Rescue of potatoes from wireworms with folk and chemical means

  • Mar 25, 2021
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Good afternoon, my reader. Wireworm - the larva of the click beetle is one of the most common pests that live in the upper soil layer. The pests feed on tubers, roots and shoots and remain invisible, so the affected plant is almost impossible to save in time. A number of available preventive techniques and tools will help prevent the appearance of larvae in the garden.

Potatoes. Illustration for this article is used under a standard license © ofazende.com
Potatoes. Illustration for this article is used under a standard license © ofazende.com
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How to prevent pest breeding

To prevent the wireworm from taking root in the area, a number of simple and effective techniques are used:

  1. Several birdhouses are installed to attract birds that feed on many garden pests - starlings, blackbirds, rooks, tits, nuthatches.
  2. Prevents weeds from growing. Particular attention is paid to burdock and wheatgrass, they are dug up together with the root, since the larvae of click bearers settle on them.
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  3. Follow the principle of crop rotation.
  4. The potatoes are harvested as the tubers ripen.
  5. Reduces the acidity of the earth. With an increased rate, plants actively grow on the site, which prefer such soils: plantain, sorrel, horsetail, rhubarb, lupine, primrose, horseradish.
  6. From time to time, ground eggshells are laid on the surface of the beds and throughout the rest of the territory.

Plants that repel larvae:

  • marigold;
  • dahlias;
  • mustard;
  • legumes;
  • buckwheat;
  • spinach.
Wireworm. Illustration for this article is used under a standard license © ofazende.com
Mustard is very effective against wireworms. It is sown at the end of August, and when it reaches a height of 10-12 cm, the beds are dug up along with the herbs. When decaying, mustard releases essential oils, the bitterness of which the larvae cannot tolerate.

Chemicals and folk remedies

When a wireworm is found in the area with potatoes, the fight begins immediately and is not left for the new season. First, they try to get by with biological and harmless recipes:

  1. At the stage of digging and loosening, the earth is powdered with ash, lime, dolomite flour, and chalk.
  2. Water the plantings with a solution of potassium permanganate (4 g per 10 liters of water). The consumption rate is 300 ml per bush.
  3. When digging, add ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate at the rate of 30 g per 1 sq. m. An increase in nitrogen content in the upper soil layer will force the larvae to go deeper.
  4. Prepare an infusion of nettle before planting potatoes. Finely chop 500 g of grass and infuse in 10 liters of water. 500 g of liquid is poured into each well, repeat after 3 days at least 2 more times.
  5. Dandelion infusion has a similar effect. For 10 liters, 200 g of grass is enough.

Wireworms are easy to catch with bait traps:

  • any root vegetables are cut into large pieces;
  • strung on a wire or thick thread and added dropwise at the site of future plantings to a depth of 12-15 cm;
  • after 2-3 days, the bait together with the larvae is fed to poultry.
Wireworm. Illustration for this article is used under a standard license © ofazende.com

Insecticides are used when the spread of a pest is out of control. Effective drugs:

  • "Cuts" from the bear and wireworm;
  • "Actor";
  • "Provotox";
  • Aktara;
  • "Prestige";
  • Zemlin;
  • "Taboo";
  • "Bazudin".
They show the maximum positive result on young potatoes before the stage of tuber set.

Do you know how to get rid of a wireworm using folk methods?

Original articleand many other materials, you can find on ourwebsite.

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