The birthplace of this annoying beetle is one of the Mexican provinces. After he destroyed the potato fields of Colorado, he began to be called that way: the Colorado potato beetle. Its larvae also feed on other solanaceous plants, including tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.
A little about the pest
Earlier, caring for a plot with planted potatoes consisted of timely loosening and removing weeds. Now the main struggle for the harvest is to destroy the intruder. In the spring, as soon as the soil temperature reaches 12-15 degrees, the beetles come to the surface from a depth of 20-30 cm. Eggs appear from the underside of the potato leaves throughout the summer. After a week, they turn into larvae. Larva of the Colorado potato beetle (see photo below) - more malicious and voracious pest.
In a short time, a potato field can turn into bare stems standing alone. A month later, the larva turns into an adult insect. If the summer turned out to be hot, he has timegrow several generations of pests.
Ways to fight
For many years, hordes of pests have been attacking immature seedlings of tomatoes, potato plantings, as well as peppers and eggplants. Mankind has invented many ways to deal with an annoying neighbor. The Colorado potato beetle is very dangerous: the larvae often completely destroy the gardeners' plantings. Therefore, it is important to expel pests from the site. There are four main methods on how to kill the Colorado potato beetle and larvae. The most time-consuming method is mechanical. It consists in the periodic collection and destruction of beetles, their eggs and larvae. In this way, only small plantings of potatoes can be cleaned. A field of several hectares cannot be physically cultivated.
The next method - biological - involves the use of insects, birds and microorganisms. Completely harmless and promising. The agrotechnical method is crop rotation, selection of high-quality varieties, “not favorite” beetles, measures to improve and develop plants. There is also a chemical method of influencing the pest.
Using mechanical techniques
At the summer cottage, small beds with potatoes are regularly inspected, collecting pests that have appeared after winter. You can arrange some kind of bait. In the spring, and also after harvesting, tin cans are added dropwise at the same level with the ground. They lay out pieces of potatoes treated with chlorophos. Beetles crawl inside the jar and die. If you lay out piles of cleanings in different places in the garden, a large number of insects gather on them. It remains to douse them with a combustible solution andburn.
After the appearance of potato sprouts, pests are collected in a jar, for example with kerosene. Look closely at the bottom of the leaves. Egg clutches destroyed in time are thousands of larvae. How to get rid of Colorado potato beetle larvae? It is most convenient to shake them off the bush into a wide container of water so that they do not spread.
Biological warfare
Biologically active agents basically have bacteria, which, after appropriate processing, get inside adult insects and larvae. Reproducing strongly, they have a detrimental effect on the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle. The fight against them consists in spraying drugs several times a season with an interval of a week. Biological solutions are not harmful to other living beings. They do not pollute the earth and air. The disadvantage of the method is that it is necessary to spray each newly appeared batch of larvae and beetles.
Chickens of a certain breed, as well as guinea fowl, can become helpers in the fight. To the smell of potato tops and pests, birds are accustomed gradually, mixing them into food. Grown up chickens and guinea fowls are released into the potato field. Before this, the birds are not fed. Potatoes must not be processed to prevent chickens from pecking at the affected larvae.
Agricultural practices
Although there are no perfectly resistant varieties of potatoes against the pest, some of its species are ignored by beetles. Therefore, you should not plant the same variety year after year. Varietal material should be updated. It is recommended to plantpotatoes as early as possible and already with sprouts. Then, by the time the larvae emerge, the potato tops will grow and get stronger.
The question of how to deal with the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle has long been of concern to agronomists. Hilling up only emerging potato sprouts is effective. This technique leads to a decrease in the number of ovipositions by more than 50%. Loosening the soil between rows will destroy some of the pupae that have gone into the soil for the next stage of development. You can mow and destroy the tops a week before harvesting. Then the beetles are deprived of food during the period of preparation for wintering, which is important for them. Deep digging or plowing is carried out in late autumn. Then the individuals who have left for wintering will be on the surface of the soil and will die when frost occurs. Thanks to such activities, work with the pest will be much less next year.
Methods of exposure through chemicals
Many gardeners use chemicals. With each season, along with already familiar and proven means, new ones appear. Sometimes it is difficult to understand their abundance. Moreover, there is a desire to find the most effective means, and at the same time safe. It is known how voracious the larva of the Colorado potato beetle is. Photos of the destroyed landings speak for themselves. Preparations are of contact and systemic action. It is better to choose a combined remedy. Contact insecticides act by contacting the pest. They are easily washed off, and after rain, re-treatment is required. In places where the solution did not get, the beetles continue to destroy the bush. Intraplant preparationsaccumulate in the leaves and remain there for a long time.
