Content
- 1 The effectiveness of chemical methods to combat the Colorado potato beetle
- 2 The performance characteristics of the Colorado potato beetle and the fight against it with folk remedies
- 3 How to deal with the Colorado potato beetle folk remedies
- 4 Conclusion
A representative of the American genus of leaf-cutting beetles, containing more than 40 species, the Colorado beetle, after penetrating the Eurasian continent, became a real scourge of agriculture. The beetle that feeds on plants of the nightshade family harms not only potatoes, but also peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. Moreover, all these plants are his "native" food.
It is also good that, having made the decision to emigrate, the Colorado potato beetle did not take with it relatives who remained to vegetate in their homeland. The Colorado emigrant tried to enter Europe illegally several times, but they managed to catch and destroy him. Only in 1918, when during the war people had no time for insects, the Colorado managed to take a foothold in Bordeaux and gain a foothold there. Then the Colorado potato beetle began a triumphant march across Europe.
The history of the penetration of Colorado into the USSR is worthy of spy novels. There are not unfounded assumptions by contemporaries of this event that a biological sabotage took place. At least, the Colorado invader in the 50s penetrated into Poland and the Baltic states not chaotically, but in pockets. In the same way, the Colorada was discovered in 1980 in the Komi Republic in pockets along the roads. Be that as it may, but today the Colorado potato beetle has occupied the entire territory of Eurasia, located at the same latitude as the United States.
Breeders are trying to breed all new varieties of nightshade plants resistant to viral and fungal diseases. They succeed in this. The only thing they can't do is to develop plant varieties that are resistant to insect pests and molluscs.
The effectiveness of chemical methods to combat the Colorado potato beetle
If poisons have already been developed for mollusks, then with the Colorado potato beetle it seems that chemistry does not take it. In fact, this is not the case. The Colorado potato beetle also dies from insecticides like any other insect. But the Colorado has ways of surviving such aggressive extermination of its livestock. The methods are so effective that chemical control against colorado is useless.
The fact is that chemicals act on one stage of insect development. Usually, in pests, developmental cycles are confined to certain months, in which it is possible to poison insects in the stage of either imago, or pupae, or adults, but have not yet had time to lay eggs, individuals. The Colorado potato beetle does not have this. The same bush can contain adults, larvae of different ages and eggs.
The American pest is perhaps the only one with whom folk remedies are most effective from the Colorado potato beetle.
Although, given the number of these methods and the principle "if there are many drugs for a disease, then it is incurable," you can guess that folk remedies for combating Colorado are also not much more effective than chemical ones. But they are at least harmless to humans.
The performance characteristics of the Colorado potato beetle and the fight against it with folk remedies
Before you start fighting this brightly colored insect, you need to find out the reasons for its vitality.
Why is it difficult to remove the Colorado potato beetle from the site:
primarily due to the fact that Colorado is a guest from America and has practically no natural enemies on the Eurasian continent;
- over the summer, a Colorada female is able to lay up to 1000 eggs;
- the beetle is capable of hibernation in adverse conditions for up to three years;
- the insect hibernates deep in the soil, being inaccessible to insecticides;
- Colorads can fly tens of kilometers;
- there is no way to carry out the destruction of the beetle simultaneously throughout the territory of Eurasia.
If the female Colorada mated in the fall, then in the spring, coming out of hibernation, she lays eggs without additional fertilization. Just one female is enough to infect the garden.
Thanks to his abilities, the illegal Colorado migrant won recognition and even monuments from people.
How to deal with the Colorado potato beetle folk remedies
Hand picking of Colorado pests and their larvae from plants is considered the best method. Having collected Colorado from plants, they must be burned or drowned.
This leaves the pests a chance to survive and burns the leaves of the plants.
And if there is no way to come to the dacha every day or the planting area is too large? The number of beetles can be reduced by their natural enemies, which, although few in Eurasia, do exist.
Natural enemies of the Colorado potato beetle
Ground beetles
Beetle larvae are eaten by ground beetles, of which there are quite a few species and they are all predators hunting pests. One of them is a garden ground beetle.
Having found such a beetle in the beds, you should not immediately destroy it. It is a human ally. There are many benefits, but no harm. The exception is the ground beetle, which is unlikely to be able to harm peppers or other crops. She eats grains.
Mantis
Many are afraid of this insect and try to kill it. Not necessary. The praying mantis preys on adult Colorado beetles and other garden pests. Therefore, it is better to welcome the appearance of these predators on cultivated plants.
