Fighting The Colorado Potato Beetle Folk Remedies

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes without using chemicals

Every season, summer residents are fighting an unequal fight with the Colorado potato beetle. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get rid of it forever, but it is necessary to resist this pest. Specialty store shelves are replete with beetle-killing chemicals. However, over time, the insect adapts to the poison and continues to destroy the plantings. There are reasonable grounds to try folk remedies.

Sawdust mulching

This method of killing the beetle is completely safe for any garden crops. It is based on the intolerance of the aroma of fresh sawdust to the pest. To keep your potatoes safe, simply sprinkle them between the rows.

The greatest efficiency of the method is recorded during the period when the first green potato shoots appear from the ground. Change the sawdust layer up to 3 times a month. And when the flowering period begins, do this no more than 1 time in 30 days. The principle of action is to scare away adults from the culture.

Sprinkle with ash

This method of dealing with the Colorado potato beetle is no longer as humane as the previous one. It is aimed at the physical destruction of both larvae and adult beetles. It should be brought to life early in the morning, while the dew is still on the plants, or after rain. Powder the sifted ash on the potato leaves.

The natural component can be easily replaced with gypsum or cement. For 1 hundred square meters you will need up to 10 kg of ash. The best effect is obtained from the product obtained after burning birch.

Spraying with celandine infusion

Celandine will help to significantly thin out the "livestock" of the Colorado potato beetle. This medicinal plant is detrimental to the potato pest. Infusions are made from it, which are successfully used for spraying bushes and aisles. Also, celandine can be laid out around the tops and in the middle of the beds as mulch.

To prepare the infusion, pour 0.5 kg of fresh raw materials with boiling water in a 10-liter bucket, or boil the composition for 2 minutes and leave it for a day. Then just drain the liquid and start destroying the pest. It is recommended to carry out processing before the flowers appear. Spraying should be repeated every 2 weeks.

Potato peel traps

The Colorado potato beetle eats not only green mass, it is not indifferent to the potato tubers themselves. This feature can be exploited by setting up a pest trap. Pour potato peelings or a vegetable cut into thin slices at the bottom of the glass container.

At the same time, potato peelings can be expanded in the aisles, which will be easy enough to collect after a short period of time (along with the beetles that have settled on them).

Spraying with garlic and onion infusion

Rotting onions can be an excellent prevention of the appearance of the Colorado potato beetle. It is enough to put a small amount of last year's husk into each hole when planting.

To combat larvae and adult insects, it is recommended to spray with an infusion from plants of the Onion family.

200 g of arrows, inflorescences and peelings of garlic or onions must be poured with 10 liters of boiling water, put oppression on top and place the composition for 2 days in a dark place.

At the end of the term, strain the liquid and dilute in a 1: 1 ratio with water. To increase the stickiness of the solution, a couple of drops of liquid soap are added to it.