Why is it so important to cultivate the area before planting potatoes?
A very important stage before planting potatoes is preparing the area for planting. The preventive measure will protect the vegetable crop, prevent problems and diseases that arise during development and growth. It is better to spend a little time at the beginning than to constantly fight with wireworms and the Colorado potato beetle.
To do this, you should perform the following preparatory work:
- if the soil is clayey or heavy, then you should mix it with sand;
- for high acidity, sprinkle with limestone;
- It’s good to dig up the ground to saturate it with oxygen.
These actions are aimed at protecting potatoes. Vegetable crops really have many enemies. If prevention is not carried out in time, the pest will simply destroy the future harvest. Additional protection can be provided by treating potato tubers with karbofos against wireworms before planting.
Wireworm - who is he?
Although wireworms look like a golden or brown colored worm, they are actually the larva of click beetles belonging to the Elateridae family. There are 400 genera around the world. In the territory of the former Soviet Union, damage to agricultural crops is caused mainly by larvae of beetles from the genera Agriotes and Selatosomus. Melanotus click beetles are also found in the south of the European part. Representatives of the genera Athous and Limonius cause harm less frequently. The length of larval worms is usually from 1 to 4.5 cm.
The duration of development of the click beetle lasts about 5 years, and for up to 4 years the beetle remains in the larval stage. After the first year of life, he needs a large amount of nutrition. The garden pest’s “favorite delicacy” is the root systems of some plants and starch-rich potato tubers.
The best and effective means
There are many different biological products on the market. Some summer residents use purchased insecticidal products, while others prefer to fight pests using traditional methods.
"Prestige"
One of the best remedies for getting rid of the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm is “Prestige”. The main component included in its composition is imidacloprid. There is also pencyrunon, which ensures rapid growth of potatoes. The drug effectively fights pests and prevents many diseases.
The stain is prepared simply: take the concentrate and add warm water (proportions 1:10). Mix everything thoroughly. And then all that remains is to spray the potato tubers with the solution. For 10 kg of vegetables you will need 10 liters of the prepared mixture.
Fungicide "Matador Grand"
An excellent disinfectant that provides triple action. It is used immediately before planting potatoes in planting holes. The main components included in the anti-wireworm remedy:
- imidacloprid;
- metalaxyl;
- cymoxanil.
This drug has a broad spectrum of action. The product is designed to kill various pests and protect potatoes from diseases. Additionally, it has therapeutic and prophylactic properties. Using pestilence is simple.
First you need to make a solution, one liter of water per 60 ml of product. Next, lay out the plastic film, place planting material on it, carry out spraying work, and lightly dry the potatoes. Next, the tubers are planted in the ground.
Tool "Protection"
Presented as a ready-made substrate. The earth is specially populated with nematodes. Spread purchased soil over the planting holes; a handful of the product will be enough. Nematodes will spread throughout the garden plot, as a result they will protect the potatoes from wireworms, Colorado potato beetles, late blight, and other diseases.
Insecticide "Cruiser"
Another systemic chemical that helps quickly get rid of pests. The drug can be purchased at any gardening and garden supply store. To prepare the solution, take 40 ml of the product, add three liters of water, which has previously settled for 2-3 days. Mix everything thoroughly. The resulting mixture should be used to treat potato tubers, or you can spill the concentrate on the soil. The insecticide effectively controls most insect pests, including wireworms.
"Metarizin"
This biological product appeared recently. The new product immediately gained popularity among gardeners. The product has a growth-stimulating effect and destroys harmful click beetles. Almost immediately after the procedure, the number of pests in garden beds is noticeably reduced. One application will last for a long time. The next treatment may not be needed until several years later. The drug can be applied to the soil along with fertilizing, or the tubers can be sprayed directly.
It is better to carry out work in the fall. The ideal time is rainy weather or on the eve of bad weather. You can buy Metarizin in the form of a powder or liquid base.
"Force"
A granular insecticide called Force kills wireworms before they cause serious damage to potatoes. The drug provides protection to the underground part of the plant. It is recommended to pour the product into the holes. This should be done before planting the planting material. Its active ingredients quickly penetrate into insects. Colorado beetles and click beetles begin to lose control of muscle activity, after which they die. The whole process takes from 10 to 30 minutes.
"Bazudin"
Another insecticide that is effective. It is used against soil-dwelling pests. Available in the form of small granules, packaged in 30 gram bags. One package of the product is enough to treat an area of up to 20 square meters.
For potato tubers, it is better to use a dry mixture. The composition is pre-mixed with sawdust or dry sand. The proportions are taken as follows: 750 g of filler, 10 g of “Bagudzin”. Treat the prepared planting material with the composition.