Perillus
If suddenly, near a clutch of eggs of the Colorado potato beetle, you find such a picture
Do not rush to kill the insect right away. This is not a pest. This is a natural enemy of the Colorado pest, specially imported from America: the predatory perillus bug. The bug larvae cope with the eggs and larvae of the beetle, and an adult may well dine on the Colorado itself.
True, the perillus can be found only in the Krasnodar Territory, where they tried to acclimatize it. Without much success.
In the photo, however, as a victim, a close relative of the Colorado potato beetle, which differs from it only in the color of the elytra. But the perillus doesn't care who there is.
Lacewing
Initially, this predatory insect fed on aphids, so in any case, its benefits in the garden are undeniable. But lately, the lacewing has tasted Colorado potato beetle larvae.
Guinea fowl
It is believed that the beetle can be eaten by guinea fowls. According to the Nizhny Novgorod gardener, who decided to test this statement in practice, they forgot to inform the guinea fowls about their food addictions. Perhaps they should be taught to eat Colorado pests, similar to turkeys. Guinea fowls, in general, are very careful about unusual food and take a long look at it. If they are familiar with striped snails as food, things can go faster.
[get_colorado]
But there is another nuance here. Even if chickens can effectively cleanse your garden of a Colorado pest, they will equally effectively cleanse it of all your crop of peppers, tomatoes, berries and other things, along with plants. But the beetle will definitely not be.Unfortunately, these birds do more harm than help.
Plants that repel the beetle
The Colorado aggressor really does not like the smell of some European plants, and this can be used by planting flowers between the pepper bushes, such as:
marigold
calendula
coriander
They will not only drive out the Colorado pest, but also provide the owner with spices or medicine such plants as:
nasturtium
borage (cucumber herb)
night violet
The same double benefit can be obtained by planting onions, horseradish, or legumes between rows of nightshade plants.
On this, perhaps, the natural enemies of the Colorado potato beetle end.
It remains to figure out how to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle with folk remedies without attracting predatory insects to the garden (if they are present, it will be impossible to pickle any other pests other than the Colorado potato beetle) or planting repelling plants.
Ways to combat the Colorado potato beetle with improvised means
Colorado pest control methods are divided into:
- dry dusting;
- spraying;
- mechanical methods.
For dusting plants, various fine powders are used, up to gypsum and cement:
- sifted ash. Birch ash is considered the most effective. It is argued that a single dusting of a plant is sufficient at the rate of 10 kg of ash per one hundred square meters. Colorades and larvae die after 2 days. But plants should be powdered every 2 weeks before flowering potatoes and once a month after flowering;
- corn flour. The calculation is that having eaten flour particles along with plant leaves, the Colorado pest will die as a result of the swelling of flour particles in its stomach. It is unlikely that the method is effective, since the plants are dusted on wet foliage and the flour will swell even before it hits the beetle;
- cement or plaster. Summer residents practicing this method claim that Colorades are dying. Is the cementitant blocking the intestines?
This is the end of the methods for killing the beetle in a dry way. The range of folk remedies for spraying is much wider.
Recipes for infusions to combat Colorado on plants
There are so many recipes for spraying plants that inevitably the question arises how effective they are. In addition, many infusions kill not only pests, but also helpers. Almost all recipes for infusions require 10 liters of water, therefore, by default, we assume that 10 liters of water are needed unless a different amount is indicated.
For the manufacture of infusions use:
- tar solution. Dilute 100 g of tar with water, apply three times a week;
- sunflower. 500 g of flowers to insist for 3 days;
- elecampane. 100 g of herbs are poured with boiling water and insisted for 2 hours. Spray 3 times during the growing season. The first time after the plants have reached 15 cm in height;
- Walnut. Pour 300 g of shells and dry leaves or a kilogram of fresh foliage with boiling water. Insist for a week. Strain before spraying;
- poplar leaves. Pour half a bucket of foliage with water and boil for a quarter of an hour. Add water to full volume and leave for another 3 days;
- bark of white acacia. Insist a kilogram of chopped bark for 3 days, strain before spraying;
- celandine. Boil a bucket of plants filled with water for a quarter of an hour. The extract is diluted with water at the rate of half a liter of extract per 10 liters of water.
