Content
The Colorado potato beetle is akin to a natural disaster. So, think farmers, rural residents and summer residents of regions whose fields and gardens are infested with this insect. It is extremely difficult to combat even with pesticides due to its high resistance to poisons. In addition, the beetle already in the next generation develops strong immunity to most chemicals.
Nightshade crops are suffering - potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and to a lesser extent peppers, the yield of which can be halved due to insect invasion. What to do? We will tell you how to fight the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes in this article.
What is the Colorado potato beetle?
It is believed that the homeland of this harmful insect is the northeast of Mexico, from where it moved to the USA in the 19th century, and in the mid-20th century, after several unsuccessful attempts, it gained a foothold in Europe. In the territory of the former Soviet Union, the Colorado potato beetle appeared first in Ukraine, then in the Kaliningrad region and the Baltic states. It was from there that he began his march across the country and since the beginning of 2000 he can be found even in Primorye.
The Colorado potato beetle is a rather nice insect, medium in size, about 1 cm long, with an orange head and abdomen. Its elytra are convex, creamy-white, with black stripes. The beetle larvae are bright orange. During the season, one female lays an average of 500-700 eggs.
The beetles overwinter, burrowing into the ground to a depth of 20 to 50 cm. Their lifespan is 1 year, although some individuals live up to 3 years. pests are able to enter diapause for up to 3 years, which helps them survive hungry years (for example, when a crop is grown in a field that is unsuitable for them to eat). This makes it very, very difficult to fight beetles.
Colorado plants, when eating nightshade tops, accumulate the alkaloid solanine, which is toxic to most animals and birds. Because of this, they have few natural enemies that are unable to contain the beetle population.
Methods for controlling the Colorado potato beetle
Potatoes are the crop that suffers the most from the Colorado potato beetle. In large fields, it is combated with the help of systemic insecticides, which give a good effect for several years, since insects get used to them more slowly than to other poisons. But residual doses of drugs end up on our table along with vegetables. True, genetically modified varieties of potatoes have now been developed; the Colorado potato beetle does not eat them, but who knows what is safer for us to eat – GMOs or poisons?
How to poison the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes is a burning question for any summer resident who wants to feed his family with safe, environmentally friendly products. Unfortunately, modern science has not yet invented a universal remedy for this pest. But it is possible and necessary to fight it.
We will tell you how to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle, give several recipes for folk remedies for its destruction on potatoes, and consider chemical preparations intended to combat the pest.
Pre-planting treatment of potatoes
I really don’t want to mess with the Colorado potato beetle in the summer. How to treat potatoes before planting so that pests do not appear on them? There is a triple-action drug Matador Grand, which protects the plant from many diseases and pests. Potato tubers need to be sprayed as indicated in the instructions immediately before planting. But keep in mind that the product is toxic, its validity period is 60-70 days and is not suitable for processing early potatoes. A mixture of Maxim and Prestige, drugs with the same decay period, helps to cope well with the Colorado potato beetle.
To process early potato tubers, you can use Cruiser or Tabu - products that last for about 45 days.
Crop rotation
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We are often advised to observe crop rotation - do not plant nightshades, including potatoes, in the old place for five years, then, they say, everything will be fine. Indeed, for us to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle naturally, it must take 4-5 years, because it is capable of going into diapause (a kind of suspended animation). But…
What to change with what? Potatoes with tomatoes or sweet peppers? On 6 or even 20 acres, it is simply unrealistic to protect yourself from beetles by crop rotation. We will plant potatoes 10 meters from the previous location. Do you think the Colorado potato beetle won't find it? He can fly.In general, don’t plant any potatoes or tomatoes for 5 years?
Fighting the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes by planting garlic, wormwood, celandine, marigolds, nasturtium or other plants around the perimeter, the smell of which the insect does not like, does not give the desired effect. A couple of beetles will fly over the “smelling” barrier, and that’s it. If anyone wants to try joint planting, that is, alternating, for example, tobacco and potatoes, try it. You will lose both time and nerves.
Preventive measures
It is difficult to prevent the appearance of Colorado potato beetles in a potato field. In addition to crop rotation, which all sources strongly recommend to us, although it is almost impossible to ensure it on 6 acres, we recommend:
- Hill up the potatoes as high as possible;
- a good remedy is straw mulch; it is believed that beetles cannot stand its smell;
- regularly loosen the potato rows;
- After harvesting, carefully remove plant debris.
Traditional methods
In regions where the beetle has been destroying potato crops for more than half a century, many methods have accumulated to combat it. They are quite effective; you can choose several at your discretion, alternate them throughout the season and grow a good harvest without any chemicals.
