Content
The most famous enemy of all nightshade crops is the Colorado potato beetle. It parasitizes on fresh leaves of plants and is capable of completely destroying potato or, for example, tomato plantings in a short period of time. It is quite difficult to fight the beetle, since even the destruction of adults by a mechanical method will not solve the problem: the beetle larvae will successfully eat everything that remains of their ancestors. However, even from such a difficult situation, you can find a way out and get rid of the insect. So, different poison from the Colorado potato beetle can be an effective plant protection product. How to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle with folk remedies, biological products and chemicals, we will try to tell you below in the article.
You need to know the enemy "by sight"
Back in 1859, colonies of little-studied striped beetles in Colorado mercilessly destroyed potato fields, leaving residents without a crop. "In honor" of this event, the beetle, originally from Mexico, began to be called Colorado. With merchant ships, the insect has repeatedly tried to penetrate the European continent, however, a successful attempt to resettle the pest dates back to 1918. Gradually, moving from France, the pest conquered more and more space, parasitizing in the fields of nightshade crops. Today the beetle can be found in almost every vegetable garden in Russia.
The Colorado potato beetle is difficult to confuse with other insects. Its shape is oval, convex, dimensions can be quite impressive: length from 8 to 12 mm, width up to 7 mm. On the back of the insect, you can see strong elytra with an original color: 5 black stripes flaunt on each yellow-orange elytra. The wings of this harmful insect are very well developed, which allows it to move freely over long distances. A photo of the Colorado potato beetle can be seen below:
Insects reproduce by mating, as a result of which the female lays the larvae on the lower part of the leaf. In just one day, one individual can lay several dozen larvae. For the season, this figure can reach 1000.
The life cycle of an insect consists of several periods:
- after laying, stationary eggs feed on leaf juices, becoming larvae;
- the larvae eat the pulp of the leaves, leaving only the coarse fibers of the veins. They can move over the entire surface of the leaf plate or move to neighboring plants;
- adult larvae up to 15 mm long burrow into the ground to a depth of 10-15 cm, where they pupate. After 2-3 weeks, the larva turns into an adult, which can lay eggs on its own.
Colorado potato beetle larvae have no wings. Their body is represented by a soft cloth of orange or pink color. This is due to the fact that the larvae, when eating the leaves, digest all trace elements, except for carotene, which gives a certain shade to their body. On the sides of the larva, 2 rows of black dots can be seen.
With the onset of autumn, adult insects burrow into the ground to a depth of 50 cm, which allows them to successfully overwinter and, next year, with the arrival of spring, again activate their harmful activity.
Colorado potato beetle remedies
After reading the description, it should be clear what the Colorado potato beetle looks like, now it remains only to understand how to deal with it.And there are several methods of dealing with the pest: having found a leaf beetle, you can use special chemical, biological substances or folk remedies. Also, when faced with a problem, do not forget about preventive measures to combat the Colorado insect.
Use of chemicals
There are various types of poisons that kill the Colorado potato beetle larvae and its adults. Among other things being equal, the following have the greatest effect:
Aktara
This drug is based on the chemical thiamethoxam. This is a relatively new development of Swiss specialists. The drug can be purchased in powder or liquid form. The substance is dissolved in water: 0.6 g (ml) per 4 l. Use a chemical to spray the tops of the plants. When it gets on the leaves, the drug quickly penetrates through their wax plate and spreads along the stems. Fluctuations in temperature and humidity, as well as rains, do not affect the effectiveness of the substance after it has been absorbed into the plant leaves. The chemical works for 30 days.
The drug has a longer period of protection when watering plants under the root, however, such treatment negatively affects the quality of root crops, which is important when it comes to potatoes. After treatment with Aktara, the larvae and adult Colorado beetles die within 60 minutes.
Fas
This domestically produced drug effectively fights the Colorado potato beetle in potato fields. The chemical is presented in quick-dissolving tablets (1 tablet per 5 liters of water). The active substance of the drug is deltamethrin.
"Fas" has an enteric-contact effect, killing insects immediately after eating the treated leaves. The poison acts for 21 days. An analogue of the drug is "Decis Profi VDG".
Inta-Vir
A well-known drug in the form of tablets. Its active ingredient is cypermethrin. To treat plants, 1 tablet of the substance is dissolved in 10 liters of water and used for spraying. The advantage of "Inta-Vir" is the duration of protection. So, after treatment, the plants will be protected for 69 days. The chemical acts when it enters the intestines of the Colorado potato beetle or its larva.
Apache EDC
The drug has a long duration of action. The chemical is based on the substance clothianidin, which remains in the soil for 120 days, protecting plants from the Colorado potato beetle.
Apache VDG is a highly concentrated substance. To prepare the working solution, add only 0.5 g of the chemical to the bucket of water. When using the poison, adult beetles, larvae and insect eggs are destroyed. The analogues of the drug are "Punisher EDG", "Bushido EDG".
In practice, among all available chemicals, preparations based on imidacloprid have the highest efficiency in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle. These include funds "Zubr", "Iskra Zolotaya", "Commander", "Kalash" and some others. These funds really destroy the Colorado potato beetle, its larvae and eggs quickly enough, providing reliable plant protection for a long period. So, having processed the planting once, you can forget about the pest for 170-180 days. However, it must be understood that this efficiency is provided by the high toxicity of the substance. It penetrates not only the stems and leaves, but also the fruits of various crops. At the same time, the period of complete disintegration of the drug occurs only 700 days after its use, which means that even the next year's harvest will contain a harmful chemical.
