Effective remedies for the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes
The problem of fighting the Colorado potato beetle has been around for many years. And all this time, people do not stop looking for new ways to effectively destroy it, and also try to improve those that have been known for a long time. Effective remedies for the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes exist and many of them are reliable and proven for decades. A reliable remedy for the Colorado potato beetle makes it possible to completely save the harvest of potatoes and other nightshade crops.
- Comprehensive control measures
- How to prevent an invasion of the Colorado potato beetle?
- Soil preparation
- Processing tubers and seedlings before planting
- Ways to get rid of bugs during planting
- Processing tubers when planting
- Destruction of the Colorado potato beetle on seedlings
- Insecticide use
- The best insecticides for tops
- Natural Ways to Deal with Pests
When choosing an effective remedy for the Colorado potato beetle that you have in your arsenal, you must take into account that each remedy has its own nuances. For example, insecticidal preparations are used in places far from apiaries and fish ponds, as they are deadly to bees and fish. Before using any product, you need to carefully study the instructions for use and consult a specialist.
Comprehensive control measures
- Before planting potatoes in the spring, it is necessary to treat the area from the invasion of insects.
- Tubers should be processed before or during planting.
- It is necessary to pollinate the shoots in time with insecticidal agents.
- Prevention against insects is carried out regularly on the site before the autumn period.
How to prevent an invasion of the Colorado potato beetle?
If you notice Colorado beetles in your garden, then you need to destroy pests in the early stages of planting - from the moment the soil is prepared. To do this, you need to use chemicals used for both tubers and soil. An effective means of control from the Colorado potato beetle before planting will be something that does not harm the potato tubers in the future. Many chemical preparations belong to hazard classes 1, 2 and 3 and they cannot always be used. Many gardeners in this case use folk remedies and fertilize the holes before planting with manure or wood ash.
Please note that a folk and effective remedy for the Colorado potato beetle will drastically reduce the pest population in the future, when the plants begin to germinate, and sometimes even completely negate the possibility of an insect appearing on plants during the entire ripening time.
Soil preparation
First you need to determine the place where the potatoes will be planted. Then, before planting it, you need to protect the holes so that the beetle cannot get to them in the future. This will make it possible to get rid of uninvited guests who will want to move from neighboring plants in the spring.
- Colorado pest larvae cannot fly long distances, they can only crawl, and young representatives move a couple of tens of meters.Based on this, gardeners came up with the idea of digging small ditches around the plot with beds, about 30 cm deep, which have a sheer wall. These ditches should be covered with foil. Also, around the plantings, you can use folk remedies for the Colorado potato beetle so that the pungent smell discourages the pest from crawling onto the plants.
- A fairly effective remedy in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle is the placement of fresh sawdust between the rows. The smell emanating from them is like a repellent for beetles. But from time to time this embankment needs to be renewed.
- Another effective remedy in the fight against insects is ash, preferably birch. Ash can be sprinkled between rows and young shoots. Ash effectively removes larvae and adult beetles.
It should be noted that poisoning from the Colorado potato beetle and various methods of control, if used correctly, will help preserve young bushes in the most critical period for them.
Processing tubers and seedlings before planting
To process seedlings, it is necessary to use a biological dressing agent, which is specially designed to combat such a pest. This product can be used both for soaking and for spraying. A tuber or seedlings soaked in it will be poisonous to the pest in the future. Insects will not be able to reproduce on this plant.
Today it is the best way to preserve potatoes and rid them of the Colorado pest for a while. One drawback of this method is a short period of toxicity. The poison acts only until the potatoes begin to bloom. After the flowering period, there will be no protection and repeated treatments need to be repeated. However, by this time, young plants are already strengthening, and therefore if their tops during this period are damaged by a pest, then this will practically not have a detrimental effect on the amount of harvest.
The following chemicals are used for the mordant
- Tirana
- Taboo
- Prestige
- Cruiser
- Aktara
Correctly selected drugs and methods against the Colorado potato beetle are convenient and not difficult to use. Ready tubers are treated with a solution that is mixed in advance according to the instructions. Further, the planting material is planted in the ground. This spraying prevents further destruction of the plant by almost all pests, both external and in the ground. To date, they have come up with modern preparations that combine a disinfectant and a sprayer. They have passed the validation of land users quite successfully and proved to be easy to use.
The most common and reliable drugs
- Matador, a reliable and effective drug.
- Celeste Top, protects your plantings not only from the Colorado pest, but also from other dangerous insects.
- Connect is an innovative contact-systemic insecticide.
- Proteus is a combined broad-spectrum insecticide.