Collecting beetles by hand
The best, but very troublesome remedy for the Colorado potato beetle is to collect adults and larvae by hand. Pour kerosene or a little saturated saline solution into the bottom of the bucket (there should be enough salt so that it stops dissolving in water), collect the beetles and throw them into the liquid. The bright orange larvae are always located on the underside of the potato leaf; pick it off and throw it in a bucket. Make sure that the beetles do not crawl out of the container.
Ash guards the harvest
Treating potatoes against the Colorado potato beetle with ash is an excellent remedy. You just need a lot of ash. For those gardeners who do not heat wood in the winter, this method of control can pose a problem.
- Early in the morning, after dew, after watering or rain, generously sprinkle the soil and potato tops with sifted ash, using 10 kg of ash per 1 hectare. This should be done before flowering - twice a month, after - monthly.
- Prepare 10 liters of solution from a grated piece of laundry soap, 2 liters of sifted ash and water. In dry, windless weather, treat the potato planting.
Spraying with infusions
Herbal infusions and decoctions can be successfully used against the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes. It is important to consider the following:
- The pest quickly adapts to poisons; infusions must be alternated.
- Allelopathic plants are used for spraying. They not only restrain the invasion of beetles, but also inhibit the growth of potatoes. So the harvest will be environmentally friendly, but it will be 10-14 days late. And this will hurt the pockets of people who grow early potatoes for sale.
- Treatment with infusions will not destroy all pests, but will only reduce their number and curb their spread.
- If there are a lot of beetles, herbal remedies will not give results; you will have to use chemicals.
We bring to your attention the following recipes for decoctions and infusions:
- Fill a bucket with celandine herb, add water, and boil for 15 minutes.Strain; to process the potatoes, add 0.5 liters of the resulting broth to a bucket of water.
- Pour 300 g of onion peel into a bucket of hot water and leave for 24 hours.
- Pour boiling water over a kilogram of green walnut leaves, or even better, 0.5 kg of chopped green fruits, and leave for a week.
- Pour 300 g of crushed wormwood into a bucket of boiling water, leave until it cools completely.
- Boil 100 g of red hot pepper for 1.5-2 hours in 10 liters of water.
- Fill 1 kg of green leaves and tomato shoots with warm water overnight, placing a weight on top.
- Dissolve 100 g of tar in 10 liters of water.
- Chop 200 g of garlic (heads and/or tops with arrows), leave in a bucket of water for 1 day.
- Infuse 200 g of tobacco dust in 10 liters of water for 3 days.
It is better to spray potatoes in the evening in calm weather on dry leaves, adding 2-3 tablespoons of liquid soap to the solution for better adhesion. Remember that there is no point in preparing herbal infusions for future use, since they cannot be stored and spoil after a short time.
We invite you to watch a video about the destruction of Colorado potato beetles:
Chemicals
Not every gardener will collect beetles on potatoes by hand, and preparing and using herbal infusions is troublesome. Not everyone has time to prepare them, especially city dwellers who come to their dacha from time to time. It happens that you planted potatoes, but missed the appearance of the beetles; before you knew it, they were already eating up the tops. All that remains is to poison them with chemicals so as not to lose the harvest. According to the method of influence, they are divided as follows:
- systemic drugs;
- contact preparations;
- biological drugs.
Systemic drugs
They are the most effective, do not wash off with water, and have the longest lasting effect.It is important to pay attention to the waiting period before eating processed plants. It is different for each drug.
We deservedly put Coragen Expert Garden in first place among systemic insecticides. It has a short waiting period of 14 days, low consumption - 0.5 ml per treatment area of 100 m2. It is also highly effective: it does not cause addiction among pests, it affects oviposition, larvae and adults.
Corado, Confidor, Iskra Zolotaya, Warrant, Colorado, Commander, Image, Imidor, Zenit, Monsoon, Zhukomor, Tanrek, Masterpiece, Prestige, etc.
Contact drugs
True to the name. They are not absorbed into the plant, and therefore do not accumulate in it. Contact preparations act on beetles through direct contact. They are easily washed off with water and are addictive. Therefore, it is impossible to treat potatoes with only one preparation; it is better to alternate them. The terms allowing potatoes to be eaten after spraying must be indicated on the packaging.
Aktara, Doctor, Decis, Match, etc.
Biological drugs
They are the safest. They are created on the basis of spore bacteria that cause upset in the digestive system of beetles, causing them to get sick and die. Potatoes need to be processed at least 3 times with an interval of 7 days. Biological preparations do not accumulate in tubers; they can be eaten after just 5 days.
Agrovertin, Bitoxibacillin, Bicol, Fitoverm, Dendrobacillin, Batsikol, etc.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there is no universal remedy. The only consolation is that science does not stand still; new products appear on the market every year.There is hope that the joint efforts of domestic and foreign scientists will lead to the appearance on the market of a drug that is safe for people, which will rid us of the annoying bug in one treatment.
