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Sometimes, when harvesting potatoes, you have to see numerous passages in the tubers. It happens that a yellow worm sticks out of such a move. All this is the wicked work of the wireworm. This pest damages many garden crops. In addition to potatoes, it can damage carrots, beets and other root crops, eat up the roots of young plants, which leads to their death. Therefore, it is necessary to fight with it.
What is a wireworm
It is not an independent insect, but an intermediate, larval stage in the existence of the click beetle. Only now it lasts an unusually long time, in many individuals up to 4 years. The click beetle is up to 2 cm in size, and the color is dark brown or dark purple.
It depends on the composition of the soil and living conditions. The beetle itself does not do much harm to agricultural crops. The same cannot be said about its larvae.
Beetles lay the larvae in early spring. In the first year, the larvae are small and do not differ in mobility. But from the second year, their activity, and, therefore, the harmful activity increases significantly.
Wireworms are able to move quickly in the soil, choosing places where there is enough food for them. It is especially good for them where it is humid and the acidity of the soil is increased. They love to dwell where wheatgrass grows.
Destroy wheatgrass in the area so as not to create conditions for the habitat of this harmful worm.
This dangerous pest must be dealt with.
Wireworm control measures
There are many ways to combat this pest. You can lay out grain or baits treated with insecticide even before planting the main crop. The wireworm, eating them, dies. Observance of crop rotation helps well. The wireworm does not consume food that is new to him, so he does not damage the plants he is accustomed to.
Siderates, which are sown after harvest, help fight the wireworm. Mustard, colza, rapeseed are best. Siderata must be buried in the ground. Essential oils released during their decay repel the pest. If you constantly add ground eggshells to the soil, the number of pests can be significantly reduced.
If you spill the wells with tincture of nettle (500 g per ten-liter bucket) or dandelion (200 g per ten-liter bucket) before planting, this will save the young roots from damage by the wireworm.
But there are times when all these measures are not enough. Then you have to resort to chemicals. There are not so many insecticides from the wireworm. Most of them are made on the basis of diazinon, which belongs to the class of organophosphate insecticides. Diazinon was developed more than half a century ago by the Swiss company Ciba Geigi. For a long time, this insecticide has been used to combat domestic insects. One of the substances based on diazinon is Provotox from wireworm.
Insecticide Provotox: description
The content of the active substance in this remedy from the wireworm is 40 g per kilogram. The drug is available in the form of granules. The weight of one sachet can be 120 or 40 g. For application on 10 sq. M. one sachet in 40 g is enough. The drug cannot be combined with other drugs. You can store it for 2 years.
Action of Provotox
The active substance of the drug is a contact-intestinal poison.When a wireworm enters the body, it damages its nervous system, causing paralysis and death. The drug must be applied once by evenly scattering over the bed. The instruction says that the drug must be slightly embedded in the soil.
It is also possible to add the preparation directly to the wells when planting potatoes. Each bush will require only 2 to 4 pieces of granules.
Reviews on the use of the drug Provotox from the wireworm indicate a significant decrease in the number of wireworms.
The usual time for application is spring. If the number of the pest is large, it is possible to incorporate the preparation into the soil after harvesting. A calm day is chosen for processing. You need to spend it either in the morning or in the evening.
The protective effect of the drug lasts 6 weeks.
Drug toxicity and safety measures
Provotox belongs to the drugs of the 3rd hazard class. Those. it is of little danger to humans. Diazinon, on the basis of which Provotox was created, decomposes rather quickly in the soil.
Safety measures when working with Provotox consist of the use of a protective suit, respirator and gloves. Do not eat or smoke during processing. After processing, you need to change clothes, wash.
Advantages of Provotox:
- Does not possess phytotoxicity.
- It has a long term of validity.
- Not addictive to insects.
- Moderately hazardous to warm-blooded animals.
So that the wireworm does not damage potatoes, roots and flowers, it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive fight with it, using both folk and chemical methods.