- onion husks. Put 300 g under oppression, pour water with a temperature of 80 ° C, leave for 24 hours;
- wormwood with wood ash. Mix 300 g of bitter wormwood with a glass of ash, add hot water, leave for 3 hours;
- dandelion with horsetail. Boil 400 g of the mixture. Each plant is taken 200 g. After cooling, dilute in a proportion of 0.5 liters of infusion per 10 liters of water;
- hot pepper. 200 g of dried raw materials are boiled for two hours. After cooling, add 40 g of laundry soap to the broth;
- garlic. 0.2 kg of chopped garlic is infused for a day.Add 40 g of laundry soap before use;
- hemp. Boil 300 g of hemp flowers in 5 liters of water for 10 minutes. While the infusion is cooling down, give tea to representatives of the State Drug Control Service and a platoon of riot police. After cooling, add 20 g of soap;
- tomato tops. Not a very hopeful way, as the Colorado pest also eats tomato plants. But sits on them last, so they can be used to scare off the Colorado from potato plants. Two options: a kilogram of finely chopped plants is infused for 5 hours in warm water or 3 kg of finely chopped tomato plants are boiled for half an hour in 10 liters of water. Before use, add 5 liters of water to 1 liter of solution. In both options add 40 g of soap; yellow bitterness. Boil 2 kg of dry plants. Before use add 30 g of soap;
- tobacco. Half a kilogram of stems, dust or roots of the plant is infused for 2 days. Add 2 more parts of water to the infusion and add 40 g of laundry soap;
- nitrogen fertilizer. Dilute 100 g with water. Spray the plants with the solution;
- soda + yeast. Take 300 g of baking soda and yeast, stir in water. Spray the plants with the resulting suspension 2 times a week.
All infusions and decoctions are used only freshly prepared. Soap does not affect the well-being of Colorado, but promotes adhesion of solutions to plant foliage.
We are fighting the beetle in the old-fashioned way. The very recipe for fighting Colorado is spoken only at the end of the video.
Mechanical ways to get rid of the beetle
Sawdust mulching
A good way to scare off the Colorado potato beetle is to mulch the soil between plantings of nightshade plants with fresh pine or birch sawdust. In this way, you can also achieve several goals at once:
- when mulching with sawdust, plants will not grow under bushes weeds;
- the Colorado pest will fly around the beds with nightshade plants on the side, since it does not like the smell of fresh wood;
- as it decays, fertilizer will form.
Onion husks can be used not only for decoctions, but also in dry form. If, in the process of planting nightshade plants, you put a handful of onion husks in the hole, then planting plants will get rid of the Colorado potato beetle. True, the method works in the Nizhny Novgorod region. An experiment carried out in the Donetsk region showed that either "Colorado fusion", or a little husk was put under the plants.
Can trap
A jar made of any material is suitable for traps, as long as it is deep enough. The edges of the future trap are greased with potato juice, several pieces of potato tuber are placed on the bottom. The jar is buried so that the edges are at ground level. Density of the jars: 1 jar per 5 m² of planted plants. Having climbed into the jar, the Colorado pest can no longer get out.
Young potato plants
When the potato plants planted for the harvest rise and grow, several old potato tubers are buried in the aisles. After the appearance of young plants, the Colorado pest will begin to move to tender young leaves, leaving the old coarse plants alone. Colorado potato beetle harvesting from several young plants is easier than from the entire potato plantation.
Natural chemical weapons against the Colorado potato beetle
Poison the Colorado potato beetle can be the Colorado pest itself. To do this, you will have to collect a full half-liter can of Colorado beetles and pour the pests into a 10-liter container of water (it looks like there is something magical in this figure). Cover the container with water. After the Colorado pests drown and sink to the bottom, the solution is ready. Normally, the process of preparing a poisonous solution takes 4 to 6 days. The solution will be ready only after all the beetles have drowned. It is necessary for the toxins from the beetles to dissolve in the water.
Another 2 parts of water are added to the solution.
Ash of Colorado beetles
Collect 200 pests from plants. Make a fire and wait until the wood burns to red coals. In an iron container, fry the Colorado until coals. Thoroughly grind the coals from pests into fine dust. Shake the dust in a standard amount of water and spray the potato plants with the suspension.
Conclusion
Every gardener is trying to invent a new reliable remedy against the Colorado "biological weapons of mass destruction" nightshade plants, but so far no one has found a panacea for the Colorado expatriate.
Given the ability of the Colorado pest to fly and adapt to any chemical influences, gardeners will get rid of the Colorado occupier only when the governments of all countries agree to simultaneously spray all areas affected by the Colorado pest with insecticides. But as a result, all other insects living in these areas will be destroyed. Therefore, gardeners can only slightly restrain and control the growth of the population of the Colorado potato beetle.
