Description of pests of potatoes, treatment and control. May beetle control measures

We all love potatoes, so most of the owners of summer cottages grow it.

To get a good harvest (and even better, earlier) summer residents begin to prepare seed tubers long before planting, then they are planted, they carefully look after the plantings.

But, nevertheless, sometimes the potato crop does not please us at all.

For a person, potatoes are the second bread, but there are also competitors. For them, potatoes are sometimes the first bread.

These are numerous pests of potatoes. Most of them love, like us, to feast on a tuber (bear, wireworm and others).

There are also those who adore potatoes from tuber to flower (Colorado potato beetle).

The main pests of potatoes in most regions are Medvedka and the Colorado potato beetle.

There are many more rare but also harmful insects. For all these gourmets, the gardener needs to save potatoes.

Characteristics of potato pests

Many of the plant pests are remarkably resistant to environmental influences.

They also adapt to the action of pesticides - they develop protection and genetically transmit it to their offspring.

Not an easy task - a vegetable garden in the country. But the summer resident knows how to protect the potatoes.

And there are many pests.

Colorado beetle

Dangerous pest of potatoes: it can completely destroy the plantings.

Mexican in origin, the beetle got its name after massive damage to potatoes in Colorado.

It happened back in 1859 already.

A quarantine pest came to the territory of the USSR a hundred years later, having first chosen the Ukrainian SSR.

It was possible to contain it until 1975. After that, the Colorado potato beetle managed to settle from the European territory of the country to the Far East.

Description... A bright, conspicuous, striped beetle.

Dimensions - 10 mm on average. Solid, shiny orange body. Rigid elytra have strictly five stripes lengthwise. The stripes are black. Under the elytra are membranous wings.

Due to the membranous, the beetle flies well.

The most harmful are the reddish-orange beetle larvae. They hatch from small yellow, clustered rows of eggs.

The eggs are attached to the bottom of the leaf and are not immediately visible. But the work of the larvae cannot be overlooked. They are extremely voracious, grow quickly, half outgrowing the length of their parents (15 mm).

Biology... In the spring, male and female beetles, ready for breeding, emerge from winter shelters.

They hibernated deep in the ground, sometimes deeper than half a meter, already as adults. By the time of release, the Colorado potato beetle already has comfortable conditions development.

Before the appearance of nightshades, it will not come out, it will wait for the heat. One female beetle will lay up to a thousand eggs per season (depending on the region, how many generations will have time to give).

For half a month of feeding, the hatched larvae undergo four molts.

Eating foliage to stems, they grow and go into the ground. There, shallow (10 cm), they pupate.

In two, sometimes three weeks, it is already an adult beetle. He either goes out to continue the invasion of the nightshade, or remains in the ground for the winter if the feeding season is over.

Extreme heat or chemical treatments "drive" the beetle, causing long flights.

He can overcome tens of kilometers "flying". Having found a suitable place, he will continue his destructive activity.

The beetle loves the young foliage of potatoes, from early plantings, it partially moves to those that are younger.

When the potatoes are finished, or they were dug up by the owners, the beetle does not fly away. Moves to tomatoes, planting peppers.

And she especially loves eggplant beds - they get no less than potatoes.

Control measures... The beetle is little afraid of "chemistry": it dies partially, not from all poisons and not in all phases.

The survivors continue to develop and feed, produce offspring resistant to the drug.

This is a problem for production plantings, but the gardener can protect his site from potato pests.

The techniques and methods are as follows:

Mechanical;
Agrotechnical;
Biological;
Chemical.

Mechanical- not a single Colorado beetle has yet managed to develop resistance against a broom and a bucket of stability.

We substitute a bucket from one side of the bush and sharply shake it off with a broom with a gentle shake on the other side into the bucket - beetles.

There should be liquid at the bottom of the bucket, preferably with the addition of diesel fuel or pesticides. So that the Colorado potato beetle could not crawl out or fly away. You will have to do this often.

Some females will still have time to lay eggs on the bottom of the sheet.

This can be easily eliminated: with fingers in work gloves, we press down the sheet from above and below in the place of laying. The eggs are crushed, the leaf remains intact.

If you overlooked or missed the moment, and larvae appeared, a broom will help again.

Only the bucket must be substituted quickly, but carefully - the larvae, like beetles, pour down from the touch instantly. Like overripe apricots from a branch in the wind.

This is an adaptive reaction: to fall and hide, to survive.

It is necessary to adapt with a beetle: who will outwit whom.

There is also a method of fishing with bait. The potatoes have just risen, the beetle has gone upstairs, hilling is carried out with the seedlings falling asleep.

And in the aisles, pieces of cut potatoes are laid out. Hungry beetles will find them, and the landlord will find the beetles themselves.

Agrotechnical... We take into account the biology of the pest.

It hibernates in the soil. This means that a well-thought-out crop rotation is required. Alternation of crops on the site.

We do not plant potatoes in the same area - this is strict. After nightshades, you can't either. Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers grew on the site - these are unsuccessful predecessors for potatoes.

Planning for planting near these crops is another mistake. Crop rotation along the way and from other pests of potatoes will alienate its plots.

Digging. Having dug up the site before the frost, you will break the "apartments" of those individuals that remained shallow wintering.

Not all lie in winter dormancy at great depths, especially in regions of mild winters.

Some of the beetles will freeze (remember - one female is capable of producing a thousand offspring).

Spring re-digging or milling of the soil that is already almost ripe, but still cold for the pest, will complement the process.

Biological... The use of drugs that have a detrimental effect on the beetle.

Nobody else is harmed by them. The long-known bitoxibacillin is still relevant today.

The later ones are also used: agravertine, fitoverm.

Chemical... If it is not possible to cope with the beetle, the deadlines are missed, and instead of leaves on the potatoes in rowan bunches - larvae Colorado potato beetle, you have to use insecticides.

It is advisable not to bring potatoes to such an unpleasant state.

This is the loss of yield (or even the entire crop), and the contact of the gardener himself with poisons.

Previously, organophosphate pesticides were actively used, now they are trying to avoid them: they are highly poisonous.

Chlorophos - the former protector of potatoes - is prohibited, karbofos is almost never used.

Aktara is a good preparation - sticking to the leaves, it is not washed off by rain. Protects the month, does not penetrate the tuber.

Medvedka

The pest is large, polyphagous, and numerous. Externally differs from other insects in size and appearance.

Potatoes are among the favorite treats of the bear, like everything juicy that is located underground.

Description... It's hard not to recognize the insect, the bear only looks like itself.

Refers to Orthoptera: it has wings. It flies, however, very rarely, and it gets out of the ground at night. During the day, it is difficult to see a bear, if only when digging the soil.

The color of the body is brown, the abdomen is lighter than the front.

Medvedka (adult) is larger than five centimeters. The front part is hard - the shell. It is shorter than the soft abdomen.

The shell allows the bear to pull its head into it, but not completely. The oral apparatus is well suited for gnawing and crushing plants.

The front legs of the bear are digging, with them she makes underground passages, equips nests.

A relative of crickets, the bear cannot jump. But under the ground, close to the surface, it can "emanate" almost the entire garden.

Biology... Loves warmth and moisture. But he settles almost throughout the country.

Only northerners were lucky not to meet this potato pest.

Polyphagous, almost no vegetation will be neglected. Because - tenacious.

The female builds nests in the soil, chooses the depth according to the temperature: so that her incubator warms up.

Cuts plants over the nest and monitors temperature constancy.

Three weeks or a month and a horde of small spears of the bear, still soft, light gray, ready to feed. There are 200 or more of them in the nest.

Control measures... It is difficult to fight the bear. General measures the fight against various pests of potatoes (and the bear too) - as well as in the fight against the harmful Colorado potato beetle.

These are crop rotation, agricultural technology, poisoned baits.

Traps of different types are also used:

Fishing dung pits (before winter);
Buried bottles with leftover beer.

Chemical measures are difficult, preparations are used only with grain mixture in the wells during planting, but this is ineffective.

Wireworm

Damaging tubers, in addition to aesthetic harm and deprivation of presentation, the wireworm opens an entrance for fungal infections, bacterial lesions.

Description... The wireworm is a black beetle, the adult length is 5 mm.

Dense long worm-like larvae are harmful. They are yellow, multi-segment. Gluttonous, like all insect larvae.

Such a larva pierces a tuber through and through, like a wire, which is why, perhaps, the beetle itself received the name.

The beetle is also called a clicker: if you put it on a hard surface with its back down, the beetle bends, emitting a characteristic click. At the same time, he rolls over to his feet.

In the "pre-computer era" children loved to watch these revolutions.

This is also a defining feature: having found a similar beetle on the site, you can check - a wireworm or another type of insect. He clicks and turns over, which means - he.

Biology. Long-liver - the larva can perforate a potato in the area for 5 years before pupating in the soil.

In winter, she hides deeper into the ground - half a meter. Adult clickers hibernate shallowly.

Having matured, the larva pupates, then transforms into a young beetle, which will fly out to egg-laying in the spring.

Control measures... General agronomic, adopted for potatoes, plus specific for the pest.

The scent of marigolds frightens off the wireworm, for him it is unpleasant.
He does not like the neighbors of the legume family - you can sow peas along the potato, next to the plot - alfalfa. Beans, if they are bush, are also suitable for neighbors.
Potatoes have hard-to-eliminate enemies, and the wireworm is no exception. Summer residents adapt to at least reduce the number of pests with traps. For bait, pieces of potatoes are laid out on the site. Put chopped tubers and jars buried flush with the ground.
You can make a "shish kebab" for the larvae - string potato pieces on sticks or wire and dig into the soil of the plot. Reach out periodically, destroying the caught wireworms.
Create an acceptable environment for the birds in the garden to help catch the clicker. Put on water - birds settle near the water. Just do not forget to put a plank in the water: sometimes the bird falls into the container and cannot get out. The board will help out.
Destroy wheatgrass, this is a wireworm breeding ground.
The wireworm selects acidic soils. Lime them, add chalk, ash (wood).
Biological method: bio-soil "Protection". It is laid out in the holes when landing. The wireworm will face its enemy, the wireworm nematode Nembak, and will be defeated.

Nematode

The potato has a named enemy: the golden potato nematode. Sounds beautiful, looks unsightly.

The damage is enormous. It is specific, develops on potatoes and plants of its family - Solanaceae. Affects the roots.

Description... A nematoda is a miniature, microscopic worm. It does not grow more than a millimeter, but nematodes are numerous.

First, the roots are affected - tubers may not develop on the potato at all.

There are types of nematodes affecting the tuber. This is the stem nematode. It strikes the stem, trying to compensate for this, it branches heavily, bushes.

By the end of the growing season, the nematode passes to the tubers, it is not visible - it is shallow.

Already during storage, it becomes clear: the tubers are infected. They turn blue in places, the peel is covered with cracks, interior turns into dark dust.

By the spring, almost the entire crop can be lost in storage.

If the bushes do not grow, the roots are covered with swellings, there are almost no tubers and they bulge ugly - this is a root nematode.

Control measures... Nematodes infect the soil, then live in the infected area for many years.

Only prevention is effective here:

Healthy planting material;
Competent crop rotation;
Separate storage of tubers intended for seed purposes;
Disinfection of the tool if it came into contact with the soil, where the nematode could be kept;
Autumn digging;
Disinfection of tubers with potassium permanganate - with a weak solution - before planting;
Pre-planting application of urea to the site;
Adding ash to the hole.

Naked slugs

These unpleasant molluscs are very harmful. Potatoes, however, are rarely attacked.

They prefer the non-poisonous tender foliage of cruciferous plants: lettuce, radish, cabbage.

They can feast on onions: eat the foliage right up to the bulb.

