In our country, every year a huge number of summer residents are engaged in the cultivation of various crops on their site. In order to get a good crop, plants need to provide proper care, namely: timely watering, nutrition with nutrients, protection from sunlight and pests.
Wireworms are called pests that feed on potato tubers. These worms can significantly reduce quantitative and qualitative indicators of productivity. They live in the land. Sometimes it’s hard to notice the threat. All harm done can be detected only by digging up a vegetable. To avoid unpleasant consequences, it is better to know in advance how to get rid of wireworms at your summer cottage. Experts offer several options for action.
Who is a wireworm?
The wireworm looks like a worm of brown or golden color. This is the nutcracker beetle larva that belongs to the Elateridae family. There are about 400 varieties of this insect in the world. In the territory of the former USSR, the main harm to potato beds is caused by the species Selatosomus and Agriotes. In the European part of Russia, there are click beetles such as Melanotus. The length of the larvae is from 1 to 4.5 cm. A recognizable feature is the body covered with hard shell. Crushing such a bug is quite difficult.
Shelkun can live about 5 years. Four years of them he is in the form of a larva. The first twelve months of life, the insect needs a large amount of food. The favorite delicacy for him are the roots of some plants, for example, potatoes.
Wireworm harm
So what should you expect? Many gardeners are interested in the question of whether it is possible to get rid of wireworms forever. Larvae can draw nutritious juices and substances from the roots, and also cause significant damage to the tubers. Pathogenic microorganisms, bacteria and fungi can penetrate the root through them. As a result, he begins to rot. This reduces the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the crop.
According to experienced agronomists, wireworms inflict landings no less harm than Colorado beetles. But if the defeat of the beds by the last pest is easy to identify and destroy, since they damage only the aboveground part, then wireworms destroy the potatoes, being directly in the ground. How to get rid of wireworm in the garden forever?
Wireworm Measures
Today, methods of controlling wireworm are understood as actions that can significantly reduce the number of larvae on the site without the use of chemicals and special means.
The main ones are:
- Spring digging after harvesting. The depth of cultivation of the soil should be approximately 25-30 cm. When digging, try to choose larvae and adult nutcracker beetles from the ground. Experts also recommend removing weed roots. Wireworms especially like to hide under Ivan-tea and wheat grass. If these plants are available on your site, then when digging them, special attention should be paid to them. Such spring tillage helps to remove clutches of nutcracker beetles from the soil in the spring months. The pest will die under the influence of sunlight. In the fall, when digging, wireworms will die from frost.
- Crop rotation: this method will be especially effective if potatoes are cultivated in large areas. In this case, carefully cultivating the land can be difficult. If you plant potatoes all the time in the same place, pests can get used to it, and their population will grow every year. How to get rid of wireworm on a potato plot? Culture should be changed periodically. For example, after several years of cultivating potatoes, try planting peas or beans in a plot. The wireworms cannot stand them and, most likely, will leave the soil. Buckwheat, lupine, rapeseed, and spring are also suitable for crop rotation.
- Abstraction. There is another answer to the question: "How to get rid of wireworms?" In the aisles, you can plant lettuce bushes. The wireworm loves the roots of this plant. Therefore, instead of root crops, the pest will spread to them.
- Proper watering. Many gardeners are interested in how to get rid of wireworms in the garden with folk remedies. The main reason larvae prefer to eat potatoes is the search for moisture. In dry weather, they can cause serious damage to landings. They can be counteracted by abundant soil moisture during the dry period. The quality of the crop will also benefit.
- Weeding. Another procedure that helps eliminate pests is regular weeding. Larvae can focus on the plexus roots. For this reason, it is not recommended to plant potatoes near lawns and uncultivated areas. If near the site there is untreated soil, then you need to dig a trench 80-100 cm wide. If possible, weed the beds themselves from time to time.
Soil care
Many beginner gardeners are interested in how to get rid of wireworms on the potato plot. One way to reduce the number of larvae is to reduce the acidity of the soil. For this purpose, a procedure such as liming is carried out. This helps scare away the pest. Using plain lime for areas where potatoes are planned to be grown is not recommended. This substance is able to significantly reduce the immunity of the plant. Egg shells, chalk and dolomite flour are best suited for this purpose.
Another simple means by which you can significantly reduce the acidity of the soil is wood ash. As a rule, it is introduced into the ground when plowing, digging and planting in a hole. The ash remaining after burning sunflower or potato tops is also suitable. You can procure wood waste yourself or purchase it at a flower shop.
The use of green manure
How to get rid of wireworm in the garden? Good results are obtained with the use of green fertilizers, or green manure. This is a universal way to improve the soil used for growing agricultural crops. Siderates help saturate the soil with beneficial substances. They also demonstrate high effectiveness in weed control. As a rule, green manure is embedded in the soil. In addition, they help get rid of larvae. Similar siderates include alfalfa, vetch, lupine and mustard. Potato planting owners often plant potatoes on one side of the plot, and green fertilizers on the other, and change their places next season. This method has a significant drawback. About 50% of the soil is idle annually. But this problem also has a solution: green manure can be planted after harvesting early ripe varieties. Green fertilizers usually have time to grow before the onset of a cold pore.
