Common pests of potatoes

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Every seasoned vegetable grower knows firsthand that potato pests are a threat to the entire crop. Insects can spoil more than half of the collection, so you should know what kind of threat the pests are and how to get rid of them.

Common pests of potatoes

Insect adaptation

The stamina and endurance of beetles can only be envied: they are not afraid of any weather conditions, and some species even tolerate temperature extremes. Such features allow harmful beetles to live and reproduce in any conditions.

Harmful insects have long been adapted to many methods of dealing with them, even some chemical agents are no longer afraid of them. Beetles at the genetic level develop immunity to pesticides, thus protecting their future generation from extinction.

Basic methods of fighting

Potato pest control is not easy and requires a different approach. At a minimum, you need to know several ways to protect your garden. Every year, before planting, breeders set goals for themselves - to avoid diseases and fight pests.

Protection of potatoes from pests for preventive purposes cannot be fully done due to the fact that there are a lot of potato pests and they are transferred in various ways. Beetles and worms can get into the ground with water and fertilizer, they can be on planting tools. Moreover, some species of insects can live deep in the soil for years.

Colorado beetle

The Colorado potato beetle is a potato pest that loves to feast on both the fruits and leaves of the bush. The beetle's appearance is memorable - these are black and orange stripes on the wings. Colorado adults and larvae can spoil a fair amount of crops. Particularly dangerous is the invasion of beetles during the development and flowering of the bush.

In search of food, insects can travel tens of kilometers. They tolerate temperature extremes, they can wait out frosts in the soil, burrowing into the ground to a depth of about 20 cm. Due to their fertility, they can transfer immunity against many pesticides to future generations.

Fighting the Colorado potato beetle

Anyone can use the methods of potato pest control. Among the most revered among the people is the hand-made assembly. Colorado beetles and their larvae are collected in jars of water, and then destroyed. Leaves with offspring are cut off from the bush and also eliminated.

To destroy the Colorado beetles, which hid from the cold in the ground, you need to dig up a vegetable garden in the fall. Then the bugs will be in the top layer of the soil and freeze at the first frost.

Spanky Redhead

One of the most dangerous pests of potatoes is Shpanka Redhead. The beetle has an oblong body, black color, there are white stripes on the wings.

Insects are especially active during the period of their full maturation from May to August. Parasites eat flowers and leaves of potato bushes. They reproduce by larvae, which are laid in the ground at the beginning of June.

Fighting spanky

A remedy for spanking on a small landing area is a manual harvesting of beetles. Weeding the soil will help exterminate the offspring that has been deposited in the soil. Loosening the soil will damage fragile eggs and larvae.

Treatment with modern insecticides, which are absolutely harmless to people, also helps well. We carry out spraying in accordance with all the rules and take precautions.

Wireworms

Worms spoil tubers

Wireworms are worms that grow up to 3.5 cm in length and are attracted to the roots of weeds, which they do not mind eating. But, if potatoes come across on their way, they can ruin the harvest.

Damaged vegetables are easily susceptible to rotting and diseases such as nematodes.

Wireworm control methods

Before you start planting tubers in the ground, they should be treated with special chemicals. Protection against worms is also timely fertilization with calcium and constant weeding of the earth.

To combat wireworms, first get rid of the weeds in your field, which attract the worms. Also, an excellent tool is fertilization and the fight against increased soil acidity. A solution of copper and lime will help you with this.

Fleas

These small potato eaters are capable of destroying half of the harvest, even though they are small in size up to 4mm. Outwardly, you may not even notice them, you should observe the condition of the leaves and stems of the bush. When flea beetles appear, the leaves are covered with black recessed dots.

Parasites settle and reproduce in the ground on the roots and tubers of the bush. The spread and reproduction of insects is facilitated by hot, dry weather.

Flea protection

In the fight against fleas, the treatment of potatoes with chemistry will help. You can also smear the leaves with a sticky substance that will glue the paws of the bugs.

In your own garden, processing with a solution of chamomile will help you, or flavour the soil with ash. This method is convenient and cost-effective in small sowing areas.

Nematodes

Various creatures

Such insects are microscopic and cannot be seen without special devices. Traces of their impact are visible only on the roots of vegetable crops, they are expressed in the form of small yellowish grains.

A bush infected with nematodes lags behind in development. The leaves turn yellow and fall off, and the tubers may not tie at all.

Methods of protection against nematodes

Nematodes have a detrimental effect on harvesting, so you should spare no money or effort in the fight against them. When choosing protection, you should choose methods that are proven over the years.

In order to avoid contamination of the soil and tubers, the vegetable planting should be changed every 4 years. In place of the potato, you need to plant legumes that neutralize the pest and cleanse the soil.

In the fight against the worm, planting varieties that are resistant to these types of insects will help. It is also required to process the sown soil with a solution of copper sulfate.

Chafer

One of the most common inhabitants of our region is the May beetle. Adults do not cause any damage to the harvest.

But their larvae, which the female lays in the soil, with their intensive growth begin to feed on the roots of the plant, thereby rendering it unusable.

Protection against May beetles

In the case of the May beetle, the method of manually collecting adults and destroying their offspring is also effective. For beetles, you can make special night traps. Put a jar of water near the lamp: the beetles will fly into the light and fall into the trap.

In order to avoid laying eggs in the ground, you can cover the top layer of the soil with mulching material: sawdust, straw. Loosening or weeding the soil will also help.To scare off annoying bugs, use an infusion of onion peels or a weak solution of manganese.

Medvedka

A huge insect that feeds on tubers and roots of a potato crop. In size, it can reach 5 cm and more. It has a long brown body and a large head.

It is capable of damaging a third of the harvest; in terms of the degree of damage, the bear is compared with the larvae of May beetles. Damaged fruits begin to rot and get sick, and the plant itself begins to wilt and dry.

Methods of protection from a bear

1. In the fight against bears, a vinegar solution will help, which is used to irrigate the land where the insect lives.
2. You can also set up traps, for this you will need to: dig a small hole and pour the fermented drink into it.
3. There is another method with a pit, only it is used in the fall. Manure is put into the pit, and then it is added dropwise. Bears will come to the smell and remain in the hole, from where they can no longer get out, and soon they will simply freeze during the first frost.
4. To scare away an insect, you can use needles or onion scales. These potato pests are very sensitive to these odors.

Whatever the pests and whatever method you choose to combat them, it is very important to identify the disease in the plant in time and take measures to avoid the death of the potato bush or the fruit itself.