If the slug suffers such a setback that there is nothing like it on his table, and such luck that the year turned out to be rainy, the toothy one will come to the potatoes.

It will reach the tuber and feed, spoiling the crop for the owner of the site.

Control measures... Usual, improvised means:

Traps - wet rags, boards, cardboard - laid out in different places at night, will work during the day. The slugs will hide there from the light and heat. After removing the shelters, the insects are easy to collect. If there are chickens and especially ducks in the country, they will be happy with such feeding.
Sprinkling ash between rows: the slug will not overcome the obstacle, the alkali burns its body.
You can cover the approaches to the potatoes with a layer of sand - the slug will not dare to move along the sand.
Slug doesn't like strong coffee either. Spraying the seedlings and surrounding soil with coffee solution will protect the potatoes.
Slugs die from salt, but it is undesirable to salt the soil - plants will not be happy with salt either.
You won't find a slug in parsley. This pest does not like the smell of potatoes spicy herbs... If it annoys potatoes a lot, sow parsley next to it - see the result.

Potato scoop

The potato and the scoop have their own - potato. But the pest is not specific, polyphagous, despite the name.

The scoop is an inconspicuous brownish, sometimes gray, medium-sized butterfly. Wingspan: 3-4 centimeters.

The butterfly is only harmful as a producer, and the caterpillar causes the damage.

All caterpillars are gluttonous. The scoop roams at night, hiding in the prudently gnawed potato tubers during the day.

Control measures. You just can't take a scoop, in addition to agricultural technology, you will have to connect "chemistry".

This will reduce the environmental friendliness of the product, but provide it with a chance to exist.

Try to take the drugs that are the safest. Nembakt, Aktellik, Bazudin.

Follow the instructions - take care of your health, busting is dangerous.

Khrushch

May beetle larva - the problem of the potato site. She loves to eat, the size (4 cm - adult) dictates the appetite.

I crunch a tuber - both a table and a temporary home. The larva eats this house from the inside to the skin.

This potato pest is a gardener's disaster.

The larvae live quietly, feed, hibernate in the ground for up to 4 years, then pupate and become beetles by autumn. These beetles will overwinter and fly out to eat.

They live in forest and forest-steppe regions, it is almost everywhere in the country in the European part.

In Asia, too - to the eastern borders, excluding the cold northern places.

The beetle is large. An adult - a pest of forest and park plants and plantations (trees), gardens - eats foliage.

The larvae eat everything underground, they are omnivorous. The roots of trees, garden plants, weeds - everything goes to the "Khrushchev table".

The larva feasts there for up to 4 years, it will easily destroy the tree in a day.

The biology of the beetle is characterized by a cyclical nature: it is not always possible to see it.

Three years, sometimes four years goes by - mass hatching and emergence of adults.

Then for ten years it is not visible, this does not mean getting rid of the pest. The May beetle is actively reproducing, preparing for the next summer and flight: settling in the spaces free from it.

Control measures. From the description you can see that they are not easy:

Mechanical - two digging (autumn, spring), and the collection of larvae at this time.
Sowing umbrella - dill, coriander, fennel. They are attractive to the beetle's enemies - entomophages that feed on pest larvae.
In early summer, early in the morning, the beetles are still cold. You can shake them off, sitting inactively on the branches - on the litter. They will not run away - they freeze from the cold.
Sod in the garden. Sodding deprives the beetle of the ability to lay eggs in the soil. This will protect the garden, but the garden cannot be covered.
The plot for the garden is protected by sowing legumes. Their peculiarity to release nitrogen into the soil with root nodules is very unpleasant for the beetle. If clover, alfalfa, beans, peas are buried in the ground during digging, additional protection is created. The beetle leaves the site.
Lupine and mustard are the Achilles heel of the beetle. This is what they cannot eat, neither larvae nor May beetles. The latter cannot stand the smell, they fly away.
Of the chemical compounds, it is worth paying attention: we do not like the beetle - chlorine. Sprinkling the earth with bleach during digging is unpleasant for a person, but no more than the harm from crumbling.
A special drug - antichrusch will help with the mass settlement of the site with this potato pest. Before planting the tubers, spill the wells with the diluted suspension. It has a long-term effect.
Biologicals. And here nembakt, fitoverm will come in handy.
Weak solutions of potassium permanganate or ammonia, infusion of onion peels - improvised means - also work against crustaceans.
If there are shrews on the site, they will cope with the beetle themselves.

Potato moth

Unwanted, relatively young, newcomer to the country. A nondescript butterfly made its way from the south.

Kuban learned about her thirty years ago. The butterfly itself does not eat, it has gorged itself on the larva, now its function is reproduction.

A mole is capable of giving up to 8 generations if the region is warm.

The larvae start feeding immediately. Beautiful name moths - fluorimea does not cover up the outrages perpetrated by the larvae.

Caterpillars mine stems, leaves - gnaw out the inner contents, pulp, leaving the surface shells of the leaf intact. This can be seen: whitish winding stripes, passages inside the leaves and there are - insect mines.

The larvae penetrate into the tubers, at first they are invisible. But the vaults are a real paradise for moths. She hibernates there, eats, turns potatoes into dust.

Control measures... This potato pest is quarantine.

It was possible to contain it in pre-perestroika times. After the path-road, potato moths began to be determined by the thickness of the wallet carrying the contaminated material.

The quarantine barriers have been greatly shaken. The moth settled in all regions suitable for its temperature.

Manages even where it is cold - in storage facilities. After all, no one grocery, and seed potatoes will not freeze.

You need to fight:

The resumption of quarantine, and for all nightshades.
Disinfection of storages in summer.
Adhesive traps with pheromones - during the summer period, moths - on the site.
The choice of the variety. In areas prone to moth attack, a dangerous pest can be bypassed. Early varieties vegetate at temperatures unacceptable for potato moths. Growing them, this misfortune can be avoided.
Embedment depth. A sissy - the larva of a potato moth - will not go deeper than 10 cm. It's cold for her there, especially on early plantings. Deep planting and subsequent high hilling (planting on the ridges) will protect the early potatoes, the moth will not pick up the tubers.
For the same purpose - to keep the tubers deeper - the watering method is chosen. The sprinkling method is physiological. Plants will be stronger, pests will become tight.
Deep planting will save potato tubers (early). But the above-ground part can be affected. Therefore, they use agricultural technology - they mow the tops at the beginning of yellowing. It is burned, the harvest is dug up, removed from the plot immediately. Dry in another moth-free place.
Good old friends - biological products - entobacterin, bitoxybacillin are also used against this serious pest of potatoes.

Potato aphid

But it also hurts potatoes. Basically - as a carrier of diseases.

In morphology and biological characteristics, it is close to other aphids, there are no special differences.

Control measures:

Agrotechnical - destruction of weeds, cleaning of fields during the period free from plants, crop rotation;
Biological - the use of biological products that destroy aphids that are safe for humans;
Chemical - insecticide treatment;
Household helpers - the use of ash and soap solution, disinfection of greenhouses, the use of burning solutions (garlic, mustard, tobacco, celandine).

Mouse rodents

They are found in any area, only the number is different.

In summer, mice find themselves a different food, and by autumn they take a fancy to juicy potato tubers. Rats can even drag tubers into holes.

In storage facilities - permanent and temporary - rats spoil the harvest. They gnaw on different tubers, damaged potatoes get sick, rots.

Dealing with them is more difficult. On the site, the main helpers are cats.

Poisoned baits are laid out in storages inaccessible to cats.

Help and different designs mouse trap, rat traps. Rats, however, are smart, extremely careful. If you have a pied cat, the matter is simplified.

We got acquainted with the main pests of potatoes, but that's not all the misfortunes on our favorite vegetable. There are also many diseases - non-infectious. We will deal with them in subsequent articles.

It is not easy to grow potatoes, to protect them from any hungry tuber lovers. But the work is not in vain.

Already in the summer, a young potato will start to delight the gardener's family.

And then she will be the queen of the table in different variations - until the next harvest.

See you soon, dear readers!

Can harm potatoes various pests... You need to deal with each of them with specific methods. To prevent their development, preventive measures should be taken in advance.

Common pests of potatoes

Colorado potato beetle is the most common and dangerous pest potatoes. He is gluttonous and brings tangible damage to the crop. In addition, adults are capable of flying, so they can travel long distances and infect many plantings.

The Colorado potato beetle is a member of the leaf beetle family. This pest has an oval body, the length of which varies from 8 to 15 mm, and the width is 7 mm. The abdomen is orange in color with black spots. Hard elytra adjoin the body of the pest. This beetle has three pairs of legs.

Both larvae and adults of the pest feed on the leaves of cultivated and wild solanaceous plants. In addition to potatoes, they eat the leaves of tomatoes and eggplants, bell peppers.

Adults hibernate in the soil, at a depth of about 50 cm. After hibernation, they go outside, begin to feed and mate.

Females lay eggs on the underside of potato leaves. During the season, one female Colorado potato beetle lays about 350 eggs. Larvae emerge from the eggs. This occurs 1-2 weeks after laying. It all depends on the weather conditions.

The larvae, like the adult beetles, eat the leaves of the potato, leaving only the stems. Having destroyed the tops of one plant, the pests move to another.

The life span of this pest is 1 year, but some individuals live up to 2-3 years.

Birds that kill insects are not able to fight this pest. This is due to the fact that many toxic alkaloids accumulate in the bodies of Colorado beetles - this makes them inedible.

These pests are capable of destroying the entire potato crop, as they are very gluttonous. Colorado beetles can consume not only young stems, but also ripe tubers.

Caterpillars

Caterpillars can also harm potatoes. This is a potato scoop. Caterpillars of this butterfly prefer moist soil as well as shaded areas. The caterpillar appears on the potato stalk in late April - early June.

Scoops are predominantly nocturnal. Caterpillars belong to the group of polyphagous pests: they feed not only on potatoes, but also on carrots, onions, and also some other crops.

The caterpillars of the potato scoop inflict the greatest harm in rainy years, at moderate air temperatures.

The potato scoop has a light yellow or bright red color, its head is red, without a pattern. The body length is about 5 cm. It has 8 pairs of legs. The caterpillar affects the area above the root collar. The plant on which the scoop has settled quickly dries up and withers.

Caterpillars penetrate into the potato tuber, gnawing the stem of the bush. Thus, the whole plant suffers.

Caterpillars usually do not damage the skin of the potato. They make a small hole and a passage, at the end of which they form at first a small, but constantly increasing cavity, which is gradually filled with excrement. When the scoop finishes feeding, it leaves the tuber, making a new, wider stroke. Caterpillar-damaged potatoes usually rot due to secondary infection.

Medvedka is an orthoptera insect, the body of which reaches up to 5 cm in length. The body is large, dark brown in color. The bear has short wings and powerful legs, with the help of which it can burrow deep into the ground. This insect also has strong jaws and long whiskers.

An adult bear arranges a nest not too deep underground, which she fills with eggs. After laying, hundreds of 2-3 mm larvae hatch. They grow for several years, after which they begin to lead a full-fledged lifestyle.

Medvedka is a danger to all plants that meet on its way. It harms not only potatoes, but also cucumbers, beets, cabbage, and grains.

The insect has a fusiform abdomen and a head with large eyes. Two pairs of tentacles are located around the gnawing mouth. The insect reproduces in the ground, laying up to 250 eggs at a depth of 15 cm or more.

The danger for potatoes is not only adult bears, but also their larvae. They gnaw the stem, causing it to fall or dry out, stopping to develop. Also, the bear is able to gnaw through large cavities in the tubers.

Most often, the bear eats root crops completely. Even those potatoes that were simply "eaten up" by the bear are unfit for food.