Thus, comparing all the listed preparations for the Colorado potato beetle, it is worth recommending "Aktar", since it reliably fights insects and has low toxicity, quickly decomposes in the soil. Among the disadvantages of the substance, one should highlight the rather high cost and the need for repeated use during the season. Information about other chemicals for the Colorado insect can be found in the video:
Biologicals
Many farmers have a negative attitude to various chemicals and do not use them on their sites, referring to the fact that substances accumulate in fruits and negatively affect the human body. Of course, such an effect can be excluded if the drugs are used in accordance with the instructions. But how to deal with the Colorado potato beetle if you don't want to use chemicals at all? In this case, you can recommend highly effective biological products that will protect plantings from the pest and preserve the environmental friendliness of the crop.
Bitoxibacillin
Bitoxibacillin is an effective remedy for the Colorado potato beetle, which consists of a whole complex of beneficial bacteria. They have a phytotoxic effect on the pest without accumulating in fruits and soil. The impact of a biological product begins after the pest eats the bacterium. It affects the digestive system of the insect, as a result, beetles and larvae die within 3 days.
Plants can be treated with a biological product many times at any stage of the growing season, which is its main advantage. As a rule, four treatments are sufficient for plant protection over the entire growing period of the crop. At the same time, bacteria have a better effect on the pest at an ambient temperature above +180C. To prepare a working solution, 50-100 g of a substance is added to a bucket of water, after which the mixture is used for spraying plants.
Lepidocide
This product also contains phytotoxic bacteria that kill the pest, but do not degrade the quality of the fruit. The drug is available in powder and suspension form. For spraying plants, the substance is dissolved in water in accordance with the instructions. The processing is recommended to be carried out in warm, calm weather.
How to spray their plants is decided by each gardener independently. However, the preferred method is using biologics. This is due to the low toxicity and harmlessness of the funds. The disadvantage of using these substances is the need for repeated use.
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Folk remedies
Effective measures to combat the Colorado potato beetle can also be based on the use of folk remedies. Their advantage is availability, safety, environmental friendliness.
Folk remedies for fighting the Colorado potato beetle are based on the use of decoctions and infusions that scare away or poison the insect. So, the following folk recipes show high efficiency:
- Infusion of onion peels is the most affordable remedy for pests. To prepare the infusion, 300 g of husks are placed in a bucket of boiling water and insisted for a day. Horsetail infusion is prepared in the same proportions and using a similar technology.
- Colorado insect infusion can be prepared from walnut shells. To do this, 300 g of the shell is poured with a bucket of water and insisted for a week. You can speed up the process of preparing the infusion by periodic heating.
- A decoction of a pharmacy elecampane is prepared by adding 100 g of herbs to a bucket of water. Boil the mixture for 30 minutes. After cooking, add water to the broth until a volume of 10 liters is obtained.
- The tobacco infusion scares away the harmful beetle. To prepare the product, add 500 g of crushed tobacco and leave for 2 days.
- The infusion can be prepared from wood ash and liquid soap.
All folk remedies for plant protection from the Colorado pest are harmless, but their use allows you to get rid of the misfortune only for a short period of time. So, for effective protection of crops, treatment should be carried out once a week, which requires a lot of time and effort.
You can get acquainted with other folk remedies for plant protection from a harmful beetle on the video:
Preventive methods of plant protection
Many farmers are thinking about how to get rid of Colorado beetles forever. Unfortunately, this is almost impossible. However, it is still possible to protect plants from insects using preventive methods. This requires:
- grow nightshade crops annually in a new location;
- use joint planting of nightshade crops with coriander, mint, elecampane, horseradish, marigolds and some other smelling plants;
- before planting plants, add a significant amount of wood ash to the soil, which will become a source of potassium and phosphorus, and also scare off the pest;
- timely hilling of potatoes is also a measure of plant protection from the beetle;
- regular inspection of plants will allow, at the first appearance of the beetle, to destroy it without allowing it to lay eggs;
- preliminary soil treatment with chemicals. It can be carried out in early spring by watering or sprinkling the soil with chemicals, for example, "Aktara". The substance will destroy beetles in the soil and quickly disintegrate without harming the crop;
- installation of baits over the entire area of the ridges.
The bait method must be used even before the crop germinates. Baits are small containers, for example, cans, inside which are placed pieces of potatoes from the previous season. In search of food, beetles will crawl into containers, which will facilitate their collection for mechanical destruction.
Conclusion
There are many different preparations and products for protecting plants from harmful insects. Each farmer decides for himself how to poison the Colorado potato beetle, depending on what result he wants to get. Of course, the fastest-acting agent with high efficiency is a chemical, however, it is always worth remembering that it has a harmful effect not only on the insect, but also on humans. Biologicals and folk remedies eliminate the lack of chemicals, but they can provide reliable protection of plants only with regular use. Preventive means of controlling the Colorado insect are also not a panacea, however, they can significantly reduce the level of harmful effects. The best effect is provided by complex plant protection with alternating use of all the proposed means.
