 centimeters. After 3 days, the first shoots may already appear.
Also, with the aim of fertilizing the soil, mustard is often planted. Against the Colorado potato beetle (reviews of gardeners confirm this), it is also very effective because it repels odor during the season of this pest.
It is not necessary to take special care of mustard. This plant is very unpretentious and needs only regular watering and loosening of the soil.
Agrotechnical techniques
Mustard and vinegar against the Colorado potato beetle are considered the most effective means for processing potato bushes. But there are other ways that can be used in the fight against this pest. A good repeller for the Colorado potato beetle is onion peel. During planting, potatoes are added to each well in 2 tablespoons.
Phytoncide substances that secrete beans also scare away the beetle, so it is useful to plant legumes in a row with potatoes. A competent crop rotation will help protect the crop from pests. In one area, it is not recommended to plant crops of similar origin annually.
It doesn’t matter which method is used (onion peel, nettle infusion, planting repellent plants or mustard and vinegar) against the Colorado potato beetle, reviews of gardeners suggest that this allows not only to preserve the crop, but also its own health, and also protect the environment from harmful and toxic pesticides.