The use of chemical compounds on early potato varieties is prohibited. Since the chemistry simply does not have time to wear off before the tubers ripen. Such a vegetable can be harmful to health and cause poisoning.
"Provotox"
The insecticide is available in granular form. The substances included in the composition act on the nervous system of the wireworm and Colorado potato beetle, causing paralysis and subsequent death. To do this, you just need to sprinkle the powder evenly over the surface of the beds, and then weed the substrate.
Many summer residents try to save the future harvest using this method. Judging by numerous reviews, we can assume that Provotox acts quickly and effectively. When planted, potatoes do not have the damage characteristic of wireworms. The drug is affordable and has a long shelf life, so one application will last for several seasons.
Birch tar
Often, before planting, potatoes are treated against wireworms and Colorado potato beetles using birch tar. To make homemade fertilizer, you need to take one glass of tar and a liter of settled water, mix thoroughly. After this, you need to moisten the root crops, let the concentrate absorb and plant. You can also additionally shed the holes. To do this, prepare a less concentrated solution. For a garden watering can you will need 1 tablespoon of a natural ingredient.
Wood ash
This component is used in different ways. Ash needs to be mixed with water (1 kg - 1 liter of liquid). Then dip the potatoes into the liquid and leave for 30 minutes. Dry matter also controls beetles. Wireworm ash can be placed in a hole when planting potatoes. Two tablespoons are enough for one hole.
Mustard powder
Click beetles do not like mustard, so experienced gardeners use the plant in garden plots to combat them. You can plant bushes between the beds or use ready-made powder.
To do this, you need to throw a teaspoon of mustard powder into each planting hole. The component is absolutely safe for potato tubers. But worms and other parasites are unlikely to be happy with such a neighborhood. Insects try to immediately leave such a habitat. This means that the future potato harvest will be of good quality.
Attention! A greater effect can be achieved if you mix mustard with red hot pepper. The components are mixed in equal proportions, and then sprinkled on the soil. Insects immediately leave the potato bed, the aroma repels pests.
Eggshell
One of the best folk remedies is eggshells. This component will help protect potatoes from wireworms when planting. Nutcrackers absolutely cannot stand it. To make an effective base, you need to finely grind the shells and then add the resulting powder to each well. You can also sprinkle the composition around the perimeter of the beds. The main advantage of the folk method is accessibility and low cost.
Biological drugs
Biological methods of pest control are becoming increasingly widespread. They involve the use of entomophages - insects that feed on their own kind. Wireworms have natural enemies in nature. These include, for example, the predatory nematode.
You can bring it to the site using a drug called Nemabact. Treatment of potatoes before planting and the substrate with this preparation leads to the fact that microscopic nematode worms gradually destroy the larvae of the click beetle. You cannot expect an immediate effect from this method, but in the long term it pays off.
How to properly carry out pre-planting treatment of potatoes?
Every gardener has his own effective way to combat darter. Pre-planting activities can improve the quality, quantity of potatoes and their subsequent keeping quality. In addition, the procedures reduce the number of waterings.
Spraying
Spraying of planting material is carried out before planting potatoes in the ground. First you need to make a solution. This should be done according to the attached instructions. Then, using a household spray bottle, the tubers are treated, while carefully observing that the vegetables are sprayed from all sides. After 20-30 minutes, planting work is carried out.
You should not keep potatoes in liquid, as this will reduce the effectiveness of the action. It is extremely important to dilute the drug before use, since the properties of the solution are lost during long-term storage.
Chemicals should be used only as directed. It is also important to protect yourself in advance, wear a mask and rubber gloves. Such protective measures will help avoid problems such as poisoning and burns.
Soak
This method involves soaking root vegetables in a pickling solution. First, the sprouted potatoes are placed in a bucket, filled with a solution of potassium permanganate or a purchased concentrate and left for a while. The exact time of action is indicated on the drug packaging or in the instructions. Then they are taken out, dried and planted in the soil.
This method provides excellent resistance to any type of insect, including click beetles. It also increases the percentage of potato germination.
Pollination with bulk pollination
A powder with a loose composition gives a good result against click beetles. Wood ash is best. First, potato tubers are sprinkled with water, and then sprinkled with powder so that it evenly covers the skin of the root crop. After processing, planting is carried out in the ground. In addition, ash is an excellent fertilizer that provides a rich harvest.
