Mustard solution from the Colorado potato beetle
Mustard from the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes is the safest way to combat harmful insects. There are many chemicals on the market today that can be used against the Colorado potato beetle, but they are not safe for the environment or humans. A liquid made from acetic acid and crushed mustard seeds is an effective method that does not have a toxic effect, and in its effectiveness is not inferior to chemical agents and allows you to get rid of insects in a short period of time.
Mustard solution from the Colorado potato beetle
Insect characteristic
The Colorado potato beetle is an insect with an oval body, a convex head and short legs. A characteristic feature of this insect are black stripes on the back, which makes it easy to identify it among other harmful insects.
The Colorado potato beetle has a brutal appetite, especially young potato leaves and the foliage of other nightshade crops. The big threat to potatoes is not so much the adults as the larvae of the insect. If you do not take measures to destroy them, then in two weeks from the moment the first shoots appear, they can destroy almost all planted potatoes.
A feature of the Colorado potato beetle is its adaptation to chemical products. Pests develop a strong immunity to chemicals, therefore mustard and vinegar against the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes are an actual method of protecting potato bushes. Colorado striped insects do not develop immunity to such components.
How the solution works
Mustard by itself does not act against insects, does not destroy them. The effect of using mustard seed powder is that it is the mustard aroma that the Colorado potato beetle does not like and they will not press on potato bushes that have a mustard aroma. Therefore, mustard for striped insects is a repellent, a plant that allows you to get rid of the pest through a repelling effect, causing intolerance.
Benefits of using
- scaring off adult insects and larvae;
- processed potato leaves become unattractive as food;
- mustard is combined with any, both chemical and plant components, which are used in agrotechnical methods of fighting the Colorado potato beetle.
Together with mustard powder, vinegar is also used, which is added to the prepared mustard liquid.
The substance has a sour, harsh taste and a specific odor. When using this liquid, you must be very careful and careful, as contact with the substance can be dangerous to humans.
Precautions
- It is forbidden to bring vinegar close to the face and take sudden breaths, because it can burn the respiratory tract, nasopharynx and mucous membranes, including the eyes.
- It is not allowed to get a bite in an undiluted form on the skin, because you can also get burned. It is also dangerous to get liquid on scratches or wounds on the surface of the skin.
Vinegar has a different effect on insects, a strong concentration of this agent enters the insect's body and burns out its insides. The concentration of the vinegar liquid should be 9-10% so that there is no damage to the potato shoots.
Preparation of solutions
We breed mustard correctly
How to poison the Colorado potato beetle with mustard and vinegar, how much should you take in a gram of crushed mustard seeds and vinegar to prepare protective agents? Experienced gardeners advise using several methods for preparing such liquids. The types of solutions in the fight against pests can be different, depending on the degree of damage to the potato shoots. You can use a bite and crushed mustard seeds in a certain amount, or separately each component, you can also add other means, both chemical origin and folk, to them.
Cooking methods
- Pour three tablespoons of chopped mustard seeds into cold water (1 liter) and leave for several days. Then the mixture should be diluted with a bucket of water and sprayed on the plants.
- Pour hot water or boiling water over similar proportions of water and crushed mustard seeds. Such a mixture will cook much faster, since the mustard dissolves much faster in boiling water.
- To prepare a suspension, add 4-6 tablespoons of mustard powder to one liter of water, and then, after insisting, dilute with water to prepare a spray liquid.
- Mustard liquid will be more effective if you add 50 grams of crushed laundry soap to it.
- Mustard powder will be more effective if you add 100 milliliters of vinegar essence.
To get rid of pests, such protective liquid products can be used for both spraying and watering.
There are also several options for preparing a vinegar solution.
The most effective way
- a bucket of cold water;
- 100 grams of vinegar and turpentine;
- 400 sludge of onion husk tincture;
- a pack of ground mustard seeds;
- 2 glasses of wormwood tincture;
- chopped two heads of garlic.
Mix all components thoroughly. The liquid is ready for spraying potato shoots. Before spraying, the mixture must be filtered.
Other ways to fight
Mustard against the Colorado potato beetle is used not only in the form of solutions, but also in other variants. The following methods give a good effect:
- Sprinkle potato leaves with mustard seed powder, this will allow you to get rid of the striped insect for four days, then this treatment should be repeated.
- Sow mustard seeds between potato bushes. Growing mustard is also insect intolerant, as are protective mixtures or mustard powder. Gardeners recommend sowing mustard seeds between potato bushes in a diagonal way.
It is worth noting that sown mustard seeds help to remove, in addition to the striped insect, also its larvae. Also, the neighborhood of potatoes and a mustard plant becomes unattractive for the wireworm.
Recommendations
There are a number of recommendations that must be taken into account when preparing mustard powder and vinegar protective liquids in the fight against harmful insects. Compliance with such rules will help ensure high efficiency of the use of drugs and preserve the potato harvest.
Recommendations:
- It is necessary to process potato plantings in the evening, when it is no longer so hot outside.It is also recommended to spray in warm weather, without wind.
- For effective processing, you should use a lot of protective liquid, do not be afraid to overdo it with its volume, since the more abundantly the plants are processed, the greater the likelihood of the safety of the future harvest.
- It is very important to control the regularity of spraying and watering and monitor the timing of their action.
- Three weeks before the expected harvest time of potatoes, you should stop processing.
- It is better to process plants with a solution with the addition of vinegar essence, and not water.
With mixtures prepared only on the basis of mustard powder of the plant, you can both spray potato shoots and water under the bushes.
Conclusion
Sometime in the future, a universal remedy will be developed that will kill the striped insect from Colorado and be safe for both crops and humans. Today, among all drugs of chemical production, such a tool does not exist. Therefore, mustard from a beetle with the addition of acetic acid can be used to remove the pest from the beds.