- Regent - sold in ampoules (capsules).
- Apache is an effective and inexpensive remedy, the price is about 100 rubles.
Biological products for the protection of potatoes
Biological disinfectants, the main components of which are microorganisms, must be used in a slightly different way. The tubers will have to be left in solution for a certain time and only then planted.
- Bitoxibacillin
- Aktofit
- Colorado potato beetle NO
- Actarophyte
- Boverin
- Fitoverm
Sprouted plants can also be sprayed with these preparations. The beetles will die, and the soil and environment will not be affected. The harvest obtained in this way is absolutely harmless. Treatment of holes before planting with biological agents is an excellent and effective method of pest control. Also the best, natural and effective remedy for protecting and treating your plantings is onion husks. It must be put in the hole.You can also insist onion peel for about a day in water and treat the seedlings with the resulting solution - the pest will disappear immediately. They also do the same with ash, which must be placed in the holes or sprinkled on the tubers to protect against insects.
Ways to get rid of bugs during planting
To fight the pest during planting potatoes, you need to combine two methods - to process the tubers and holes. Chemical insecticides are used, as well as household drugs. Efforts made in this way will have a beneficial effect - the Colorado pest can be destroyed. As a result of the actions taken, you can get a high-quality crop untouched by the pest. Any drugs against the Colorado pest must have a good shelf life, at least until 2018-2019, otherwise expired funds may not give the desired effect.
Processing tubers when planting
To fight such an insect, there are products that do not need to be sprayed or soaked in advance on the tubers. It is enough to sprinkle the potatoes with such preparations, which have already been placed in the hole and bury them. In the ground, the tubers will be saturated with the product and will acquire the necessary protection. When the pest bites off a small piece of the plant, it will receive some of the poison. The same will happen with the larvae. In addition, the potatoes will be protected from pests in the soil, since the same will happen to them - the drug will destroy everyone who is around the plant. Colorado potato beetle preparations that can be used in this way are the easiest to use.
Destruction of the Colorado potato beetle on seedlings
The Colorado potato beetle and its larvae are very dangerous for plants exactly at the moment before flowering begins. To destroy them on potatoes, natural preparations, insecticides and biologicals are suitable. If the volumes of planted potatoes are small, or there are bees and fish near the beds, the best option would be to use natural substances and biological agents. Chemical poisons can be used only in cases where the planting area is large, or there are many beetles.
Insecticide use
Also, insecticidal agents are used to control insects on potatoes. Insecticides kill the pest and its larvae with less treatment. Biological agents need to be applied more times to obtain the same effect. However, in general, the use of both tools is similar.
- The first thing to do is take care of your safety. To do this, you need to prepare a mask, a hat, rubber boots, gloves, as well as a fully closed robe.
- The insecticidal solution is mixed in the proportions specified in the instructions. For this, dishes are used that are not intended for food. The solution is then poured into a spray bottle.
- Each plant must be sprinkled as fully as possible in order to cover at least three-quarters of the shoot. Otherwise, the desired effect cannot be achieved.
- After processing, you need to thoroughly wash your hands, rinse your mouth, take a bath, wash your clothes. During work, you should not take breaks for food or cigarettes.
- The treated area should not be visited for a couple of days.
It should be borne in mind that the timing of getting rid of the pest depends on the remedy. They can range from a couple of hours to a couple of days.
The best insecticides for tops
- Regent
- Sherpa
- Spark Gold
- Confidor in ampoules
- Tanrek
- Aktara
- Commander
- Mospilan
- Grinda
- Inta-vir
- Citkor
- Cirax
Natural Ways to Deal with Pests
The best ways that are safe for people, animals and the environment include years of experience using folk recipes. The energy expended pays off with a good, environmentally friendly harvest.
- You can remove insects manually.However, there is a way to make this process easier. Throw off pests from each bush with a broom into a bucket. After collecting insects, you need to move to another place away from your site.
- Spray foliage with decoctions of useful plants. These include - wormwood, horsetail, calendula, tobacco, mustard. You can also add onion husks to this list. The procedure should be carried out in the dark, since the beneficial properties of the broth disappear under the influence of sunlight.
- Covering the beds with straw or grass is good at reducing the number of beetles.
- An excellent remedy is to sprinkle the leaves with ash from the trees, or spray them with an infusion of ash and wormwood. Such a remedy completely removes insects from the garden.
It is very important to do all the procedures systematically, preventing insects from reappearing. Treat pests as soon as you find insects in your area. Indeed, if an insect destroys a little less than half of the foliage, then about a third of the crop will be lost.