The most effective remedies for wireworms - Rating of drugs
How to detect wireworms on the site
Wireworms are the larvae of all beetles of the click beetle family. They look like small worms of brownish or beige-yellow color, up to 2 cm long. Their body is divided into segments, the first 3 of which have small legs. With their help, the wireworm moves through the soil. The pest has a pair of strong mandibles on its head, which help it bite through the membranes of roots and root crops. The body of this “worm” is dense and hard, and it is not so easy to crush it with your fingers.
Since the larvae live in the ground, they can only be detected by indirect signs. Plants affected by wireworms have fewer stems compared to healthy ones. If the bush is severely affected, then you can notice signs of wilting on it. Stems and leaves lose turgor and look limp and drooping. Most often individual plants are affected. It is less common to find entire groups of damaged stands. To make sure, they dig up the potatoes and inspect the tubers.
How to plant potatoes so that they do not have wireworms?
There are several rules for planting potatoes that will help avoid the appearance of pests on the site. The planting area must be absolutely clean, so you must first remove weeds from the beds and around them and destroy the rest of the vegetation. Especially grass like:
- wheatgrass;
- sow thistle;
- horsetail;
- horse sorrel.
Plants should be torn out by the roots; it is the underground part that harmful insects prefer. You also need to thoroughly weed the soil and apply the necessary fertilizing. Sufficient distance is left between potato holes, since a small distance between potatoes favors the reproduction of pest larvae. These recommendations must be followed without fail. If necessary, you can plant aromatic plants between the potato beds that repel click beetles.
10 best ways to combat wireworms on potatoes
If, when digging soil or holes, a wireworm or its larva was discovered, then they cannot be ignored. Pests should be immediately removed from the ground and destroyed.
Effective control methods and preventive measures in potato fields
You can get rid of wireworms in a potato plot by preventing its appearance by following simple preventive measures:
- At intervals of 2-3 years, it is necessary to change the planting sites; it is advisable to renew the soil using clean and high-quality soil;
- Plants should be planted at a certain distance between the holes, which will make it difficult for pests to move from bush to bush;
- dig up the soil before and after planting at least 30 centimeters. Thanks to this, in the warm season, the larvae in the ground will be exposed to direct sunlight, and in the fall they will freeze and die, ridding the garden of wireworms in potatoes;
- check the garden for weeds; if they appear, you need to weed them immediately;
- treat the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate at the rate of 2 g per 10 liters of water. Water the hole with it before planting potatoes (half a liter per hole); in the absence of potassium permanganate, it is permissible to use ammonia water.
The most effective method for getting rid of wireworms is regular crop rotation, in which the area after a vegetable crop is sown with cereals and vice versa during the subsequent harvest.
Prevention of pest occurrence
Avoiding pests is much easier than fighting them. The following measures can be taken as prevention:
- Crop rotation. This process is very important. New plants effectively fight harmful insects. Rested soil increases the yield of vegetables, as well as their quality.
- Planting fragrant vegetation between the potato beds: marigolds, calendula. Fragrant flowers repel parasites.
- In the fall, they clean up, dig up wilted plants, remove old tubers from the beds and garbage, then the pests will have nothing to eat. And Colorado beetles and wireworms survive the winter hunger strike extremely poorly. Most insects die before spring.
- Check the condition of the soil; the acidity level should remain neutral. Colorado beetles and click beetles love high acidity levels; for them, such conditions are considered favorable for habitat and reproduction. The level can be lowered using limestone or another suitable product that has a similar composition and characteristics.
- An excellent prevention against the appearance of wireworms is to attract birds that feed on pests. Tits and starlings will cope with the task. To do this, they make birdhouses and hang houses in trees or next to potato beds. It is advisable not to add food so that the birds can get their own food.
What specific means to use in the garden to destroy wireworms and Colorado potato beetles is up to everyone to decide for themselves. The main thing is to remember the rules for processing soil and potato tubers.
Effective recipes for controlling wireworms
Wireworm: description and harm
The length of adult individuals does not exceed 20 mm, the shape of the body is oblong, spindle-shaped. The color of the insect is dark brown, purple or brown. Beetles are most active from spring to the first half of August. The main diet of click beetles consists of leaves of cereal plants. Over the course of a season, one female is capable of laying up to 200 eggs, from which, after some time, a “thunderstorm” of potatoes will appear – the wireworm. Significant damage is caused to both the root system and tubers.
Wireworms are dangerous not only for potatoes, but also for all plants in the garden: tomatoes, carrots, beets, onions, cabbage and others. This omnivorous pest lives in the soil for up to 5 years, if there are all suitable conditions for it (air temperature within +12-30 °C, excessive humidity).
If you do not get rid of the wireworm and do not use special means to destroy it, you can lose up to 80% of the entire harvest.