The wireworm is a pest whose danger is comparable to that of the Colorado potato beetle. It belongs to the beetle family. Its body length reaches 7-20 mm.

Externally, wireworms are the larvae of a click beetle with a finger-like process directed backward.

The adult is a black beetle with an elongated body.

One female is capable of laying up to 150 eggs. The larvae hatch after 20-40 days. They grow and develop over the course of 3-4 years.

In the first year, the larvae do not pose a danger to cultivated plants, but in the next 3 years they are activated and are able to eat up the seeds even before the seedlings emerge from them.

Wireworms do a lot of harm to potatoes. They destroy seeds and seedlings, gnaw on roots and stems, and take root in roots and tubers. Because of this, the potatoes begin to rot.

Wireworms actively eat potatoes if the weather is hot, there is not enough moisture, and also if they do not have enough wheatgrass roots, which are the favorite food of this pest.

Golden potato nematode is a microscopic pest that causes globoderosis.

The nematoda lives in the soil, remaining active for up to 10 years. The pest survives the winter in the form of larvae and eggs in cysts.

In the spring, larvae develop from the eggs, which penetrate the roots of the plant. Here they develop until they turn into sexually mature females and males.

Females tear off the roots, partially remaining inside the plant. After fertilization, they lay eggs inside their own body. When the eggs ripen, the female's body dies off, eggs remain inside it. When harvesting potatoes, the cysts crumble and penetrate the soil. The cycle of development is repeated.

Nematoda under the microscope

The mature potato flea is a beetle up to 3 mm long. The main color is black, the limbs are dark brown.

The flea damages the potato tops. The larvae developing on the roots can cause the loss of healthy shrubs. If there are optimal conditions for the development of the pest, then a significant part of the crop is spoiled.

Potato fleas leave pits and holes on the surface of the leaves. Adults eat foliage. If it was severely affected, then the potato seedlings die, especially if the planting was late.

Potato flea larvae colonize root system different nightshade plants: not only potatoes, but also tomatoes, eggplants.

The greatest harm is caused by the potato flea to bushes if it is a warm and humid year.

This pest is a carrier of many infectious diseases of the potato.

This butterfly is capable of destroying up to 80% of the crop. It has a small size that reaches 6-8 mm in length. In summer, the development process from egg to adult takes up to 4 weeks.

Potato moth is unpretentious to external conditions. The butterfly lays its eggs on the bottom of the plant's leaves. Clutch usually consists of 1-20 eggs. Caterpillars emerge from the eggs, which subsequently turn into butterflies.

The potato moth feeds on the underside of the potato leaf. When the tops are dry, the pest moves to the tubers. Through the eyes and cracks on their surface, the moth penetrates inside and feeds on the pulp.

Potato moth weakens potato bushes, damages tubers and reduces the quality and quantity of seed.

This pest belongs to the Hemiptera order. These are small insects, their body length reaches 3.5 mm. Among them there are both winged and wingless individuals. The pest is ubiquitous.

The body is shiny, has the shape of an ellipse, the color is from white-green to yellow-green.

The mouth apparatus of these insects is adapted for piercing tissues and sucking out sap from plants. Because of this, damaged potato leaves dry out, the culture stops growing, and the yield decreases.

A characteristic feature of these pests is that they leave a sugary discharge in the places from which they have absorbed the juices. These secretions attract other pests, creating favorable conditions for the development of fungi. In this case, the culture completely dies due to the invasion of various insects.

Aphids reproduce very quickly in dry, warm weather. The number of aphids is significantly reduced if there is ladybug.

Chafer

May beetle larvae can also damage potato crops.

May beetle appears in late April - early May. One female lays up to 70 eggs in the ground. After a few weeks, the larvae appear. In the first year, they feed on organic residues, enriching the soil with waste products and benefiting the soil. In subsequent years, the larvae develop a chewing apparatus, thanks to which they are able to eat the roots and tubers of potatoes.

The larvae are located in the upper layers of the soil, at a depth of 20 to 40 cm.

With a high concentration of larvae in the soil, a large number of potatoes are destroyed. Even one larva at the age of 3-4 years can damage several dozen tubers in just a few weeks.

It is quite simple to determine that the potato was affected by the larva of the May beetle: if the leaves wither, dry and turn yellow without apparent reason then this is the result of the activation of this pest.

Naked slugs rarely attack potatoes, but can still be harmful.

Their body length, depending on the species, can reach 3-6 cm. They are most active at night. The most attractive places for them are places with high humidity.

Slugs infect potato foliage and tubers. They gnaw irregular holes in the leaves. They leave only the stem and the largest veins intact.

Crawling from one plant to another, slugs spread fungal and viral diseases. If they damage potatoes, late blight develops.

Rodents

Certain types of rodents are also dangerous for potatoes. Often this culture is spoiled by a mole rat - an animal that resembles a mole. Instead of eyes, he has a fold of skin covered with stiff bristles. It eats only root vegetables and does not eat insects. The blind rat eats large potatoes on the spot, and drags small ones into the burrow.

The ground rat also chews on potato tubers. It can be seen on land plots, which are located next to water bodies. It penetrates 15-25 cm underground and gnaws at roots. In addition to spoiling the crop, the rodent disrupts the root system of plants, which leads to their drying out and a decrease in yield.

The ground rat also creates pantries underground in which it hides food for the winter. The depth of such warehouses is about 20 cm. This rodent is very fertile and displays many new pests in a short time.

Cicadas

Leafhoppers are insects small size(1-3 cm), which are similar to jumping butterflies. During the day they live in anthills, and at night they go outside to drink plant sap.

Cicadas reproduce very quickly: only 20 days are enough for an adult to develop from an egg. Their wide distribution across the territory of Russia was facilitated by the import of plants from abroad.

Sucking the juice from the leaves of cultivated plants, leafhoppers damage them: this leads to a slowdown in development and a cessation of growth, as well as the death of a part of the potato bush.

Potato leaves damaged by leafhoppers turn yellow and deform, white or red spots appear on their surface. Bacteria and fungi that cause the development of various diseases can freely penetrate through the damaged areas.

Also leafhoppers can act as carriers of viral diseases. These pests infect plants with poisonous saliva and lay eggs. Both adults and larvae pose a threat to plants.

Potato pest control methods

When pests appear, you need to immediately take measures to combat them, otherwise you can not only lose the crop, but also get potato tubers infected with diseases that the pests carry.

The most effective methods for controlling pests are as follows:

Chemical treatment

Various drugs with chemical compounds- a reliable way to neutralize beetles and insects that harm potatoes:

To cope with the Colorado potato beetle, you should treat the area with Colorado, Sumicidin or Marshal products.
To combat caterpillars, the drugs Danadim, Zolon are used.
Such drugs as Medvetox, Medvetsid, Fenaskin Plus are effective against the bear.
A nematode that harms potatoes can be neutralized using chemicals that contain phosphamide or mercaptophos (Dimethoate, BI-58).
To neutralize the wireworm, use means Force, Celest Top, Voliam Flexy.
Potato scoops are sensitive to insecticides Cymbush, Decis.
Rodenticides and fumigants are effective against rodents.
Potato moth is removed from the site with the same drugs that are used to combat the Colorado potato beetle. This pest also dies from Decis or Fastak products. If the potato moth started up in the cellar with the harvested crop, then the affected tubers can be treated with solutions of Lepidocide or Bitoxibacillin. You can also use FAS or Gamma smoke bombs.
If leafhoppers are on the site, then the affected potato bushes need to be treated with insecticides such as Proteus, Calypso, Vizcaya, Akarin.
Insecticides such as Force, Thunder 2, Regent are used against potato aphids.

When using chemicals, you must follow the safety rules specified in the instructions in order to avoid harm to your own health.

Traditional methods

To combat the Colorado potato beetle, you can use calendula: this plant has a smell that these pests cannot tolerate. You can plant it around a field where vegetables are planted.

You can also fight the Colorado potato beetle with the help of wormwood tincture. You need to take a third of a bucket of fresh wormwood, pour boiling water over it and insist. Treat the infected areas with the resulting infusion.

Many pests do not like the smell of garlic or onions. That is why the affected potato bushes can be treated with an infusion based on them. For cooking, you need to take 250 g of onion or garlic, chop, pour in a liter of water. Insist for a week in a closed container, then process the bushes with the resulting composition.

The potato flea beetle is fought with a mixture, which consists of ash, chamomile decoction and tobacco dust, taken in equal proportions.

You can effectively fight the bear with the help chicken droppings: this pest does not live on fertilized soil. You need to take 2 kg of droppings, dissolve in 10 liters of water. Dilute the resulting solution once again at the rate of 1 part of the solution to 5 parts of water. Use this composition to fertilize the land plots infected by the bear.

Many pests do not tolerate the smell of plants with a pungent aroma. That is why parsley, mustard, lavender, peppermint, coriander, basil, fennel can be planted next to potato bushes.

Soil care

To get rid of pests, it is imperative to dig up the soil in early autumn, thus bringing layers to the surface in which larvae and eggs can be. Throughout summer period you need to loosen the ground.

Preventive measures

To prevent the appearance of pests on potatoes, adequate measures must be taken in a timely manner.

To prevent the appearance of the Colorado potato beetle, you need:

plant potatoes next to garlic, beans, coriander - they interrupt the aroma of nightshade crops, which attracts the pest; if there are no such plants, then they should be planted around the perimeter of the site on which the potatoes are planted;
pour spruce or birch sawdust between the rows of potatoes - they give off a resinous smell that frightens off the beetle.

To prevent the appearance of a nematode, it is necessary:

process the soil in which the potatoes grew with urea: per 1 sq. m of land, 1 kg of urea is needed, it is poured and dug up;
burn an infected plant without shaking off the soil;
give preference to varieties that are resistant to this pest: these include Rosara, Zhukovsky, Symphony.

You can prevent the appearance of a wireworm in the following ways:

plant legumes next to potatoes - they scare away this pest;
do not leave potatoes in the ground for the winter, even if they are spoiled;
dig deep into the garden in the fall;
remove weeds and carry them out of the garden.

To prevent the appearance of a bear, you should:

dig deep into the soil in the fall;
loosen the ground in spring and summer on a regular basis;
plant plants with a strong smell next to potatoes: coriander, marigolds;
when planting potatoes, water the wells with iodine solution (for 10 liters of water - 20 drops of iodine).

Watch a video about pests of potatoes and measures to prevent their appearance:

There are many types of pests that spoil potatoes. You can fight them with the help of chemical and folk remedies. To prevent the appearance of pests, you should take care of the soil, dig it up in the fall. Around the perimeter of the garden, you need to plant plants with a strong smell.

I had to work hard to get rid of the insects. In this article you will learn: whoever eats potatoes in the ground, chews straight; what methods of struggle exist; a kind of potato pest.

Whoever eats potatoes in the ground - directly gnaws and spoils the tubers

Our readers sent a photo of damaged potatoes and asked the question: who gnaws the tubers? Gardeners have different assumptions - scoop, bear, water rat, beetles. We asked a plant protection specialist to comment on the photo.

Whoever eats potatoes in the ground - gnaws straight

Here is what she said: “Judging by the photograph provided, we can say that insects do not damage that way. Sometimes slugs eat up the flesh of the tuber to such a depth, but the edges of the cavity should then be smoother. In this case, I am assuming that the rodents were at work, perhaps the water rat, if by it is meant the water vole (Arvicola terrestris), and not the muskrat.

But this is just a guess. You can be sure if you find long underground passages with noticeable soil emissions.

The ideal option is an ambush at night with a shovel, a hidden flashlight and a willingness to immediately dig into the ground. Although not everyone likes this kind of adventure diagnostics. "

Let's get to know better

The water vole is an animal with a shortened blunt muzzle and small ears, a distant relative of hamsters. The body, covered with dark brown hair with a red tint, reaches a length of 20 cm, a pubescent tail - at least 10 cm.

