How to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle with mustard and vinegar

The Colorado potato beetle is a species of insects from the family of leaf beetles, a subfamily of true leaf beetles.

Discovered in 1824 by the entomologist Thomas Sayem, one of the most dangerous pests of solanaceous crops.

Currently, not only chemical insecticides to fight the beetle, but also folk remedies for the Colorado potato beetle have gained wide popularity.

Colorado potato beetle: pest description

The body of the Colorado potato beetle is oval in shape, 7–12 mm long, on top is convex, yellow, the head and prothorax are covered with spots. On each wing there are five longitudinal black stripes.

Differs in exceptional fecundity - for the life of the female, on average, they lay up to 800 eggs, arranged in small groups of 30-40 pieces each. After 10-15 days, fleshy larvae appear in eggs, their life lasts 25 days.

At the larva stage, four ages are distinguished, which are separated by molts.At the first and at the second age, the larvae have a dark brown color; at the third age, the larva acquires an orange, pink or yellow-orange shade. Their head, legs and two rows of warts on the sides of the body are black.

In the first and second instar, the larvae remain in groups on the tops of the shoots; in the third and fourth, they transfer to neighboring plants. During pupation, most of the larvae burrow into the soil to a depth of 10 cm at a distance of 10–20 cm from the bush, which they ate.

The pupa is formed in 10-20 days. In the fall, beetles burrow 70 m into the soil and freeze until spring, getting to the surface only after the temperature rises to 15 ° C.

In quiet weather, the flight speed of beetles is 4-8 km per hour. Getting into the water, the beetles do not sink, the current of the river carries them away, giving the opportunity to crawl out to the shore.

What is harmful Colorado potato beetle

Each year, the owners of the dachas raises the question of how to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle. The Colorado potato beetle has insatiable gluttony; it destroys potatoes, stalks, leaves (in spring), flowers (in summer), tubers (in early autumn). As soon as the temperature decreases, the pests burrow into the soil.

The gradual movement of the plant means imminent damage, because the number of beetles increases with time, which puts even more fruit at risk. Beetle, except potatoes, eats eggplants, tomatoes, sweet peppers with pleasure.

The Colorado potato beetle is inaccessible to chemical insecticides due to the fact that it overwinters deep in the ground, which even periodic re-digging of the garden cannot prevent.

How to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle, cooking mixture

Mustard will quickly and safely get rid of the Colorado potato beetle.

Summer residents planted mustard to scare away insects, so that it does not allow weeds to grow and improve the structure of the earth.

Thanks to its ability to grow rapidly, cleansing the land from phytophthora and scab, not leaching the soil, it helps to fight wireworm, pinworm, slugs.

It has a positive impact in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle. It is best to plant the mustard between the rows of potatoes and eggplants, pick them off during the flowering period and spread them out between plants that can become victims of the Colorado potato beetle.

Vinegar is also useful against the Colorado potato beetle. In vinegar is acetic acid, complex alcohols, esters and aldehydes, and acetic essence of 80% concentration can destroy the insect when it penetrates inside.

But the best effect will be a mixture of mustard and vinegar. For her cooking 100 g of mustard powder and 100 ml of 9% vinegar should be diluted in one bucket of water.

Exists another version of the mustard-vinegar mixture: 200 g of mustard powder diluted in 10 liters of water and insist 12 hours, then add 150 ml of vinegar. You can also add turpentine, an infusion of onion peel, garlic or wormwood to the remedy for the Colorado potato beetle, which will enhance the effectiveness of a folk remedy.

How to apply the mixture

In order for mustard and vinegar against the Colorado potato beetle to act, you should follow the rules in the manufacture and use of the solution. It is necessary to process potato tops at the beginning of growth and when the number of beetles will increase during flowering.

It is better to make spraying in the evening, when the heat of the day subsides, in warm and calm weather.

For processing, a large amount of the solution will be required, spraying should be performed regularly, but treatment should be stopped 20 days before the estimated harvest.A solution of pure vinegar should not be watered. When processing the tops, try to prevent the mixture from dripping. Mustard and can be watered and sprayed leaves.

You also can not forget that the use of the solution over 3 hours does not make sense, it must be made immediately before use. Mustard in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle will be powerless if carried out spraying under the influence of direct sunlight: it will lose its qualities, and the entry of rain drops can simply wash away the solution.

It is undesirable to apply the mixture after rain, after abundant dew, in foggy weather, during strong winds. The best time to process is the pre-sunset evening.

The use of folk remedies has the main advantage over chemical preparations - they are absolutely safe for people, animals, plants and the environment due to the fact that they are non-toxic.