In order for the beetles not to get used to poisons, the means of processing should be changed periodically.
Most used drugs
When using this or that pesticide, you need to strictly follow the instructions. Expired funds must not be used. The annotation should have data on the active substance of the pesticide. The composition of drugs with different names often includes the same active substance. The basis of such systemic drugs as "Prestige", "Confidor", "Zhukomor", "Ratibor" is imidacloprid. But thiamethoxam is the active ingredient of Engio, Doctor, Aktara.
The drug "Prestige" is especially in demand. The tubers are processed before planting. The active substance rises along the emerging sprouts.
Young potatoes can be used after the specified period. It is not very convenient to process tubers from all sides. But crops do not require spraying from such a pest as the Colorado potato beetle. The larvae appear later, and they can no longer cause significant damage, as the tubers have formed.
Folk methods
Folk remedies for the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle are very diverse and almost always harmless. It is recommended to spray potato plantings with a solution of tar. 100 g of birch tar are diluted in 10 liters of water.
Soap is widely usedash solution. The ash is boiled for 15 minutes. To 10 liters you need to add 50 g of soap. Leaves of plants can be sprinkled with dry ash, cornmeal or cement dust. Flour or cement swells in the stomach of the pest, the beetles die, their numbers are reduced.
Nicotine contained in tobacco waste has a detrimental effect on beetles. Use strained infusion + 40 g of laundry soap. To do this, 500 g of raw materials are infused in 10 liters of cold water for two days.
Sprinkle the bushes with the following infusion: fresh leaves and 2 kg of green walnut fruits, 300 g of shells are poured with a bucket of boiling water. The infusion is prepared from autumn and kept until the next season.
Use herbal decoctions
Using decoctions and infusions of medicinal plants, you should observe how the larva of the Colorado potato beetle looks right after treatment. This will help to correctly evaluate your actions and determine the required amount of plant materials.
The recipe is as follows: 250 g of wormwood, a glass of ash and 10 liters of boiling water. Infuse for 3 hours, the infusion is ready to go.
Dandelion and horsetail take 250 g each, boil for 15 minutes in 10 liters of water. We filter the solution. The decoction is concentrated. Therefore, each liter taken is diluted with a bucket of water.
100 g of elecampane root is steamed with boiling water. After the mass is infused and cooled, sprayed with a solution three times a month. You can also use celandine grass. The resulting solution is diluted from the following calculation: half-liter jar for 10 literswater.
In a bucket of water insist 100 g of red hot pepper. Add two grated pieces of laundry soap. The infusion is ready to be processed.
Tomato leaves are somewhat poisonous. Boil 4 kg of raw materials in 10 liters for 40 minutes. The broth must be diluted with water in a ratio of 2:10. For better adhesion to the plant, add 50 g of shabby laundry soap.
Some interesting tricks
When the question arises of how to poison the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle, it will not be out of place to know that pests are sensitive to odors. Plants planted between rows or along the perimeter of a potato plot with a strong odor can scare them away. There is no 100% certainty in getting rid of uninvited guests, but you can try. Flowers such as marigolds, calendula, night violet, nasturtium are planted. And also dill, garlic, borage, beans, beans.
For the same purpose, rotting onions and their husks, pine and birch sawdust are laid out between the rows. Treatment of crops with urea gives a double benefit - it is pest control and plant nutrition with nitrogen. After harvesting, a one-time field treatment is carried out with a 4% solution of chicken manure.
There is an opinion that the beetle does not tolerate the smell of citrus fruits. Peel dried over the winter can be spread between potato bushes.
Safety rules
There are many different means to protect plants from pests. They are sold both in speci alty stores and markets. Entrepreneurial merchants sell their goods inelectric trains, where there are many summer residents. Now the Colorado potato beetle (larvae, in particular) has become resistant to various pesticides. It is worth purchasing funds only in specialized outlets. The product must be certified, have detailed instructions for use, original packaging and appropriate inscriptions.
When working, personal safety measures should be observed, do not forget about rubber gloves, gauze bandage, glasses. For spraying, you need to use special tools. Dilute drugs with strict observance of the instructions. Work should be carried out in the morning or in the evening, not in the heat and in the absence of wind.
In pest control it is better to use biological methods, do not forget about your own he alth and safety. And may a good harvest bring you only joy!