The water vole is a massive pest of agricultural crops and pastures. Harmful in gardens, vegetable gardens, in places where vegetables are stored.

It usually settles along the banks of rivers, lakes, ponds, in the vicinity of a swamp, but often it can be found far from the water - in meadows, vegetable gardens, fields.

Closer to autumn, voles move to vegetable gardens and orchards, where they build underground settlements for several families. Rodents are very voracious, they can get food from a depth of 40–60 cm. They do not hibernate for the winter, therefore they have to make very large reserves of food.

Why are there more of them?

All murine rodents are characterized by sudden outbreaks of numbers, which is associated with their ability to reproduce. Some scientists believe that population growth coincides with cycles solar activity(according to various opinions, 11-year-olds or 7-year-olds).

It is also believed that the reason is in the wrong farming.

Favorable conditions for the life and reproduction of rodents are created with shallow tillage with flaws, careless harvesting, the presence of row spacings and wide roadsides covered with weeds. In such cases, rodents have more food in a small habitat, less likely to die from predators.

Death from natural causes

The number of murine rodents can naturally shrink at mass death them in winter during the period of sharp thaws with melting snow. Water entering the holes drives the animals out, while it freezes, clogging the exits.

In nature, voles have many enemies - foxes, ferrets, weasels, as well as feathered predators. Indoor cats also help keep rodents out of the garden. Reduce the number of murine rodents and diseases in which they die by the thousands.

Control measures

Distinguish:

Warning:

elimination of wide between, roadsides, overgrown with weeds;
careful digging of the earth;
timely harvesting;
constant collection of volunteer fruit trees;
v orchards binding for the winter of trunks and skeletal branches of young trees with spruce branches (needles down), roofing felt, nylon fabric, fine-mesh metal mesh;
periodic compaction (trampling) of snow around the trunks in winter;
protection of useful birds of prey and animals.

Fighter:

placing permitted preparations in holes or other shelters, for example "GryzNet-agro", - 2 capsules per hole (in this case, you should observe safety measures, work with gloves, use special spoons or scoops, and also exclude access to the holes of other animals);
the use of traps, which are usually set at the entrance to the burrows of rodents.

Source: "sotki.ru"

Potato moth - general characteristics

Who would have thought that an unremarkable small butterfly could be so harmful and insidious? But it is so. The damage from the potato moth is comparable only to the invasion of the Colorado potato beetle. She will destroy almost the entire crop without any remorse.

So that you understand the scale of the disaster, her activities are destroying up to 80% of root crops. The world should “thank” for the harmful “treasure” Central and South America, where the moth comes from. It was from these places that her journey around the world began and now the pest can be found in several dozen countries.

In Russia, the "debut" took place in the 80s of the 20th century, that is, not so long ago. She came to the fatherland with loads of tobacco and tomatoes, her favorite delicacy. Today the south of our country is home to potato moths.

Scientifically, the potato moth is called Fluorimea. This insect is brown-gray in color with dark edges and specks on the wings, and does not grow with a wingspan of more than 13 mm. With folded wings, it is generally only 6-8 mm. The butterfly has an unnaturally small mouth organ, but rather long antennae.

Biological cycle - fluorimea

The hotter the air temperature, the faster the insect develops from egg to adulthood. The average indicators of the transformation period are 3-4 weeks, but look at the spread of indicators with a temperature difference: if at + 35C the mole develops for 16 days, then + 15C is already 70, and at + 10C the period is already 200 days!

The whole life process of a potato moth looks like this:

Egg.

In this stage, the pest stays up to 7 days in summer and 20-35 in winter. In appearance, the egg clutch is embryos in the form of a rounded oval with a width of 0.4 mm and a length of 0.8 mm.

The pearly whiteness of the egg initially changes to a dark color as the embryo matures.

Larva.

Before pupation, there are 4 stages of molting. In summer it takes 10-20 days, and in winter 45-65. The caterpillar consists of three distinct segments.

In the newborn state, her length is 2 mm, the color is pale, she is naked with 3 pairs of limbs and a dark head and shield. Ripening, the larva turns greenish (when feeding on root crops) or faded gray (when feeding on the vegetative part) color, overgrows with fine bristles and has a length of up to 12 mm.

Doll.

For this stage, the moth will need only 5 days in the summer season and as much as 2-3 months in the winter.

Butterfly.

Having got out of the cocoon, the insect will not live long, only a few days, a maximum of a couple of weeks. During this period, after mating, she will lay up to 200 eggs. The female makes the clutch on inside leaf, less often in the soil or tubers exposed from the soil. The number of eggs in one clutch is from 1 to 20.

The moth's diet is unpretentious. The larva eats the inner parts of the leaf plates of the potato tops. As a result, the ground part of the plant dries up and then the pest moves to the roots, penetrates through the eyes or cracks and begins to actively gnaw out the pulp.

Harm from potato moth

The most vulnerable plant is the potato.

The bushes of the plant weaken due to partial or complete destruction of the foliage.
Damaged tubers are not suitable for food, that is, the quantity of the crop and the quality of the vegetable are greatly affected.
The same applies to the seed.

Signs of fluorimea infection:

Cobweb on potato bushes.
"Mining" (ulceration) of leaves.
Dead stems.
Moves and wormholes in the skin and pulp of tubers.
Rot at the site of damage.

Preventive and protective measures

If the affected crop is simply left in the ground or on the surface, then the larvae of the moth will simply crawl into the ground and calmly overwinter there. So, on next year there will be a pest infestation on the plantation again. Here's how to proceed:

Planting material take only healthy, plant in holes at least 15-20 cm deep.
Huddle planting several times per season so that the tubers are "shrouded" in an earthen cover of at least 5 centimeters thick.
Weed weeds regularly.
Irrigate from above (rain method). Most of the butterflies will die this way.
Start digging potatoes at the first signs of drying of the tops, or cut them off and destroy them with fire a few days before harvesting.
It is imperative to remove the dug potatoes from the plantation, not even leaving them on the field to dry.
Go through the tubers and destroy the infected ones.

It is better to plant early ripening varieties first on the site. They are completely immune to the pest.

For the next season, you can plant a regular variety. When using chemicals for the extermination of moths, stop the choice on Danadim, Ditox, Di-68, Bi-58, Rogosei-S.

Potato storage rules

Select damaged tubers.
Ensure the temperature in the storage area is not higher than + 2C.
You can shift the covered crop with fresh hemp (you can directly from the roots). The larvae do not like its smell, and besides, the hemp stalks keep the crop from rotting.
Pour the harvest from different fields into different boxes for storage.

Remember that the fluorimea in potatoes selected for seed for the next season will survive the winter perfectly and will begin their pest activity again as soon as the tubers fall into the ground in the spring.
Source: "domikdomovenka.ru"

Potato pests and control

It is not for nothing that potatoes are called the second "bread", because this root vegetable has firmly established itself on the tables and in the gardens of Russians. Probably, there is no such dacha or suburban area on which at least a few potato bushes, or even a whole potato field, would not have been planted.

It is not difficult to grow potatoes: the culture is unpretentious and stable, gives good yields, the problem lies in pests - too many insects like to eat potatoes and their juicy shoots. Potato pests and the fight against them take up a good half of all the time that the summer resident devotes to the beds.

So, the main goal of a modern gardener is to protect potatoes from pests and dangerous diseases.

All protection measures can be divided into preventive (or preventive) and real. Of course, it is easier to deal with any problem at the initial stage, and it is even more effective to prevent it. In fact, there are so many pests of potatoes that it is almost impossible to predict the appearance of this or that insect.

Most of them are carried along with planting tubers, soil, gardening equipment and even with water, some beetles fly in whole flocks along with air currents (downwind), other pests live for years in the ground, for the time being, without detecting their presence in any way.

You need to know the "enemy" by sight, therefore, below will be presented a photo and description of potato pests, representing the most serious danger, and also proposed effective measures to combat these insects.

Colorado potato beetle and wireworms

Probably, there is no such person who would not know what the notorious "Colorado" looks like. It is a small rounded bug, the body length of which can reach 1.5 cm, and its strong chitinous shell is painted in longitudinal stripes of yellow-brown color.

Interesting! The shade of the stripes of the Colorado potato beetle and the intensity of the color of its larvae depend on the amount of carotene, because only this element is not absorbed by the pest's body and accumulates in its tissues. How bigger insect ate potato leaves, the more "orange" its color.

The Colorado potato beetle is the most dangerous pest, because because of its "activity" you can easily lose most of the crop.

Although "Colorado" rarely eats potato tubers and practically does not damage them, it manages to destroy all the green mass of potato bushes very "in time". As a rule, the period of activity of the pest and its larvae coincides with the time of flowering of potatoes and tying of tubers - potatoes simply do not form under damaged bushes, since photosynthesis is disturbed and the plant dies.

The greatest danger to green shoots of potatoes is represented by larvae, and not by adults of the pest. Females and males of the Colorado potato beetle can quietly winter in the ground at a depth of about 30 cm, falling into a kind of sleep.

In the spring, pests creep out to the surface, lay eggs on the seamy side of young potato leaves.

After 10 days, larvae appear from the eggs, which intensively eat the foliage and young potato stalks for about three weeks, then crawl underground and pupate - this is how an adult is born. For another 20 days, the young pest gains "fat" and eats potato tops with pleasure, after which it is engaged in laying eggs and spreading new individuals of its family.

Colorado beetles are dangerous for potato plantations for several reasons:

Great gluttony of these pests - potato bushes simply "disappear" in a matter of hours;
The vitality of the Colorado beetles is truly amazing: they endure frosts, can live up to three years (despite the fact that the life cycle of an ordinary individual is 12 months), are able to fall into suspended animation and wait in the ground for a convenient moment to awaken;
Pests fly in the wind over huge distances (several tens of kilometers), so they can suddenly appear where they have never been (by the way, this is how the “Colorades” spread all over the world);
Pests very quickly get used to insecticidal drugs, they can only be dealt with by systemic means.

In addition to potatoes, Colorado beetles love other crops of the nightshade family, therefore they often appear on tomatoes, eggplants, and physalis. It is difficult to fight the pest; potato processing alone is not enough.

At least three times a season, the gardener will have to use special preparations or regularly collect pests by hand, while simultaneously destroying their eggs on potato bushes.

Important! It is necessary to use an insecticide at a time when the larvae are in the second stage of development - they have not yet crawled from bush to bush. So, pest control will be more effective. There are many toxic drugs against the Colorado potato beetle today (Komador, Iskra, Aktara and others), and the pre-planting treatment of potato tubers with insecticides is also effective.

But it is necessary to remember about the harm to human health and refuse to process at least 20 days before harvesting potatoes. Of the folk remedies for combating such a pest as the Colorado potato beetle, one can name:

manual collection of insects;
irrigation of potato bushes with infusions of tansy, currant, celandine or basil;
planting green manures that cleanse the soil (for example, mustard);
compliance with crop rotation (at least four years, you should not plant potatoes and other nightshades in the same place);
alternation of potato bushes with crops that repel pests (coriander or legumes, for example).

Advice! When picking the Colorado potato beetle from potatoes by hand, you should not leave adults lying on the ground with their paws up - this pest is able to pretend to be dead for its own safety.

Another avid pest of potatoes is a small worm, about 2-2.5 cm long, colored red or yellow... This is the larva of the click beetle, popularly called the "wireworm". The worm was so named because of its rigid body, similar to a metal wire.