Use of chemicals
How to get rid of wireworms on the site using modern methods? The industry today offers a wide selection of remedies for the pest in question. The gardener who cares about the quality of the crop should use these compounds only in accordance with the instructions for use. This will avoid the accumulation of toxic substances in the tubers. Such funds are absolutely safe when used correctly. In this case, potatoes when eaten will not be dangerous. Before digging and plowing, insecticides are applied in the form of granules.
Thus, you can immediately fertilize the soil and get rid of wireworms. For soil treatment, a solution is prepared consisting of 0.2 liters of acetone, 80 ml of water and pesticides, for example, 1 ml of Karate. Then you should take 5 kg of superphosphate and distribute it with a thin layer. Granules are evenly sprayed with such a solution. Then superphosphate moistened with a solution of pesticides must be dried in the shade. The soil during planting potatoes can also be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. It will not only scare away pests, but also disinfect the earth. This will help you protect the crop from diseases in the future.
How to get rid of wireworm on a potato field?
You can advise some more simple and inexpensive means:
- ammonium chloride;
- ammonium sulfate;
- ammonium nitrate.
Alternative methods. Many beginner gardeners do not know how to get rid of wireworms on a potato field. Experts claim that some alternative remedies are also well suited for pest control.
Here are just a few of them:
- "Aktara." From this tool, it is necessary to prepare a solution for spraying planting tubers. When seeding, you can still add a little dry composition to the wells. Many gardeners have already managed to verify the effectiveness of this tool.
- "Prestige". The technology and principle of action are the same as the previous drug.
- "Bazudin." This tool is characterized by a stronger effect. For animals and humans, this is real poison. It is advisable to use it only if it comes to the defeat of potatoes with wireworms on an industrial scale. The main active ingredient of this drug is diazonin.
- “Thunder”, “Initiative”, “Medvetoks-U”. These funds are dangerous to human health. However, they provide a long and powerful effect.
If you are interested in how to get rid of wireworms forever using chemicals, the options presented above will help you with this. However, be aware that safety precautions must be observed. Follow the instructions strictly and you can avoid problems.
Preparations of biological origin
What to do if a wirewound in potatoes is wound up? How to get rid? Biological methods are extremely effective. They consist in the intentional resettlement of destroying organisms into beds. Nemabakt helps best of all from wireworms. This composition contains microscopic nematode worms. They are inactive in the absence of wireworm. When a worm appears, bacteria have ways to invade his body and cause serious damage to it. When the enemy is eliminated, the nematodes will spread to a new pest.
Folk ways
Many summer residents are interested in how to get rid of wireworm folk remedies. After all, not everyone agrees to use toxic chemicals on their personal plot. Some folk remedies for wireworm can be extremely effective.
Here are just a few of them:
- Nettle infusion. For a pound of greenery, you need to take 10 liters of water. The resulting infusion needs to withstand 12 hours.
- Syrup from celandine. Prepared in a similar way, only 10 liters of water is enough to take only 10 grams of the plant.
- Onion husk. When planting potatoes, a handful of this component is added to each well.
- Eggshell. Used to reduce soil acidity. For maximum effect, it must be evenly distributed over the soil surface.
- If you plant marigold or marigolds next to potatoes, this will scare away the pests.
- Salt also saves well from wireworm. It is enough to just scatter it on the ground. Experts recommend this procedure right before the rain. So the solution will penetrate directly into the ground, closer to the tubers.
Watering with infusions of beds is necessary at least three times. Between treatments should be maintained for a period of a week to 10 days.
Lures
How to get rid of wireworm? There is another way, which is to use special baits. Rye, wheat, corn and barley are great for this purpose. In early spring, two weeks before the tubers are planted, the seeds of these cereal crops are sown on the site. Cereals during this time will have time to germinate and become an excellent food for beetles and larvae of the nutcracker. After 14 days, the earth should be dug up, destroying pests. To enhance the effect, you can additionally treat the seeds of cereal crops with chemicals such as "Karate" or "Decis". This will make it possible to remove all the larvae. These substances will not do any harm to the future potato harvest.
As bait, you can also use slices of carrots, beets or potatoes buried in the ground. Places in which such "goodies" for pests are placed are indicated with the help of twigs. A few days later, it will be enough for you to simply remove the bait and destroy the wireworm by burning or in boiling water. Making the bait is quite simple, even a beginner gardener will cope with this.
How to get rid of wireworm forever? There is one quite interesting and original way. It provides for the use of glass bottles. It is necessary to put a piece of root vegetables in them and bury them in the ground to the neck. It is better to choose a shady place on the site, since wireworms do not tolerate sunlight. The baits are taken out every couple of days and destroyed by the caught larvae. Then they put new pieces in them and again immerse them in the ground.
Conclusion
In this review, we examined how to get rid of wireworms using modern chemicals and folk remedies. In a small suburban area, simple biological preparations and herbal infusions will be effective. If we are talking about growing potatoes on an industrial scale, then powerful chemicals will help cope with wireworms. Of great importance are preventive measures. In spring and autumn, a site for planting potatoes must be dug up. If you follow all these recommendations, then a good potato crop is guaranteed to you.