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Processing potatoes from all kinds of diseases and pests Is an extremely important procedure that should not be ignored. Every year from fungal diseases, as well as from attacks of both underground and terrestrial insects, gardeners lose up to 60% of the harvest. Faced with these problems, they begin to look for a solution that will help rid the potato of these misfortunes. Someone begins to use various folk recipes to protect potatoes, and someone buys ready-made chemical preparations, which include the Prestige drug. Processing potatoes before planting using this tool has its pros and cons. We will talk about them in this article.
Description of the drug Prestige
Prestige refers to chemical dressing agents for potatoes and other vegetable crops. This drug has a broad spectrum of action, which has a variety of effects on plants:
- Insecticidal, which allows you to protect potato plants from lepidoptera and isoptera insects, Colorado potato beetle, aphids, wireworms, leaf beetles, leafhoppers, midges, May beetle larvae.
- Fungicidal, due to which the likelihood of disease of potatoes and other vegetable crops with the most common diseases, such as powdery mildew, rot, mold, scab, septoria and brown rust, is reduced.
- "Anti-stress effect", which contributes to the accelerated development and growth of the cultivated crop. In addition, tubers treated with Prestige will have faster germination and shoot formation.
- Increase of tubers with a presentationas well as overall yield.
Prestige Composition
The main substances due to which the Prestige effect is achieved are:
- Imidacloprid is from the chloronicotinyl class. Imidacloprid is distinguished by its excellent systemic and contact action. The concentration of imidacloprid will be 140 g / l. Its main action is associated with blocking the transmission of nerve impulses to postsynaptic membrane receptors. For humans, this substance is not very dangerous, but for insects, even its insignificant concentration is destructive. Imidacloprid breaks down rather quickly into individual elements, therefore, by the time the crop is excavated, it will no longer be in the tubers.
- Pensicuron, which is a contact pesticide. Pencycuron, which is responsible for pesticidal action, inhibits biosynthetic processes in the body of the fungus and inhibits their germination. The concentration of this substance in the preparation is 150 g / l. The disintegration of the pesticide into individual non-toxic substances occurs in 40-50 days.
Due to such a decay time of pencycuron, the use of Prestige is possible only on vegetable crops with a medium or long ripening period.
The principle of action of the drug Prestige
After planting potatoes treated with this preparation, the active ingredients react with soil moisture and are released. Thus, they surround the potato tuber with a protective halo. With the further growth of the plant, the active substances come not only from the treated tuber, but also through the soil around it. As a result of this, there is a systemic and uniform distribution of substances over all vegetative organs of the plant.This distribution ensures reliable protection of potato plants and tubers from various pests throughout the growing season.
In addition to the protective effect, the drug has a general strengthening effect on potato plants. Plants treated with this drug are much better able to withstand such unfavorable conditions as:
- drought;
- heat
- a sharp change in temperature;
- lack of light.
The period of activity of the drug Prestige
The general period of preservation of the activity of the drug Prestige is about 2 months after the treatment of tubers. In this case, a pronounced fungicidal effect will last from 30 to 40 days. Such a period of activity of Prestige allows to provide powerful protection to potato plants throughout their growth.
The values given are for general purposes only. For different pests, the duration of the Prestige protection activity will be different:
- throughout the entire growth period, the potatoes will be reliably protected from wireworm, scab and rhizoctonite;
- within 37 days after germination of tubers, plants will receive protection from the Colorado potato beetle;
- 39 days after germination, potato plants will be protected from aphids.
Safety measures when working with Prestige and its toxicity
When working with any chemical preparation, including Prestige, you must observe safety measures. When using it on the gardener, the following personal protective equipment must be available:
- gloves;
- respirator or gauze bandage.
As for the toxicity of the drug, it definitely exists. The instructions for the drug indicate that it belongs to the 3rd class of toxicity, that is, it is moderately dangerous.
It contains pesticides that take time to degrade and eliminate. That is why it is forbidden to process early potato varieties with Prestige. Tests carried out in laboratory conditions have shown that the zero concentration of the drug in tubers is reached only after 50-60 days from the moment of treatment.
Pros and cons of Prestige
The following advantages of the Prestige drug can be distinguished:
- harmful effects on pests and insects;
- protection against fungal and infectious diseases;
- strengthening the resistance of plants to unfavorable conditions;
- acceleration of germination of tubers;
- improving plant growth;
- strengthening the processes associated with plant photosynthesis.
In addition to the above advantages, the drug also has disadvantages:
- toxicity;
- price.
How to use Prestige
Prestige is used for pre-sowing protective treatment of potato tubers.
There are two ways to use Prestige to protect potato tubers:
- Pre-processing... With this method, potato tubers must be treated with Prestige 2 or 3 weeks before planting in the ground. It is necessary to process potato tubers with Prestige only in a dry room, in which there is no drinking water and food. Before processing, the tubers must be well dried, laid out on a film and sprayed abundantly with a working solution, which is prepared by mixing 10 ml of the drug with 200 ml of water. This amount is enough to process 10 kg of planting material. If fewer or more tubers need to be processed, the proportions must be reduced or increased accordingly. The solution should be prepared immediately before processing, without subsequent storage. After processing, the tubers must be left for germination. Processed tubers should only be transported or transported in sealed bags.
- Processing before planting in the ground... The working solution for this method is prepared in the same proportion: 10 ml of the drug per 200 ml of water. Before processing, the tubers must be laid out on a film and sprayed evenly with Prestige solution. They should not be planted immediately after processing, they should dry out a little. This is done so that the solution has time to be absorbed into the tubers, and not go into the ground. Only after the surface of the tubers is dry can they be planted in the ground.
When processing a small number of tubers by any of these methods, you can not spray them with a solution, but dip them into it. In this case, the tubers should be placed in a net or bag.
Prestige is simply indispensable for growing potatoes on a large scale. For personal subsidiary plots, this drug is not yet so actively used. Some gardeners do not use it due to the existing toxicity, others are used to fighting pests in the old fashioned way using ash and various infusions. But there are those who have tried Prestige on their potato beds and shared their feedback about it.
