The wireworm - or the larva of the click beetle - an insect pest that feeds on root crops and delivers a lot of problems to gardeners and gardeners does not tolerate mustard.
Received its unofficial name due to the similarity with solid wireIt has a length of up to three centimeters and a diameter of up to 4 millimeters, dense cover and three pairs of legs symmetrically located at the head.
Table of contents
general information
In the main wireworm attack on gardens, potatoes, radishes, turnips, carrots, turnips are exposed, the larva does not hesitate and onions.
So wireworm to the soul:
- wet places
- acid soils
- dense plantings and deposits of organic residues
How to determine the acidic or alkaline soil in your garden
1 way: Take a closer look at which plants prevail in your area. If the plantain, wheatgrass, weet, horsetail, sorrel - you have sour soil.
2 way: Do the following experience: pour vinegar on a handful of earth. If the soil is alkaline, the reaction will follow - bubbles and “boiling”. If the soil is acidic, there will be no reaction.
Wireworm carefully avoids:
- mustard
- legumes (and therefore nitrogen compounds)
- phytoncides
This is due to the fact that mustard has in its composition sulfur compounds (which accounts for its spicy, pungent taste), which the beetle larva doesn’t like at all.
How to use mustard from wireworm on potatoes
Apply this plant of the cabbage family in two ways.
Application of mustard powder
Necessary when planting potatoes add one teaspoon dry mustard powder to each well.
If the quantity of wireworm passes all bounds, mustard powder can be mixed with red pepper (in accordance with 5: 1). Among other things, both mustard and red pepper also have antibacterial properties.
Seeding as a living fertilizer
Mustard - an annual plant, it able to quickly build up a green mass, accumulating beneficial potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. Mustard must be sown before planting potatoes (April-May) over the entire area of the potato field.
Mustard is unpretentious and can withstand frosts up to -5 degrees. Before planting potatoes, the plant will have time to ripen, it is necessary to mow and dig into the surface layer.
How else can you effectively deal with wireworm
Returning to the list of preferences of the larva of the beetle beetle, we can distinguish three main areas of work in the garden:
- avoiding thick landings
- conducting periodic weed plantations (especially from cereal crops and creeping wheatgrass)
- to work on soil acidity. In the latter will help lime-fluff, chalk, dolomite flour or ground egg shells.
It is advisable to carry out work to reduce the acidity of the soil before the start of garden work: to apply fertilizer to the surface and make a deep digging of the soil. Lime additives are recommended to make no more than 1 time in 3 years.
What is dangerous for potatoes
Damaged tubers become watery, crumble and darken quickly. The waste products of the larvae left in the potato also contribute to fast fermentation.
When harvesting potatoes need to carefully discard the damaged material.If the larvae fall into the vegetable store, they can damage almost the entire crop, moving from one tuber to another.
Chemicals
In the fight against wireworms, widely used are "Basudin", "Stor-2", "Medvedox-U", and "Calypso". Granules of the drug "Provotox", made in the hole during planting, have a long-lasting effect.
The bacteriological preparation Nemabak, a symbiosis of predatory nematode and bacteria, is one of the newest chemical agents. Nematode, getting into the wireworm, starts the destruction mechanism. Moreover, the actions of predators are narrowly focused: it is safe for earthworms and other inhabitants of the soil, as well as for humans and animals.
Other means
Legumes
Legumes produce nitrogen compounds necessary to nourish any garden crops. Nitrogen also reduces soil acidity. And for the gardeners, faced with the larva of the beetle beetle, legumes are of strategic importance.
On the field it is recommended to plant bean rowsinterspersing planting potatoes. Thus, legumes will act as a barrier to a voracious pest.
Onion Husk
When planting potatoes in the hole is added a handful of onion peel. You can enhance the effect by mixing the husks with the needles of any coniferous tree.
Phytoncides is a natural antibiotic that provides the plant's natural immunity. It is proved that these substances are released by absolutely all plants, just some plants produce them only for their own protection, while others are able to help others.
Marigold
Blooming marigold or marigold bushes have a scaring effect for the wireworm. Recommended sow them in rows between rows of potatoes or around the perimeter.
Ash
Wood ash has a neutralizing effect, it is actively used by gardeners in soil deoxidation, in top dressing. It is advisable to make wood ash before digging at the beginning of each garden season.
Siderata
This method is especially recommended if potatoes grown from year to year in the same place. The soil is depleted, and you can only replenish nutrient reserves by adding organic matter.
Siderats - plants grown in vegetable gardens for additional soil nutrition. Usually they are allowed to grow before the formation of seed pods and mow, followed by incorporation into the soil. In the process of fermentation, green manure plants enrich the soil with organic fertilizers.
Starting the fight with the wireworm, you need to remember that the cycle of transformation of the beetle larva into an adult is five years. Therefore, it is not necessary to hope that it can be defeated by one-time measures. We must try to make the life of the wireworm in the garden unbearable, using all of the above in the complex.