Colorado beetle - the most common pest of potatoes. Every year truck farmers conduct a fierce struggle with it, taking on arms all the new types of drugs that industry offers. Some of them are slightly more effective, others - a little less, but for good to get rid of this insect pest, unfortunately, it does not work. The Colorado beetle hibernates by digging into the ground, and with the appearance of the first green leaves on plants, it lays on them larvae, which after a couple of weeks are transformed into hundreds of new voracious insects. That's why it is so important for every potato owner to know how to properly deal with a beetle.
Practice shows that pickling potatoes before planting will more effectively protect it from the Colorado beetle, rather than the use of chemical and folk remedies after emergence. This procedure makes the potato "inedible" for pests. So, let's find out what can be done with potato tubers in order to protect it from the Colorado beetle.
Measures to protect the potato from the Colorado beetle before planting
"Prestige" - one of the most popular drugs today against the beetle.
"Prestige" will protect your potatoes not only from the Colorado potato beetle, but also from many other pests - wireworm, biting scoop, bear, May bunch, etc. Also, the drug increases resistance to fungal diseases, helps plants better tolerate heat and drought.
However, it should be noted that the processing of potatoes from the Colorado beetle "Prestige" is permissible only for those varieties whose harvest is not collected before August. The fact is that the poison contained in the drug will be neutralized after 60 days. Therefore, for potatoes, "forty-day" and other early varieties, this tool will not work.
Before the advent of the drug "Prestige" on the market, truck farmers successfully used a tool called "Maxim" (by the way, their joint application is even more effective). Also, such disinfectants as Cruiser, Matador Grand, Tabu, Vitavax-200, Kolfugou-super, and Ditan M-45 are used against the Colorado beetle. They, unlike Prestige, have some degree of toxicity, which is not neutralized, and this should be taken into account.
The mechanism for processing potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle before planting is as follows. First you should dry potato tubers. Then - prepare a spray solution (the preparation is dissolved in the amount of water prescribed by the instruction) and mix it well. Potatoes should be sprayed evenly, so that at least 90% of each tuber is treated with the suspension. This procedure is desirable to carry out a manual sprayer, laying under the potato film.
Since any chemical disinfectants, fungicides and insecticides are more or less toxic, treatment of tubers should be carried out according to certain rules. First of all, this is the presence of protective clothing, masks and gloves. In the film, which was sprayed, you can wrap the tubers for transport to the landing site. And the very landing should be carried in gloves.
In addition to pre-planting potatoes from the Colorado beetle, there are other ways to combat this pest:
- planting varieties that are most resistant to beetles (Zarevo, Iskra, Temp, etc.);
- manual destruction of insects;
- creation of traps in the form of a trench or using mosquito nets;
- use of chemical preparations for spraying the planting holes and potato shoots;
- use of folk remedies such as ashes, laundry soap, wormwood, hazel leaves, spicy herbs.