Methods of dealing with the Colorado potato beetle without chemistry
Description of the pest
The Colorado potato beetle in season can cause great damage to the future harvest. Subject to the invasion of a serious pest, you can be left without a crop. What does the well-known Colorado potato beetle look like? Its body is of average size - about 1 cm. The presence of a round body with a striped color is characteristic of the insect. In our climate, it is not difficult to overwinter Colorada, since it enters the soil as an adult.
Beetles appear from the layer of the earth in the spring season, when the rainy season begins. Some pests can return underground about 5 - 7 times during the summer. It turns out that some parasites destroy crops, while others are hiding from the means with which summer residents are trying to fight them. For each clutch, the female beetle brings up to 500 - 600 eggs, the larvae emerging from which become full-fledged insects after a month. Colorado beetles can also destroy the bed of their favorite root crop.
Chemicals
There are modern high-quality drugs that help summer residents to fight the Colorado potato beetle. Popular are Aktelik, Avviro, Decis, Inta-VIR, Karate, Kinmiks, Sherpa, Sonnet, Sumi-Alpha, Tsimbush, Colorado, Akarin, Bitoxibacillin, Novodor, Colorado, Dusban, Zolon and others.
Before you start pest control, remember that the chemical is poison. When working with any product, do not eat, drink water, or smoke.
Do not treat the site with the use of chemicals to adolescents under 18 years of age, pregnant and lactating women. It is not advised to handle the planting with a watering can, a broom and other improvised means. It is better to plan the treatment in the early morning or in the evening, and carry it out using special sprayers. At the end of the treatment of the area, take off your protective clothing, bleed the air from the cylinder, rinse the outer elements of the sprayer with water. Thoroughly wash your face and hands with soap, go to the shower. Processing must be carried out one month before the start of the harvest.
Folk methods
Urea is considered a non-toxic method of fighting the Colorado potato beetle. The baits should be used once a week. Take 1 kg of potatoes and a urea solution - prepared from 1 glass of the product for 2 liters of water. The tubers are cut into slices, soaked in urea for about a day. In the evening, place the pieces in the rows of potatoes. The method of spraying with a solution of urea and water is used at a rate of 1: 1.
Spraying with tar is carried out in a diluted form. For a bucket of water, you need 100 grams of birch tar. Processing should be carried out three times a week.
Ammonia scares away beetles with a smell. Spraying is carried out in the morning and on a calm day. The solution is prepared using half a liter of the product for 10 liters of water. The procedure is repeated as needed.
Onion peels have proven to be an effective remedy. According to one recipe for the preparation of the solution, you will need to fill a three-liter jar with husk by a third, add warm water, insist for a couple of days. Strain, add laundry or liquid soap.According to another recipe, a pound of husk is poured with boiling water, after 2 days soap is added.
Herbal preparations are also used. Half a bucket of poplar leaves is poured with water, boiled for about 15 minutes, infused for 4 days and sprayed with potatoes. Tobacco roots with leaves in the amount of 500 grams are poured with 10 liters of water, insisted for about 3 days, a soap solution is added after straining and processing is carried out. A third of the bucket is filled with burdock leaves, after crushing them. Insist 3 days.
It is recommended to start fighting the Colorado potato beetle right in the fall. Walnut leaves should be removed from the ground and used 3 weeks before the larvae appear. Previously, the leaves must be soaked in an amount of 3 kg, taking 10 liters of water. After a couple of days, filter the mixture and spray the bushes. In the spring, when planting, a pinch of ash is placed in the holes with seedlings. Colorado doesn't like the smell of spoiled onions that can be added to the hole. And this is far from all the popular methods of getting rid of pests known today.
Prevention means
To prevent the appearance of the Colorado potato beetle on the site, you can plant beans, spring garlic, a large amount of calendula. Spraying bushes with such a composition is also effective - place 200 grams of chopped garlic in 10 liters of water, insist, add 40 grams of laundry soap before spraying.
Spraying with wormwood is also carried out. To do this, 1 glass of ash is taken for 200 grams of wormwood, filled with water and infused for 3 hours. The solution is filtered, which is sprayed with plantings for the purpose of prophylaxis. Ash helps not only to destroy harmful insects, but also to prevent their appearance. It is necessary to powder the bushes with it.
The drug "GumateEM" is on sale. It is created on the basis of wormwood, pine buds, bird cherry and wild rosemary. It helps not only to protect potatoes from the invasion of Colorado beetles, but also increases the resistance of the bushes to temperature extremes. It is recommended to spray the product in the morning and evening hours for 7 to 10 days.
Video "Potato pests"
The recording shows what the hated pest looks like, how to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle, and what to do for prevention.