The Colorado potato beetle is considered the scariest enemy of potatoes. This pest flies into the fields and destroys the green part of the plant. But if it is a visible danger, then there is a hidden one. Fighting wireworms can become much longer and more difficult. And often you find defeat only when you start to dig a crop. Penetrated by the complex moves of the pest, the tubers lose their ability to keep up, and even a significant part of the root crop will be removed during cleaning. How to recognize the danger in time and protect your landings from it?
What is a wireworm
This is the larva of a nutcracker. Outwardly, it is a yellowish caterpillar or worm that really looks like a wire. They are very difficult to crush. A body coated with chitinous shell can withstand significant loads.
The control of wireworms should begin long before planting potatoes. Otherwise, a voracious larva will rob you of the crop. In the spring, there is little edible on the site, so the potatoes you planted will become both a roof over your head and a delicious lunch. So, you can not wait for friendly shoots. No wonder there is such a trick. In the spring, in a greenhouse, they bury potatoes. A wireworm from the entire site is going to it. Then the root crop is removed and destroyed.
Wireworm danger
If the site is affected by the larva of a nutcracker beetle, then even if your plantings sprout and can yield a harvest, there will be little joy from this. More than 60% of the tubers will be pitted with moves. While the damaged potato is in the soil, putrefactive bacteria, nematodes and worms populate the flesh around the hole. As a result, the crop becomes conditionally fit for consumption. And the wireworms themselves, remaining in the tubers after digging, are also not encouraging. Neither cook nor peel such potatoes.
The fight against the wireworm must be conducted constantly, on all fronts. The fact is that the larva does not shun juicy roots. As a result, the plant does not receive proper nutrition and the yield drops sharply. If your site does not grow potatoes, this does not mean that the danger has passed you. Dense yellow larvae are distributed almost everywhere. They will gladly destroy any garden culture. Therefore, the struggle with the wireworm is one of the first tasks of the summer resident.
Prevention
The best solution to the problem is to prevent it. And the task is quite solvable. Wireworm is very fond of moist soil, so liming is one of the methods of control. To do this, you can use lime, chalk and ash. But the best and most proven method is limestone, dolomite flour. It is applied to the soil only once every 3-4 years.
For the same purposes, egg shells are also used. Just throw the chopped shell on the ground. But this method has a drawback. The concentration of substances from the shell dissolves quickly, so it is important to repeat the procedure regularly.
Autumn works
At this time, the larvae gather for wintering. Therefore, when digging the soil, try to collect them manually, remove the root crops remaining in the soil. The more pests you can collect and destroy, the less chance the offspring of the beetle have for the next year. Usually in the fall, a colony gathers in the area where your favorite root crops grow. It can be not only potatoes, but also carrots. Extraction of insects into the air leads to their death, especially if digging is carried out shortly before the onset of cold weather.
But this is only a measure to contain the population. The fight against potato wireworms must include a whole range of different methods. Due to the abundance of succulent feed, the potato field is very attractive for this pest.
Spring work
With the onset of warm days, each summer resident is selected on his site. The first task is to put the garden in order and dig the land, preparing for the new season. If the plot is small, try arranging trap vegetables. It can be any root vegetables. You can put a glass jar or cover the ground with a piece of polyethylene so that it warms up better and dig in vegetables. Heat and food will surely attract larvae from all over the site.
Digging is another way of fighting. During it, part of the larvae is destroyed by a shovel or a mechanical plow. Some individuals can be selected manually. Part of the population will die in the sun or eaten by birds.
During spring work, fertilizers that contain nitrogen and ammonia are recommended to be applied to the soil. They are extremely unpleasant for the wireworm, so he will try to relocate to the neighboring section. In addition, the pest is uncomfortable in soils with low acidity. Experienced gardeners recommend adding several granules of superphosphate to each well.
Natural Pest Control
Since this vegetable is the basis of the diet for many, people take care that it does not contain harmful substances. For the mechanical capture of pests, baits and traps are often used, which are located around the perimeter of plantings or between ridges.
- Sliced potatoes are recommended to be dug to a depth of several centimeters. Change them after 2-3 days.
- Throughout the site, as well as along the perimeter of the beds, cereals or corn are planted. Their lush roots attract pests, and the main culture is relatively safe.
- On the border of the potato field, you can make bumpers of straw, tops and foliage. Beetles and larvae will collect under it, and they can be collected manually or processed with chemicals.
Poison traps
There are modern insecticides that will definitely lead to the death of the pest, but they are dangerous to humans. It can be Metarizin and a number of other drugs. Therefore, they are used in a slightly different way. Take a few dozen tubers and soak in a toxic solution. After that, tie them in gauze bags and dig them all over the site. The pest will not just gather in it, but will eat and die.
Scaring off larvae
The fight against wireworms on the potato field should be diverse. Preventing the pest from entering your area is also an important part of the work. The following measures can be taken as a deterrent:
- watering the beds with infusions of coltsfoot, dandelion and celandine, nettle;
- soaking tubers in the infusion of celandine;
- unfolding when landing in the holes of onion husks;
- drip fresh spruce or pine needles along the beds;
- marigolds are planted around the entire site, they are not only very beautiful, but they also drive away pests.
Crop rotation
If the place allows, then this can be an excellent measure to combat wireworms. Soil pests, and bacteria too, do not infect plants that have been planted in this place for the first year. They do not seem to know about no. But with each new year, the defeat will be more serious. Therefore, it is recommended to alternate potatoes with plants unattractive for wireworm. These are bean and spring rape, buckwheat. Such measures will not only protect plantings from pests, but also give the soil the opportunity to relax and get enough of useful trace elements.
In August, after harvesting, you can sow a place for potatoes with mustard, alfalfa and clover. This will result in the death of insects or their hasty relocation to a new place of residence. The fight with the wireworm on the site should go on all fronts, so that the enemy did not have a chance to stay on it.
Chicken droppings
This is a very caustic substance that can harm the plant itself. Therefore, we proceed as follows. Sawdust with chicken droppings collected in the chicken coop must be added to each hole when planting. A big enough handful. This method of controlling wireworms is natural and very simple. By the fall, you will notice that the number of affected tubers is much less. Repeat the procedure every year and soon there will not be a single insect left on the site. In this case, the seedlings will be juicy, strong, dark green.
Tuber dressing
If you choose a radical means of struggle, then pay attention to drugs like "Prestige." Before planting, the tubers are soaked in a special solution, after which they cease to be attractive to insects. Two points to consider:
- Insecticides from the mother tuber will fall into the future crop.
- The effect of the drug lasts only 60 days. After that, the pests again rush to your landings.
Therefore, for processing potatoes of early varieties, which are dug up after 40 days, this method is not suitable. And if the ripening time is at least 80 days, then additional control methods are required so that the pest does not spoil the finished tubers. All of the methods listed above are suitable in this case. It is possible closer to the expiration date of the drug to plant a salad between the rows. The pest prefers it to all other garden plants, so it will attack the lush roots. Noticing that the leaf withers, dig a bush and destroy wireworms.
Instead of a conclusion
The fight against wireworms in the garden is a set of measures, each of which has the right to exist. However, none of them can be called full and sufficient. Therefore, each gardener chooses for himself several of them. Usually these are traps, crop rotation, planting plants that are a treat of the pest or scare it away from the site.