The click beetles themselves do not eat potatoes, so they are not considered pests. In nature, these insects live in thickets of wheatgrass and feed on tender young roots of this weed. Hence, the main preventive measure against the wireworm pest is timely and regular weeding in order to prevent overgrowing of the beds with wheatgrass and other weeds.

You can learn about the defeat of a potato by a wireworm pest by examining the tubers: numerous small-diameter passages will tell about the life of the larvae.

The moves in potatoes are not as dangerous as the fact that they are often "gates" for infections and nematodes. As a result, potato tubers rot and become unfit for human consumption. The appearance of the bushes affected by the pest is also characteristic: the stems dotted with holes wither, become unviable, as a result, the potato bush lags behind in development and dies.

To protect potatoes from such a pest as wireworm, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures:

Fertilize the soil under the potatoes with ammonia preparations.
Reduce soil acidity by scattering over its surface quicklime.
Plant wireworm-luring plants with potatoes.
Pull up weeds along with the root, often weed and loosen the soil between the potato beds.
Treat potato tubers before planting using insecticidal preparations (Tabu type).

Important! Pre-planting processing is only necessary if the larvae of the click beetle were seen on potatoes last season.

Cicadas

In appearance and in the type of damage to potatoes, leafhoppers resemble aphids or a potato flea. These are small pests, which, nevertheless, can cause significant damage to the potato crop, because they feed on cell sap, damage the leaves, which leads to wilting and drying out of the bushes.

Pest control measures are purely preventive - treatment of tubers before planting using insecticidal preparations such as Tabu or Cruiser. If leafhoppers have appeared on the site for the first time, you can try to irrigate the rows of potatoes with "Karate Zeon".

Potato flea

The most dangerous pest of potato tops is a small brown flea. There are many types of such pests, they are common all over the world. For potato leaves, it is the adult fleas that reach three millimeters in length that pose a danger.

But the larvae of this pest - thin and oblong bodies with three pairs of short legs - are capable of infecting the root system of potato bushes, which will lead to wilting of the plant and loss of yield.

Caution: Late planting of tubers and dry, sultry weather significantly increase the risk of flea infestation in potatoes.

It is possible to understand that the potato is infected with a flea by the grooves in the leaves characteristic of this pest, which eventually turn brown and dry out. Effective remedy the insecticide "Tabu" is used to combat the pest; the treatment of bushes with phosphamide at a concentration of 0.2% also helps well (you need to process the potatoes every 10 days until the tubers are set).

Adult beetles can be caught with glue baits. If the garden is small, spraying potato bushes with chamomile infusion or dusting with a mixture of tobacco dust and wood ash helps a lot.

Potato nematodes

One of the microorganisms harmful to potatoes is a nematode. These are microscopic worms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. But their presence is very clearly noticeable in the state of potato bushes: they are oppressed, lag behind in development, do not form at all or form very small tubers.

Important! A characteristic feature of the nematode is the yellowing of the lower leaves on potato bushes. Females of nematodes are round, and males are oblong, but you can see only frozen eggs of these pests - cysts.

It is no coincidence that pests "freeze" their eggs: this is done so that the offspring can survive the winter, as well as wait for the harvest year.

In the form of cysts, the nematode can stay in the ground for up to ten years, after which it wakes up and develops as usual. Externally, the eggs of pests are similar to grains of millet, usually they are stuck around the roots and tubers of potatoes.

Three types of nematodes infect potatoes:

Stem nematode shows its presence on shiny spots gray appearing on potato tubers.

Under the gray film, you can see the pulp destroyed by the pest, turned into dust. Under the microscope, you can see the pests themselves - nematodes accumulate at the border of the affected area and healthy pulp. The stem nematode penetrates the potato tubers along the stems, damaging them along the way.

These lumps grow, merge, and eventually deform the roots and tubers of the potato. Additionally, infections and spores of fungi settle in the wounds.

Golden nematodes, like their cousins, are very tenacious and very dangerous. Pests are transferred to potatoes together with soil, water, you can infect tubers with garden tools.

Advice! To keep nematode attacks to a minimum, it is recommended to grow only early maturing potatoes and plant the tubers as early as possible. This is due to the development cycle of the pest, which is 60 days.

You can fight the pest with insecticides, such as "Tiazona" or "Carbomide". It is very important to follow the crop rotation by planting corn, beans, or perennial grasses in potato spots.

Potato scoop and potato moth

It is not the brown moths themselves that pose a danger to potatoes, but their larvae are light caterpillars. Pests hibernate on wheatgrass, they like shade and high humidity, but, in principle, scoops are unpretentious and can live in any place.

The larva of the scoop gnaws the way to the potato tubers through the neck of the stem, thereby leading to the death of the entire bush and damaging the crop. In addition to insecticidal preparations, the pest can be dealt with by removing weeds, placing traps with pheromones between rows.

Outwardly, the potato moth looks like a scoop, but differs in that it is not active seasonally, but for the entire time until the temperature drops below +10 degrees.

The potato moth is dangerous, first of all, for its fertility - in one summer season, up to eight generations of this pest have time to appear. Adults do not harm potato bushes, but the larvae damage and aerial part and tubers.

You can protect the area from moths in the following ways:

store potatoes at a temperature of 5 degrees;
plant well-heated tubers;
huddle bushes high;
dig deep into the ground in spring and autumn.

Important! If potatoes are infested with moths, the tops must be cut and burned before digging up the tubers. When the tubers are already infected, after digging them up, they are treated with lepidocide.

How to deal with potato pests, in principle, is clear - you need to use special insecticides. But the gardener must understand that such substances are toxic not only for insects, people can also suffer from them.

In order for the harvest to be safe and as useful as possible, it is better to carry out preventive measures, such as maintaining crop rotation, disinfection, and planting green manure.

If the pest attacked suddenly, you can try folk remedies or biological protection. Toxic substances should be the last resort used after all unsuccessful attempts to save potatoes.
Source: "fermilon.ru"

How to process potatoes before planting - from a bear

Medvedka ordinary is one of the most unpleasant pests of the garden. Waking up from a long hibernation in winter, at the end of May it comes to the surface, becomes active, mates and brings offspring. After a month, already fully matured individuals begin to actively dig and devour everything in their path that they come across as they dig.

As a gourmet, the bear has little interest in the roots of tough weeds. She likes the sweet roots of young tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, red pepper and, of course, potatoes.

In this article, we tried to collect together all the scattered data on how to process potatoes before planting in order to protect them from the bear, and also to protect them during the growing season.

We really hope that our advice will be useful both for novice vegetable growers and for those who have faced such a problem as a bear for a long time and now do not know what to do with it.

Protecting potatoes from a bear

Potatoes are one of the most difficult to cultivate plants. Plowing large areas, planting, weeding, hilling, harvesting take a lot of time and effort, and with the arrival of "pro-Western" pests in the form of the Colorado potato beetle, the work of gardeners has increased even more.

Despite the fact that it is much cheaper to buy potatoes today at the nearest grocery store, many people stubbornly try to grow it on their own in the old fashioned way, stubbornly enduring all the hardships and hardships, as they say. This is not to say that the bear is a serious pest of potatoes.

In addition to the fact that the populations of this insect very rarely reach such limits that could significantly harm the potato plantation, the potato itself is quite resistant to such pests.

If only because one potato has several rooting eyes, each of which subsequently becomes a full-fledged bushy plant. And then the death of several bushes will not play any role against the background of planting on several acres.

Much more harm to potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and depleted soil than from the unfortunate bear, which suddenly interfered with the gardeners so much. However, there are cases when this insect densely inhabited a single vegetable garden and almost completely ruined the entire crop with this.

It is for such a situation, more precisely, to prevent it, that preventive preparation should be used, which should protect the potatoes not only from the bear, but also from other pests.

Agrotechnical works

Not the last place in the prevention of the development of the pest population in garden plots is the fulfillment of the standard requirements of agrotechnical work, which have been known to mankind for more than one hundred years, but for some reason many forget about them.

Compliance with the annual crop rotation.

It is no secret that it is very useful to change plots in the area of the garden, every year for different crops. This approach not only reduces the number of pests inherent in one crop, but also improves yields.

Timely destruction of weeds, preferably by technical methods without the use of herbicides.

It must be remembered that the growth of weeds must not only be prevented at the time of their gaining strength, which often happens, but in the early stages of germination. In a word, the beds with cultivated plants must be constantly clean.

The grassy mass of weeds should be taken out to the limits of the garden plot or stored to obtain humus in specially designated places, observing sanitary boundaries to the nearest garden bed at least 3 meters.
Cultivating the soil on time as it grows will not only provide better growth for the plants, but will also reduce the number of pests that prefer a dense crust on the surface of the ground.
Grinding of post-harvest residues is necessary in the late autumn period along with plowing.
Compliance with the irrigation regime is extremely important, especially in the case of the bear problem, since the insect prefers wet places.

Underfilling will dry out the plants, and overflowing will promote the appearance of pests.

Of considerable importance for the subsequent high-quality growth of cultivated plants is the pre-planting treatment of potato tubers, for example, with the help of special chemicals.

Also, for planting, it is necessary to choose only strong and viable seed. Do not hope that a beautiful, productive bush for three buckets of potatoes will grow from a dead potato.

Bait

Lures for bear cubs are one of the most effective ways to reduce the population of this insect in a single area of the garden plot. Insects are quite large and there are relatively few of them per square meter. The most effective baits for this type of insect are the following.

A concentrated aqueous solution based on soap, laundry detergent or dishwashing liquid is an active agent that will make the bear leave its underground shelters. The soapy film closes the spiracles of the insect, forcing it to suffocate and strive upward, where there is more air.

At this moment, you can catch several glorious representatives of this species. The smell of hops and malt attracts the bear very strongly.

This effect is used to make homemade baits in the form of beer plastic bottles with beer leftovers, which should be dug into the ground up to the neck, leaving a couple of centimeters on the surface. Digging is best done at an angle of 45 degrees to the soil surface.

Bears, lured by the smell of beer aroma, attack the bottle for the next three days. This method is similar to the previous one, but you can use dissolved honey, sugar syrup or molasses to place the beer. Molasses is a by-product of making sugar from sugar beets.

Pits with a small amount of fresh, unripe manure lure the bear with their warmth. Having set such traps in the garden in early spring, every 2-3 days you can shoot a fairly good "harvest" of the bear.

All of the above methods can be called humane, since they do not imply the poisoning of the bear. If you need to destroy the pest at the time of catching, you can use the following recipe for a poisoned bait. Wheat, barley or pearl barley must be boiled until half cooked, then, after cooling, add the contents of the BI-58 ampoule and vegetable oil.

The ratio of ingredients is approximately the following - for 1 kg of grain - 1 ampoule of the chemical and 5 tablespoons of oil. By the way, instead of BI-58, you can add other active insecticides, for example, dust or chlorophos, the main quality here is their extremely pungent and unpleasant odor.

In the future, the area of the greatest dominance of the bear must be divided into squares with a side of 50 cm with grooves 3-5 cm deep.

After pre-wetting the grooves with plain water, the grain should be evenly distributed and covered with earth. It should take about a couple of hours before the bears begin to crawl to the surface of the soil, where they quickly die.

The carcasses of insects should be collected and disposed of so that birds or animals are not poisoned by them. In order not to bother with making your own baits, you can purchase ready-made tools. The most effective chemicals in this series are Medvetox-U and Phenoxin-plus.

To protect the potatoes, similar grooves should be made in the center of the row spacings, the bait should be evenly scattered over them, sprinkled with earth and sprinkled with water. In the future, the effect will be the same as when using a homemade poison bait.

Processing potatoes before planting

To protect your potato garden from possible defeats by the bear, the most effective way will be pre-sowing treatment tubers with working solutions of chemistry. To do this, potatoes prepared for planting are soaked for 1.5-2 hours in a prepared aqueous solution of one of the following commercial products:

Prestige 29% SK.
Mospilan 20% SK.
Gaucho 35% and 70% UK.
Cruiser 35% SK.

The concentration of any of the above agents is 0.1-0.2%, which, in terms of dry matter, is approximately one teaspoon per liter of water. Potatoes must be planted immediately after processing. The finished solution loses its effectiveness after a day, so you should use the whole product at a time.

Folk methods of struggle

In the arsenal of fighting a bear, old summer residents have many different tools, which are impossible to list within the framework of one article. We tried to find the most efficient and working ones. Bears, like all insects, are afraid of the smell of vegetable essential oils, especially conifers.

Therefore, if there is an opportunity, then throughout the growth of potatoes, from the moment of planting to digging up the crop, it will be very useful to lay branches with pine, fir, and better - cedar needles in the aisles. Chicken droppings, due to the large amount of lime, can harm the growth of potatoes, but at the same time, this agent perfectly scares away the bear.

To choose the middle ground, you should take about 2 kg of chicken manure in a bucket of water, stir until a homogeneous consistency, and then dilute the resulting so-called concentrate in water until a working solution is obtained in a ratio of 1: 5.

Row spacing should be irrigated at the rate of half a liter per square of garden area.

Naphthalene and kerosene also scares away the bear. In order not to harm the soil - one glass of any of these substances per bucket of sand will become a suitable concentration of the finished product, the path from which should be buried along the perimeter of the potato field and between the rows.

Do you want to get a rich harvest of potatoes? Then you have to work hard, and the care does not end with watering or fertilizing. It is necessary to regularly carry out whole line measures related to the protection of potatoes from pests and diseases. A special place in this procedure is attributed to prevention, everything depends on it. Preventive measures include: rational use of all crops growing near potatoes, correct planting of vegetables, regular implementation and maintenance of crop rotation, compliance with all rules of agricultural technology.

The harm of chemical treatments

Do not forget that the use of chemicals can not only ruin the culture, but also greatly harm your health. It is for this reason that it is not worth using only professional tools, there are also folk methods of protection, which are less detrimental to the condition of the product. If you prefer pesticides, then use only those that are officially permitted by law, because some are completely illegal, also observe all the dosages indicated on the packages.

The main pests of potatoes and the fight against them

1. Colorado potato beetle. This is the most dangerous and common potato pest. All summer residents heard about him, but what did they hear ... everyone fought with him. Its purpose is the vegetative parts of the plant, as well as the tubers. The beetle eats a lot. One female brings rich offspring. For example, one pair of these pests can eat up to 4 hectares of a crop. The insect moves quickly, is not afraid of long distances, which is why the Colorado potato beetle is popular in many countries.

Wrestling. The main methods include biological and chemical agents. Insects can also be hand-picked and destroyed.

2. Wireworms, darkling beetles, larvae of click beetles. Only 1 generation can live for about 5 years. Insects make holes in the roots and begin to eat them. Over time, other insects crawl into these passages, which will also not mind eating a delicious vegetable crop. In addition, wireworms and other pests are capable of destroying the stems of young shoots, that is, the potato will not bring any harvest at all, it will stop at all in its development.

Prevention against potato pests. The main remedy is crop rotation with legumes, which are generally not interesting to these insects, especially wireworms. An equally popular method is planting mustard, pests will move away from it as far as possible.

3. Stem nematode. She eats tubers. You can find this pest only by examining the culture. Gray spots form on it, and a trace of decaying tissue will remain under them. To prevent this pest from appearing on your site, it is necessary to carry out a thorough digging of the site in the fall, destroy all weeds and, of course, adhere to the rules of crop rotation.

4. Potato nematode. She lives on tubers and crop stems. The pest appears in the ground if potatoes are grown in the same place for more than 4 years. It spreads through the garden through infected tubers, implements and soil. Prevention consists in observing the rules of crop rotation.

5. Medvedka. She eats the whole plant without exception. The insect is referred to as an omnivorous pest. It lives in the ground, gnaws at all underground parts, makes holes in the tubers. For prophylaxis against the bear, it is advised to carry out deep plowing, and then loosening. Thus, the nests of the bear are destroyed. Naturally, no one should give up various pest baits.

The main diseases of the potato

They are divided into 4 groups:

1. Viral. These are the most dangerous diseases. Most frequent signs: curling foliage, striped mosaic, gothic and mottled. These diseases cannot be cured. Various diseases have dissimilar symptoms. It all depends on the variety of potatoes, the conditions of its cultivation, the type of virus, etc. The main feature virus - yellow leaves. As a result, after digging up the harvest, it becomes clear that the potatoes became much smaller, they became not so large, but there were practically no external signs. The culture is infected by contact with insects or infected tubers. It is impossible to fight viruses, but it is quite possible to destroy all infected roots.

2. Bacterial. These potato diseases do the most harm. They appear due to the high moisture content of the soil. The most dangerous diseases include: black leg (all potatoes suffer, the leaves turn yellow), wet rot (wet spots spoil all tubers), ring rot (observed on the cut) and bacterial rot (not treated). In order to prevent these diseases, it is necessary to disinfect cellars and basements, containers, knives, and remove weak plants from plantings.

3. Fungal. The most dangerous potato diseases: cancer (quarantine disease, appears in those areas where crop rotation is not observed, green growths appear on the aboveground organs of potatoes) scab (the appearance of characteristic growths, the skin of the tubers is affected, warts appear), late blight (also called potato rot, occurs during the growing season and storage, the disease is activated at high humidity, the potatoes are covered with brown spots), fusarium.

4. Functional. They appear due to a lack of nutrients, thus, the crop's yield decreases and the quality of products deteriorates. If these potato diseases are detected in time, then you can save most of your crop.

You should regularly inspect your land, especially the areas where you planted your potatoes. Small changes in growth or leaf shape can immediately indicate a poor crop condition. If a problem is detected in time, then it can be solved with minimal losses.

The most effective potato pest control methods

Lyudmila POMPA, Mariupol

Striped pests do not like spraying 2 times a week with this composition: I dilute 300 g in 10 liters of water baking soda and yeast.

- Lay cereal grains cooked in salted water, poured with sunflower oil and treated with insecticides into the soil to a depth of 2-3 cm. Periodically review the poisoned baits and destroy the centers of the bear;

The use of baits is possible. Before planting potatoes or at any other time, food baits (sliced potatoes, beets, any cake) are placed in the soil to a depth of 5-15 cm. Pieces of hard bait are strung on a fishing line, to the ends of which twigs or sticks are attached. After 3-4 days, fishing lines with baits and wireworms are removed from the soil and destroyed.

Potato disease caused by the potato (golden) nematode Globodera rostochiensis. Quarantine disease common in all areas of potato growing.

It will not be possible to grow nightshade crops in the contaminated area for a long time. It is recommended to plant legumes or vegetables in this place for at least two to three years, which the nematode does not touch, and only then it will be possible to grow potatoes again. But in this case, it is better to choose varieties that are resistant to the action of the pest.
Medvedka is a common but little-studied pest of a rather frightening look. It is sometimes called "mole cricket" because it is able to move quickly in the ground, while making sounds similar to the singing of a cricket.
Wormwood for the fight against the Colorado potato beetle. It is necessary to collect about a third of a bucket of wormwood, pour boiling water over it, insist, and after a few days it will be possible to spray the infected areas of the field with infusion.

Use special spray chemicals.

Wireworm

To resist the pest, and at the same time to get a good harvest of potatoes, I developed the following potato "rules" for myself.
Also, the Colorado potato beetle does not tolerate the smell of turpentine or fir oil (for spraying - 1 tablespoon / 10 l of water).
These insects inflict significant harm in some years, mainly in low, humid areas. The severity of the scoop is high; damaged stems can account for 20-30% of the total. Stems wilt and dry up or break in places damaged by caterpillars.
- in the fall, after harvesting, dig holes 40-50 cm deep and put manure in them (preferably horse manure), and when frost comes, periodically look through the traps, destroying the pest;
Also, in the aisles of potatoes, corn, oats, wheat or barley are sown - 4-5 grains per nest at a distance of 50-70 cm or a line. Then the seedlings of these crops are dug up with a lump of soil and wireworms gathered in it. It is recommended to sow lettuce between the rows, the roots of which feed on wireworms. When the lettuce plants begin to wilt, they should be dug up and the larvae gathered around the roots should be collected. You can use shading traps from freshly cut weeds or any other grass under which the pest accumulates.

In Belarus, globoderosis is especially harmful in household plots with permanent potato culture. In case of severe damage to plants, yield losses can be 85-100%.

There are many resistant varieties now: these include Zhukovsky early, Almaz, Platinum, Sappho, and many others. In the roots of such plants, substances are formed that are resistant to the effects of larvae: without receiving nutrition, they either die or underdevelop without becoming adults. As a result, it is possible not only to save this crop, but also to prevent the development of potato nematodes in our own and neighboring plots in the future.

For potatoes, it poses a serious danger, since the bear gnaws at the tubers and roots and is capable of completely ruining the crop.

There are other recipes, for example, some gardeners recommend using red pepper to fight. However, not all methods are safe for plants, so care must be taken. The main requirement is that the processing should be comprehensive and regular, only then it will be possible to obtain the desired result.

Do not forget about manual collection and destruction of beetles and their larvae.
Bear.
Cut out weeds, especially wheatgrass.
Alena AGEEVA, Penza

Control measures: A complex of preventive and exterminating measures is used to protect potatoes from in-stem scoops. Of the chemical means of dealing with caterpillars, for example, decis, cymbush can be used.

- destroy nests and horizontal caves in insect habitats, twice loosen the row-spacing in May-June to a depth of 10-20 cm.

Place potatoes after beans or peas.

Affects the root system of potatoes. External signs of the disease are manifested in the retardation of plant growth and development, thinning of the stem and roots, crushing and deformation of leaves. The root system takes on a fibrous ("bearded") appearance.
Every gardener has to constantly deal with pest control: insects and their larvae can destroy 90% of the crop in one year, and if they are not stopped, the work will be in vain.

Medvedka prefers open places in which the soil is well warmed up by the sun. To remove the shadow over her burrow, she is able to completely destroy the plants that block the sunlight. It is quite difficult to deal with it, but complex measures allow you to get a good result.

Another common and very dangerous pest is wireworm. It represents the larvae of the click beetle, which literally pierce shoots and tubers. If you do not take action in time, the wireworm will take over the entire field and can destroy up to half of the entire crop.

You can prepare the poison yourself. Pour a solution of karbofos in a bucket with potato peelings in a ratio of 2 tablespoons of the drug to half a liter of water. Dampen these cleanings. When planting potatoes, place them in the holes (depth - 30 cm). Hungry and overwintered Colorado beetles gather in these holes, absorb the poison and die.

In this article, we'll show you how to deal with them.

Lime the soil (scatter lime over the surface or add it to the holes when planting).

To scare off the Colorado potato beetle, you can sprinkle birch and spruce sawdust on the bushes and between the rows of potatoes every two weeks. They interrupt the potato smell (especially during the flowering period).

July 2, 2014

The aboveground part of the potato is damaged by the caterpillars of the scoop. Two types of scoops develop in the stems: potato, it is marsh, or lilac spring, and ordinary heart-shaped.
In order to create unfavorable conditions for the breeding of clickers and the accumulation of wireworms, it should be introduced into the soil ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate (20-30 g / m2).
Sick bushes are found in foci (especially easily detected on a sunny day, as they quickly fade). They are stunted, have fewer stems, which become longer and thinner. The root system is poorly developed, secondary roots are formed near the soil surface. The leaves, starting from the lower ones, wilt, turn yellow and fall off, which leads to the premature death of plants. In the case of tuber formation, they are small, few in number (1-3).
Now there is a huge selection of chemicals designed for the protective treatment of fields, but they are far from always effective. Simple measures, worked out by generations of gardeners, make it possible to get excellent result and to harvest a selective crop with minimal costs for protective treatment. It is important to know the vital activity of the pest in order to find the most effective method fight.
There are several basic methods of dealing with a bear:

There are two options for dealing with this pest - chemical and agrotechnical.

Potato nematode: signs of damage and control

The number of Colorado beetles decreases very well if the tops are pollinated with clean and sifted wood ash in the morning (ratio: 2 tablespoons per 1 sq. M).

Potato pests: wireworm

Bring in ammonium nitrate, naphthalene for digging.

Cucumber herb (borago) is not only a good honey plant and culinary seasoning. It perfectly scares off the Colorado potato beetle with its smell, if you plant it next to the potato rows.

Good results in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle are obtained by 3-4 times treatment of bushes per season with Inta-Vir, Tanrek, Decis, Commander, Fastak, Fitoverm (according to the instructions). And Bankol is generally very strong - adult beetles and young animals die immediately after the first spraying.

These insects inflict significant harm in some years, mainly in low, humid areas. The severity of the scoop is high; damaged stems can account for 20-30% of the total.

Application of granular insecticides to the soil before plowing or during planting of potatoes, which you can prepare yourself. To do this, 5 kg of granular superphosphate is scattered in a thin layer on a plastic wrap and sprayed with one of the insecticides (actellik -15 ml, decis - 0.4 ml, karate - 1 ml, fastak - 2 ml, fury - 1 ml, etc.), diluted in water-acetone solution (800 ml of water + 200 ml of acetone).
With a weak defeat by globoderosis, diseased plants are detected only when digging and examining the roots, on which white, yellow or brown nematode cysts are found. Cysts persist in the soil for 8-10 (and more) years.
More information can be found in the video.

Setting traps. The pest can be caught by fairly simple means: this glass jars, which are dug into the ground at ground level in places of the greatest accumulation of insects. Within a day, you can find a solid catch in the bank, and the elimination of even a few pests will reduce the damage caused to crops.

Insecticide treatments are not always effective and can damage the plants themselves and poison the crop if overused. Knowledge of agricultural technology will not allow the larvae to develop, and thus it will be possible to save most of the harvest.

Potatoes are the most common garden culture, and today it is difficult to imagine any summer cottage without it. However, potatoes are loved not only by gardeners, but also by all kinds of pests, so every gardener should know at least the basic list of dangers that await the harvest, and measures to combat them. Potatoes are threatened by insects, in addition, you can encounter various larvae, caterpillars, fungal diseases. Let's consider the most important serious threats and determine how the potato pest control is going on.

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Add to the holes when planting potatoes: ground eggshell; ash (full scoop); onion husks (I used to put two handfuls into the hole, but in windy weather this is inconvenient - dry husks scatter, so now I soak the tubers before planting in an infusion: I put 3-4 handfuls of husks in an enamel bucket, pour water to the top, bring to a boil and I insist under the lid for 2-3 hours); mustard powder (I also add red hot pepper).

Varvara MANKO, Kiev

A poisonous bait works well - in the spring, soak the slices of potato tubers for a day in a solution of urea or Karbofos. Spread the pickled pieces out on a cloudy day or overnight. Hungry beetles pounce on these slices with appetite, not realizing that they are poisoned, and after a while they die. This method I advise you to repeat it in the fall immediately after harvest.

Stems wilt and dry out or break in places damaged by caterpillars. A complex of preventive and exterminating measures is used to protect potatoes from in-stem scoops.

The preparation obtained in this way is dried in the shade and scattered in a tape manner over an area of up to 100 m2. The site is immediately plowed. When planting potatoes under a shovel, 5-7 granules of processed superphosphate are introduced into the hole along with the tuber. Instead of superphosphate, hardwood sawdust can be used. 5 kg of sawdust is also spread in a thin layer on a plastic wrap and sprayed with a sprayer or watering can with one of the above insecticides.

Potato or Colorado potato beetle

They are transmitted with tubers, soil, agricultural implements, containers. Potato stem nematode

Autumn traps. You can dig holes in the area and fill them with manure and straw. Insects will climb into the warmth during the winter, and after a while the pits can be emptied by scattering the contents over the site. The larvae will die from the cold, and it will be much easier to save the harvest next year.

There are several methods:

The Colorado potato beetle is a pest that gardeners constantly face. It is a striped insect about 1 cm long and its larvae are bright red or pink in color.

This is a worm. You can often see how fresh potatoes are literally riddled with some kind of back doors. This is the result of the wireworm's activity. His moves are a real attack for the potato! You will not get off with cleaning the tuber. It will be much easier to throw it away! But you can't put all the potatoes in the bin! Therefore, urgent action is needed! Potato pest control is not an easy task, but only for those who do not know how to do it!

It is advisable to spill the holes when planting with a pink solution of potassium permanganate.

TIP

Cyst nematode (Globoderosis)

Elena BOYKOVA, Tver

Sexual dimorphism is not pronounced. The front wings are narrow, pointed, straight, with a span of 40-50 mm. The color varies from yellowish-brown to black-brown and is sometimes darker along leading edge... Outside of the reniform spot is a black wedge-shaped stroke, opposite which there are two other black strokes extending from the submarginal line.

Watering the soil before planting the tubers with a solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per 10 liters of water), 0.5 liters per hole, or watering plants at the root, 0.5 liters of the same solution per bush. It is necessary to apply the solution only on neutral and alkaline soils.

This is a heat-loving insect that can develop not only in summer, but also in winter when potatoes are stored at temperatures above 10oC. The moth is most widespread in tropical and subtropical climates, but in recent years it has also settled where potatoes are grown twice a year.

Very small whitish filamentous worm, about 0.7-1.4 mm long. In diseased tubers, they are located on the border of healthy and diseased tissue. The first sign of tuber damage by stem nematode (latent form) is the formation of characteristic very small whitish soft loose spots under the skin.

Decoction processing onion peel... Hulls and onion waste are poured with boiling water, after which the solution must be left to infuse. After 7 days it is diluted with water and the area is spilled. In general, other pests do not like such a solution, so it is widely used in agricultural work. It is better to cultivate the soil after rain, and if there was no rain, the area is first watered.

Potato moth

Late digging of the soil. The larvae hibernate in the soil after harvesting, so they can be successfully dealt with, it is just good to dig up the soil with the first frost at the end of October. In this case, the larvae will be on the surface and will not survive the cold snap.

This is an extremely dangerous pest: one pair of beetles can produce offspring that can destroy more than 4 hectares of plantings, adult insects and larvae literally gnaw the entire vegetative part of plants.

Wireworm Fight

Lay out baits (potatoes and other vegetables to a depth of 5-10 cm), set traps, and collect pests by hand.

: From the Colorado potato beetle, I use a decoction of tomato tops: pour 500 g of the plant with 10 liters of water and boil for 30 minutes. I cool, filter, restore the volume of liquid to 10 liters, dissolve 40 g of laundry soap in it and spray the potatoes over the leaves.

Having small area, I have no opportunity to observe crop rotation, and potatoes (early and mid-season varieties) I grow in one place. But, despite this, she still got rid of the Colorado potato beetle.

The hind wings are light gray, with dark veins and a darkened outer margin. Antennae of females are bristle-shaped, in males they are comb-like for 2/3 of their length. The lifespan of adults is 12-33 days. Fertility is 500-900 (maximum up to 2000) eggs. Eggs are laid in 1 or 2-3 on the leaves of plants or soil adjacent to the ground. The duration of egg development is from 3-5 days (in summer) to 2 weeks (in autumn). The egg is oval (0.5-0.6 mm in diameter and 0.4 mm in height), the surface is ribbed, the color is first milky white, then dark purple.

Wireworms

Watering potatoes with a 3-day infusion of celandine - 100 g of chopped plant mass, nettle - 500 g, dandelion - 200 g, coltsfoot - 200 g in 10 liters of water. Watering is repeated 2-3 times with an interval of 7 days The pest adapts easily in temperate latitudes. In the field, the moth overwinters as a caterpillar or pupa in plant debris or top layer soil, in storage - at all stages of development.

This is the breeding site for nematodes. Later, in such places, the peel dries up, shrivels and easily lags behind the pulp. Dark brown spots with a characteristic metallic sheen are formed on the tubers. They gradually increase, the peel under them peels off the pulp and cracks if severely damaged. The largest number of spots is near the umbilical cord.

Fertilization with chicken droppings. it efficient method, since the bear does not live in fertilized soil. Dissolve 2 kg of manure in 10 liters of water, the concentration must not be exceeded. After that, you need to dilute the solution in a 1: 5 ratio, and then dry soil is poured on the site. This will permanently solve the problem with bears in a potato field of any size.

Removal of creeping wheatgrass from the soil. Its rhizomes are the wireworm's favorite treat, and if they are absent, the number of larvae will be significantly reduced.

They quickly move from one territory to another, so one infected area will eventually lead to the defeat of the entire suburban area.

Add ash, chalk and lime to the soil frequently. An excellent remedy is dolomite (lime) flour. Lime the soil in this way once every four years and always well before planting the potatoes. You can use crushed eggshells. Spread it regularly throughout the entire summer. In this case, the wireworm will no longer harm your crop, rest assured.

Sow beans or beans between potato bushes.

Ekaterina DREEVA, Nikolaev region

In the second half of August, I harvest the potatoes and sow the area with rye or oil radish. In late October - early November, I dig the site and make trenches 25 cm deep every 70 cm.

Caterpillars develop within 14-35 days and reach 45-55 mm in size at the last 6th instar. The color of caterpillars is earthy-gray, along the dorsal side there is a lighter reddish stripe, the epidermis is unevenly granulated. The head and thoracic shield are dark brown. Caterpillars pupate in the soil at a shallow depth. The pupal phase lasts 13-25 days. Pupae are dark brown in color. Body length 19-25 mm. Wintering in the northern regions occurs at the pupal stage, in the south - at the stage of caterpillar and butterfly.

Systematic weed control mechanically or by introducing herbicides (glialka - 40-80 ml, glyphogan - 30-40 ml, glyphos - 30-40 ml, zencor - 15-20 ml, lapis lazuli - 15-20 ml, roundup - 30-40 ml, racer - 40- 60 ml, stomp - 100 ml, super targa - 20-60 ml, titus - 5 g + 20 ml surfactant Trend for 20 liters of water (1000 m2), topogard - 40-60 ml, hurricane-forte - 75-100 ml, fuzilad super - 40 ml, fusilad-forte - 40-50, tornado - 30-40 ml per 10 liters of water to kill wheatgrass).

Summer temperatures do not play a special role, short days (12 hours) are more important for it. The number of moth generations, depending on climatic conditions, ranges from two to eight.

Usually, the nematode damages the tissue superficially, along the edges of the tuber, than its damage differs from the defeat of late blight. The middle of the tuber remains healthy. Only in the final stages, when harmful microorganisms are attached to the stem nematodes, the destruction spreads inward, as a result of which the tuber rots.

Medvedki

Mulching the site is simple and efficient way... A layer of mulch prevents the soil from drying out completely, and the soil will constantly remain moist. In order for the bear to disappear for a long time, the layer of mulch should be at least 15-20 cm. Surface loosening in late May or early June. At the same time, wireworm eggs come to the surface, and after exposure to sunlight, they will be unviable. The larvae will not appear on the site and the crop will be saved.

In addition, insects calmly survive the winter, and also know how to hide in the soil from poisons, so a simple etching will not solve the problem.

Potato pests: Medvedka

Sow marigolds and calendula along the perimeter of the potato area, which scare away pests with their smell.

Last season, from the Colorado potato beetle, when planting potatoes, I threw one grain of peas into each hole, two meters later I made a new row - and in the summer there was no pest. I watered the potatoes regularly. The tubers have grown healthy and large.

By this time, I collect from the site all flowers with a strong smell (calendula, marigolds, etc.), stems of beans, beans, nettles, waste after harvesting garlic, onions. I grind everything, mix it, fall asleep in the trenches and sprinkle it with earth.

It is widespread, especially in the temperate and subtropical countries of the northern and southern hemisphere, with the exception of the Far North and desert regions of Africa and Central Asia. On the territory of b. The USSR occurs south of the St. Petersburg - Petrozavodsk - Vologda - Perm - Tobolsk - Tomsk - Irkutsk - Blagoveshchensk line, in the Primorsky Territory, as well as in the very south of Sakhalin, on the Kuril Islands of Kunashir and Shikotan (Velikan et al., 1981, 1982; Kononenko, 2003; Sukhareva, 1999).
Medvedka hurts
Caterpillars damage plants and tubers. During the growing season, they are drilled into the leaves (less often - into the stems and tubers) and lay eggs. In storage facilities, eggs are laid on the eyes of the tubers. The born caterpillars make moves in them. Various microorganisms penetrate into damaged tissues, causing the development of dry and wet rot.
The main source of pest spread is tubers, but it can also be soil, if potatoes are grown after potatoes infected with nematodes. During storage in high humidity conditions, the nematode moves from the infected to neighboring healthy tubers.
You can fight the bear with the help of other plants. She does not like marigolds, so they can be planted between rows and along the edges of the field. Sometimes it is fought with the help of eggshells drizzled with butter. The insect eats the bait and dies as the oil closes the airways. Chemical methods of struggle give only a temporary result, therefore folk remedies are often the most effective.

Caterpillars of the scoop

Alternating potatoes and legumes on the field. Such a crop rotation will avoid the appearance of a wireworm: the larvae will not have time to adapt to the new feed, and the potatoes will remain intact. In addition, the soil will be periodically enriched with nitrogen, and this contributes to an increase in yield.

There are several ways to deal with the Colorado potato beetle:

Description of

Dig up the site in late autumn, without breaking clods, so that the wintering larvae, once on the surface, die, and sow siderates.

Nadezhda NIKOLAEVA, Engels

In late April - early May, I prepare trenches for planting potatoes. I dig to a depth of 10 cm, put the peel of tangerines, oranges, bananas, as well as onion and garlic peels, ash. Sprinkle with earth, add humus and plant sprouted potatoes (if the soil is dry, I spill trenches the night before).

Wide polyphage. Polycyclic view. In the northern regions of the European part of Russia, in the Baltic States and Western Siberia, it develops in 1 generation; in the central regions of the European part and in the Far East - in 2; in the North Caucasus - in 2-3 generations; up to 3-4 generations can be in Transcaucasia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan (Pospelov, 1989). Migrant. It is a moisture-loving and thermophilic species, and therefore, in the south, the scoop is numerous in areas with high humidity and on irrigated lands, and in the north - on light and better warmed lands.

Underground parts of tomatoes, cabbage, pepper, eggplant and others garden crops eating sown vegetable seeds. He especially loves cucumber seeds. Seedlings dry up, damaged plants can be easily pulled out of the soil.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tobacco and weeds of the nightshade family also suffer from potato moths. In places where potato moths are found, healthy seed material is used, in autumn and spring they dig deeply into the soil, plant potatoes (better warmed up) in an optimal early dates.

(Leptinotarsa, Doryphora, decemlineata Say)

Potato nematodes are microscopic worms that penetrate potato tubers and infect the root system. The disease of the plant is manifested by yellowing of the leaves, and the crop can, over time, be irrevocably spoiled by the nematode. The pest reproduces by cysts, which very quickly nestle from one area to another: they can move with tubers, parts of the rhizome, even the soil can be infected, so a clod of earth from a shovel can transfer the pest to the other edge of the field.

If agrotechnical technologies for some reason do not suit you, you can use folk remedies for pest control. It is known that the wireworm does not like onions, so watering the wells with onion broth before planting will scare the wireworm away. You can also put a handful of onion peels or mustard powder, which wireworms don't like, in each hole.

The first simple and very effective way is to manually assemble the beetle. One female lays more than 400 eggs, so the destruction of even one insect will at least partially reduce the growth on the site. For humans, the beetle is completely harmless, therefore, apart from some psychological discomfort, nothing threatens you. You can arrange bait for the beetle: in early spring, as soon as the soil thaws, potato scraps are laid out on the site or young sprouts are planted. Within a day, the beetle will come out to feast on fresh food, and it can be collected in jars of water and destroyed. After a real planting, the assembly will have to be carried out daily for systematic destruction. It is necessary to eliminate not only adult beetles, but also discovered larvae.

Goose potatoes

Of the chemical means of control, if there are a lot of wireworms, add Provotox to the holes before planting at the rate of 40 g per 10 square meters - it destroys the wireworm larvae.

If there are too many Colorado beetles, I spray the bushes with a solution of Bitoxibacillin (50 g of powder per 10 liters of water) twice at weekly intervals. It is safe for humans and animals and is suitable for any phase of the potato growing season.

Further work - weeding, hilling (2. times per season) and watering, if necessary. Flowers of calendula or marigolds, if they germinate, I remove only partially during weeding so that they drive away pests with their smell. Many neighbors got rid of the Colorado potato beetle using my method.

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Potato pests "Garden tricks

In root vegetables vegetable crops and in the potato tubers, the bear eats up large cavities, which then rot, gnaws at the stems and tears apart the roots. Although the bear lives mostly underground, at night it can fly over considerable distances, and also quickly swims in the water.

Let's "chew" a little

They also destroy self-seeding and weeds of the Solanaceae family, huddle bushes high, cut off the tops before harvesting. Cellars and other storage areas are whitewashed. The temperature during storage should not exceed 3-5oС. If it is not possible to store potatoes at low temperatures, they are protected with biological products: lepidocide or bitoxibacillin. On the day of harvesting, the tubers are immersed in a 1% suspension of the preparation (100 g per 10 l of water) for 4-5 minutes.

- belongs to this. leaf gnats (Crysomelidae), up to 1 cm in length and up to 7 mm in width. Body reddish yellow, elytra light yellow, with 5 black longitudinal stripes; on the chest shield several black dots, in places merging into spots; the apex of the thickening antennae and the posterior edge of the head are also black.

The first manifestations are yellowing of the lower leaves of a potato bush.

Colorado potato beetle free

You can fight them with the help of traps. Pits are dug on the site, into which young potato leaves are laid, and after a while the pests can be collected and destroyed. This will prevent re-infestation, as each female is capable of laying several hundred eggs.

Selection of resistant varieties. Some potato varieties are less susceptible to the pest, so you can get by with just one or two dressings. Among them are the varieties Temp, Iskra, Zarevo and some others.

How to deal with a bear

Elena KARNAKOVA, Irkutsk

From the bear I dig into the aisles to the brim plastic bottles with a cut-off bottom. I pour 200 ml of a mixture of honey (1 tablespoon), ground pepper (20 g), hot water (1 liter) into them. The bear, attracted by the smell, climbs into the bottle, but cannot get back out.

Vera NIKITENKO, Polotsk

Beetles will be chased away ... beetles

Caterpillars live in the upper soil layer, leaving to feed at night. Specimens younger ages they eat leaves, at older ages they gnaw the stems of seedlings, and caterpillars of the 1st generation do more damage. In natural habitats, it prefers to develop on plants from the families of Hibiscus and Asteraceae

Due to the secretive lifestyle, birds do not pose a threat to her. The bear causes the greatest damage to gardens with well-manured, regularly irrigated, loose, humus-rich soil.

Not to taste

Then they are dried and stored. From the chemical means of fighting caterpillars, you can use, for example, decis, cymbush, combining them with treatments against the Colorado potato beetle. Additional processing is carried out at the end of August only against moths so that the caterpillars do not penetrate the tubers.

Damages vegetables, melons, industrial crops. The greatest damage is done in Ukraine and Belarus. sugar beets, potatoes, tomatoes. In Transcaucasia, it periodically harms cotton, tobacco, sunflower, corn, essential oil crops. In southern Siberia and in the south of the Far East, it can severely harm vegetables, as well as damage seedlings and seedlings of tree species (pine, maple, Manchurian ash and walnut). The economic threshold of harmfulness is 3-5 caterpillars / sq. m. The development of the bear is as follows: in the spring, when the soil warms up to 12-150C (first half of May), the bear crawls out of hibernation and, in search of food, begins to make numerous horizontal passages in the soil at a depth of about 2-5 cm. During the breeding season (May, June), bears appear on the surface of the earth. Next to the main passage, they arrange a 6x6 cm nest-cave at a depth of 10-20 cm.

Wireworms

Peas from the Colorado potato beetle

Beetles hibernate in the ground; come out in the spring during the appearance of potato greens, which they feed on before they begin to multiply. 12-14 days after mating, the female lays yellow testicles on the potato leaves, up to 11/2 mm long. each, in small groups. The egg-laying period lasts up to 40 days; one female lays only up to 700 and even up to 1200 eggs. A week after their deposition, the eggs hatch into larvae, which also feed on potato greens; they grow quickly - within 17-20 days, molt 3 times and adults go to the ground to pupate.

If you dig up the affected bush, you can find small grains of sand - cysts on its roots: this is one of the main signs of nematode damage.

Pest attack

To avoid the appearance of pest butterflies, it is necessary to get rid of the flowering weeds in the potato field. Butterflies feed on pollen, and in the absence of flowers, they will not appear in the field. In addition, traps are located at a height of 1 m: containers with kvass or molasses. Insects will flock to the sweet smell, after which they can be eliminated.

Chemicals very often do not give the effect that can be achieved with relatively simple folk remedies, tested by many gardeners.

Potato pests: Colorado potato beetle

Get out, bear!

Dmitry KHARCHEVKIN, t. Bryansk

With us, she smoked for a long time, causing damage not only to the roots of plants, but also eating the roots themselves. Alder and aspen branches helped. We broke fresh twigs (with bark) and stuck them into the ground at a distance of 0.5 m from each other along all potato ridges - and the bears left the garden very quickly. It turned out that the pests cannot stand this smell and go away. Branches were changed to new ones several times during the season.

Repel the attack!

Tatiana CHUPRAKOVA, Minsk

Agrotechnical protective measures: destruction of weeds, removal of plant residues from the field after harvesting, deep autumn plowing, inter-row cultivation, optimal early sowing, inclusion of vetch-oat fallow in the crop rotation, digging of barrage ditches and furrows, irrigation.

There they lay dark yellow eggs in heaps (500 pieces!). After 2 weeks, larvae emerge from the eggs, leaving the nest in late June - early July. Bears become adult insects capable of bearing offspring only the next year, but even in the larval stage, they quickly destroy cultivated plants.

10 ways to defeat a wireworm

- these are the larvae of click beetles (family Elateridae - Nutcrackers). Even with an average number of 6-8 pieces per 1 m2, they damage up to 60% of potato tubers and other crops.

The first devastation made by him was noticed in 1859 in the state of Colorado - hence the name of the beetle. Distinguished by monstrous fertility and extraordinary endurance with respect to climatic influences both in the larval stage and in the imago stage, the K. beetle quickly spread by gradual migrations almost all over the east. states of North. America, and in 1874 appeared, at last, in masses on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

However, European farmers have been successfully coping with this scourge for a long time and have used several methods for this: