Earlier, when there were no different chemicals for pest control, our ancestors managed to grow a wonderful harvest of all kinds of crops. How did they do it? The fact is that previously only folk methods of pest control were used. For example, many have used tar to kill most insects. Below we will see how to use birch tar in the garden from wireworm and other pests.
Properties of birch tar
In fact, there are 2 types of tar. Both are made from birch, but in completely different ways. To prepare birch bark tar, dry distillation of young birch bark is carried out. This process takes quite a long time, but it fully justifies it. The birch bark tar product has a pleasant smell. It is often used to treat skin conditions and is also taken orally.
Birch tar is prized for its excellent medicinal properties. With its help, fungal diseases are treated. It is also used as an antimicrobial and antiseptic agent. It is widely used not only in medicine, but also in horticulture and cosmetology. But now we will talk about the use of this substance in the garden or vegetable garden.
Pest control
Birch tar can completely replace pest chemicals. It helps fight the following pests:
- Colorado beetle... The tar product will help to remove the Colorado potato beetle in potato beds, as well as on eggplant and pepper bushes. To prepare the drug, you need to prepare 10 liters of water, 10 grams of birch tar and 50 grams of ordinary laundry soap.
- Onion fly... With the help of tar, prophylaxis against onion flies is carried out. To do this, half an hour before planting, the onions are placed in a bag along with tar and mixed well. For 1 kg of onion, one tablespoon of the substance is needed. You can also water the already planted onions with tar. To prepare a solution in one container, combine a fly in the ointment, 30 grams of laundry soap and 10 liters of non-cold water. After a few weeks, the procedure is repeated.
- Cabbage butterfly... Butterflies can be very damaging to the cabbage crop. To protect the beds, you can place pegs around the area with cabbage. Then they are wrapped with unnecessary rags, which were previously soaked in a tar product. This method will scare off the cabbage.
- Cabbage fly... To scare away insects, you should prepare a special mulch. The sawdust is moistened with a solution of tar and sprinkled on the soil around the heads of cabbage. The solution is prepared at the rate of 10 liters of liquid per 1 spoon of tar.
Fighting the wireworm
Most often, the wireworm affects the beds with potatoes, although it loves to feast on other root crops. Even the most powerful chemicals are not able to completely destroy the pest. However, with the help of birch tar, it is as easy as shelling pears to do it.
The fight should be started even before planting the potatoes in the holes. The planting material is treated with a solution based on a tar product. To do this, mix water and one spoon of tar in one 10-liter container. The solution is thoroughly mixed, and then applied to the potato tubers using a spray bottle.
For those who grow potatoes by seed, the following method is suitable:
- it is necessary to prepare a solution of tar from 10 liters of water and 2 teaspoons of the substance;
- the mixture is left for an hour to infuse;
- then dig holes for sowing seeds;
- using a spray bottle, spray all prepared wells with a solution;
- start sowing seeds.
If the site has never been processed, shock prevention against the wireworm can be carried out. To do this, first process the potato tubers, and then the holes with a solution of tar. Further, you can use only one of the listed methods.
If you grow potatoes with tubers, then you can carry out additional prophylaxis against wireworm. For this, the tubers themselves are first prepared. They are abundantly sprayed or dipped in a tar solution. Then the potatoes are placed in the dug holes, but they are in no hurry to bury them.
Further, sawdust and again the same solution of birch tar will be useful to us. The first step is to prepare a solution according to the recipe described above. Only the amount of ingredients should be significantly reduced. The volume of the solution depends on the size of the site and the amount of sawdust.
Sawdust is slightly moistened with the prepared mixture and lightly sprinkled with the potatoes placed in the holes. This will provide additional protection for the crop. Remember that you can use the above methods both individually and in combination. Below you can find a video showing how this can be done.
Conclusion
From this article, we can conclude that you should not neglect folk methods for pest control. As you can see, such methods have proved to be excellent in practice. In addition, the tar product is a completely ecological substance that will not harm human life and health in any way. Of course, you will have to spend a little more time preparing than usual. But, the effort spent will surely be rewarded.
The above describes how you can fight other common insects that destroy part of our harvest every year. Let's not allow any pests to settle in our garden!
