Content
A garden or field clean from pests is the dream of every farmer. But in practice, such a result is not easy to achieve. Especially if the main crop is potatoes.
Colorado potato beetle harm to potatoes
With the onset of warmth, garden plants, including potatoes, begin to grow rapidly. But as soon as the temperature in the upper soil layer rises to 14 degrees, the Colorado beetles that hibernated in it crawl out and immediately begin their harmful activity. It is especially dangerous if this moment coincides with the emergence of potato seedlings. Small shoots are excellent prey for harmful leaf-eating pests. But potatoes simply do not have a chance to grow without the help of a gardener.
The beetle reproduces by laying eggs on immature plants. With a large number of pests, egg-laying occurs on almost every bush. And at this moment, the best way to combat the pest is to manually destroy the eggs of the beetle. You will have to carefully examine each bush, especially the leaves on the lower side, where the eggs are actually located.
The potato crop is formed due to a well-developed leaf apparatus, in which photosynthesis takes place. If the leaves suffer from pests, then a large number of large tubers will not be able to form.
This increases the risk of developing diseases, including phytophthora.
Therefore, the fight against this striped leaf-eating beetle is the primary task of every gardener. There are many ways to help limit the number of beetles and larvae, but the most effective of them is chemical.
There are a lot of drugs that help fight pests. They are called insecticides. In order not to get used to any particular agent, the insecticide needs to be changed. Therefore, it makes sense to turn to new developments. One of them is the Apaches from the Colorado potato beetle.
It was created on the basis of chemicals from the nicotinoid group. Tobacco dust, which contains nicotine, has long been used to control pests on plants. But nicotine is a strong poison. Modern nicotinoids, created on the basis of nicotine, are devoid of many of its disadvantages and have acquired new advantages.
- They accumulate well in the receptors of insects, but poorly - by the receptors of warm-blooded animals, and, therefore, humans.
- They are not volatile substances.
- They have a high biological activity and accumulate well in plants, at the same time not possessing phytotoxicity.
- The costs of drugs based on them are low.
- They are unstable in the soil, which means they quickly decompose into safe substances.
Clothianidin, the active ingredient of the Apache insecticide, also belongs to the group of nicotinoids.
Apache insecticide
Japan has always been famous for the quality of the products it produces. Apache insecticide, which came to our market in 2008 from the land of the rising sun, is consistent with Japanese quality. Named after a warlike Indian tribe, he is merciless to the Colorado beetle, against which he is called to fight. Reviews of consumers who have used Apaches rate the drug very highly.
Act
The concentration of the active substance in the preparation is half of its weight.Beige granules dissolve well in water. When diluted, the drug does not form dust particles, as is the case when diluting a powder. And good solubility will protect the leaves from burns. Attention! The Apache preparation is rapidly absorbed by the leaf apparatus of potatoes and retains its concentration for about a month, remaining poisonous for adults and larvae of the Colorado potato beetle, reliably protecting plants even when young shoots grow back.
The insecticide targets the insect's nervous system. Nerve impulses are blocked, which causes overexcitation and death of the pest. A feature of the Apache preparation is an almost instantaneous effect, noticeable within half an hour after treatment.
This triple attack on the beetle ensures the effectiveness of the poison.
Application features
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To carry out the treatment with the Apache insecticide from the Colorado potato beetle, you need to know how to breed it. At a summer cottage, where potato plantings are small, one package of the drug is enough, in which there are 5 sachets of only 0.5 g each. Instructions for use advise: dilute 0.5 g of the drug in a ten-liter bucket of water. But you can do it differently. First, prepare the so-called mother liquor by mixing 2.5 g of the product with a liter of water. After thorough mixing, each 200 ml of the mother liquor is diluted with water to 10 l. The processing of one hundred square meters of a potato field requires 5 liters of Apache solution.
Potatoes are processed from a sprayer, thoroughly wetting the entire surface of the leaves.
In addition, the preparation will not be absorbed by plants, but will evaporate from the surface of the leaves, which will reduce the efficiency of treatment.
After processing, the crop can be harvested no earlier than 2 weeks later.
Toxicity
The description of the drug says that it belongs to the 3rd group of danger for humans, it is moderately dangerous for fish.
Apache has the highest danger to bees - for them it has the first, highest hazard class.
Use a respirator, protective suit and gloves when handling Apache solution. After processing, you need to change clothes and wash.
The Colorado potato beetle is a dangerous pest that can leave the gardener without a crop. Fighting it is a mandatory agricultural technique.
