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Each summer resident tries to plant various crops in his garden, but no one can do without potatoes. To grow a second bread, you will have to work hard: sprout tubers, carefully process the site, plant, weed, huddle. And it is very disappointing when all the efforts made are nullified by the Colorado potato beetle. This gluttonous pest is capable, with a large number, to destroy half the leaf mass of each bush per day. Therefore, it is impossible to hesitate in the fight against this leaf-gnawing bandit.
Ways to deal with the Colorado potato beetle
What tricks gardeners do not indulge in to cope with this leaf-eating pest. Of course, the simplest and at the same time the most effective is to process the potatoes with a chemical agent. There are many insecticides in the arsenal of gardeners today. But not everyone will dare to endanger their health and the health of their loved ones. The mere fact that even going out to the site after processing is possible only after a few days is alarming. And with a careful study of the instructions for the drugs, it becomes clear that it is better to first try to cope with Colorado folk remedies.
Children are very sensitive to the effects of toxic substances contained in insecticides.
Folk remedies
Usually gardeners use the following remedies against the Colorado potato beetle:
- plants with a strong and unpleasant smell for the beetle are planted next to potato bushes, for example, dill, calendula, beans;
- planting is treated with various substances that make the leaf mass of potatoes inedible and even poisonous for him.
Tar from the Colorado potato beetle
One of the means that drives the beetle away with its smell is birch tar. Not so long ago, this tool was widely used in medicine, and once not a single cart could do without tar - it was used to lubricate the wheel axles. But the time of carts is long gone. And in medicine, he was replaced by other drugs. But in the garden, he came to the place and is widely used by summer residents.
In addition to the Colorado potato beetle, it helps in the fight against other pests:
- onion, carrot and cabbage fly;
- wireworm;
- cabbage butterfly;
- various pests of fruit trees.
What is this substance?
Birch bark tar composition
It is a thick liquid, almost black with a greenish tinge in the light, oily. Her smell is strong and peculiar, which rarely anyone likes. The composition of the tar is quite complex, it includes almost 10,000 different chemicals, most of them are contained in scanty amounts. Most of all in it:
- phenols;
- toluene;
- dioxybenzene;
- xylene;
- guaiacola;
- organic acids;
- resins;
- phytoncides.
How tar is obtained
It is extracted from birch bark, which is the top layer of birch bark. Tar of the highest quality can be made from birch bark, removed during sap flow, namely in the last decade of June or in early July, when it is well removed from the main layer of the bark. To obtain it, a dry distillation method is used, that is, heating to a temperature of about 600 degrees without oxygen.In industry, special devices are used for this.
But it can also be obtained at home, although this process is not quick, and the product yield is small. Tar can only be obtained outdoors. To do this, you will need to make a fire, prepare a metal container with holes for the finished product to drain and a pallet where it will drain.
Properties of birch bark tar and its effect on the Colorado potato beetle
Birch tar has long been used in folk medicine, but it is especially important for gardeners that it also has insecticidal properties, and the Colorado potato beetle does not tolerate its smell.
How to prepare the product
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Since the specific gravity of the tar is about 0.940 g / cm 3. and it does not dissolve in water, it will not work to make an ordinary solution. In order for the agent to work well, the tar in the water must be mixed very well and processed immediately, without waiting for it to exfoliate. There is another way, first mix the tar with laundry soap, and then dissolve the mixture in water. The proportions of water and tar remain the same.
Processing
A conventional sprayer will not work for this treatment; the holes in the spray gun will quickly clog. We'll have to use the old old-fashioned method and spray the plantings with a broom, wetting it in the preparation. During processing, the resulting emulsion needs to be mixed frequently so that it does not delaminate. Tar from the Colorado potato beetle should be started already at the germination stage, the treatments should be repeated every 3 days.
The use of tar from the Colorado potato beetle is completely safe for humans, animals and insects. This tool drives the beetle out of the potato plantation and does not allow new individuals to settle on it.
How to apply tar from the Colorado potato beetle is shown in the video:
