The importance of potatoes in the Russian diet can hardly be overestimated, so everyone who has a plot of land tries to grow such a valuable vegetable. And it is clear that the expectation of a good harvest and tasty potatoes, which will feed the family for almost a year, until new vegetables are harvested, should be justified.
Every year, on the eve of garden work, the question of how to treat potato tubers before planting against the invasion of the Colorado potato beetle and the damage that pests cause to the new crop becomes relevant.
Processing potatoes before planting to increase yield
Despite all the efforts of gardeners to increase potato yields, it is still not possible to avoid crop loss. The cause may be infected planting material, on the surface of which pathogens remain. In addition, larvae of the Colorado potato and May beetles, as well as wireworms, remain in the soil on the site since autumn. All this leads to the fact that the plants get sick, as a result of which the green mass does not increase, they lack nutrition, the tubers grow small with a small amount in the nest.
The larvae of Colorado potato beetles eat the tops, and the plants again lack nutrition. And the wireworm spoils the tubers, as a result they lose their presentation and deteriorate faster during storage. Therefore, when preparing material for planting, one of the important preventive measures is dressing the seed material. These measures will help increase productivity sometimes by up to 30-50%, because the plants grow healthy and are not affected by pests.
Environmentally friendly destruction methods
There are many ways to control pests. Many people prefer methods that do not contain chemical components. They do not always help to get rid of them completely, but they will reduce the number of pests.
- Using mulch. After the emergence of seedlings, the mowed grass is distributed between the rows. It will prevent insects from breeding. Bark, hay, straw, and large sawdust are used as mulch.
- Perillus bug. Natural enemy of the Colorado potato beetle. If it appears on the site together with the striped pest, the plantings will be saved without the use of chemicals.
- Pest traps. Simple in design containers with filling are placed around the perimeter of the site. Periodically, the beetles are destroyed and the filling is refreshed.
- Herbal infusions for spraying. Plant-based solutions (wormwood, calendula, mustard) can be used as control agents.
It is effective to use such methods in small summer cottages. And for large areas it is impossible to do without chemical insecticides.
Processing time for potatoes before planting
It is impossible to give specific dates for the start of crop dressing. It all depends on the region where the crop is grown and weather conditions. For germination, potatoes are taken out of pits and cellars 30-45 days before planting in the ground. Pre-sowing treatment is carried out 2-3 days before planting in the ground. But if you carry out the treatment before planting, this will not be a violation.
The main criteria for planting our main vegetable that we should focus on are soil temperature and moisture. The soil temperature should by this time be +7+8º at a depth of 10-12 cm, and the humidity should not exceed 75%.
Modern technological methods to combat the beetle
Thanks to the development of genetic engineering, scientists have been able to develop special varieties whose tops contain toxins that are harmful to the Colorado potato beetle. But most pests soon became immune to the toxic substances contained.
Scientists and breeders have also developed special varieties that are distinguished by tough and hard tops that Colorado potato beetles do not eat.
Varieties that are least susceptible to the spread of the Colorado potato beetle:
- "Spark";
- "Pace";
- "Glow".
Treating potatoes with Prestige against Colorado potato beetles and wireworms
To protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm, many gardeners use chemical insecticides such as Prestige or Tabu during pre-sowing treatment. Prestige is a drug from the German company Bayer CropScience, and Tabu is its Russian analogue, more concentrated.
The active ingredient in Prestige and Taboo is the same - imidacloprid. This is a systemic pesticide of contact-intestinal action, which, when entering the body of a larva or adult insect, causes paralysis and then death. The substance does not accumulate in growing vegetables. But Prestige also contains the substance pencycuron. This is a contact fungicide, has a long-term protective effect, which stops the germination of fungal mycelium, protecting against fungal diseases. Moreover, it does not get into the plant itself, but remains only on the tubers and in the soil nearby. Simply put, Prestige protects potatoes from pests and diseases, and Taboo only protects them from pests. This is their only difference.
How to use Prestige
The drug is available for sale in packages of 30, 60, 150, 500 ml. Before use, you must make a working solution. To do this, 60 ml of the drug is diluted in 600 ml of water. This amount of solution is enough to process 60 kg of root vegetables. If the packaging is large, then the exact amount of the product can be measured using a medical syringe. The working solution turns out to be a bright red saturated color.
Having made the working solution, spread the potatoes in one layer on the film and spray them with a spray bottle, turn them over and spray them on the other side. Leave the tubers to dry. Treatment can be carried out 1-2 days before planting in the ground.
You can spray the seed material just before planting, nothing bad will happen. But we must keep in mind that the indicator paint is poorly washed off from buckets or gloves, so after pickling the tubers they are difficult to wash off and perhaps because of this they will become unusable. If this moment does not bother you, then you can spray it immediately before putting it in the soil.
Analogues of Prestige
With a similar mechanism of action and application, its analogues are commercially available:
- Taboo,
- Commander.
- Rector,
- Matador,
- Prestigator.
Before use, carefully read the instructions for use. Since these are potent chemicals, handle them with caution, using personal protective equipment (gloves, goggles, respirators).
Description of the bear and pre-landing protection against it
A large burrowing insect up to 8 cm long with a dark brown back and olive abdomen lives in the ground, but can swim, jump, fly, and at night makes trills and chirps that are louder than the singing of a cricket or grasshopper. The pest has powerful jaws and front paws, which allow it to build underground passages and oval chambers (nests). There is a shell on the neck, in which the head is partially hidden, and the abdomen ends with two thread-like appendages. The eyes are clearly visible on the head, and there are antennae.
Amateur naturalists catch mole crickets and keep them together with the larvae in insectariums and observe their development. For some, mole cricket breeding is a business because there is a belief that these insects help cure tuberculosis and cancer.
The mole cricket lives underground, but can fly at an altitude of up to 5 meters
In summer, the female lays eggs, from which small mole crickets emerge. At first they look like grasshoppers. In the southern regions, young offspring become sexually mature in the same year, and, for example, in the Leningrad region, the full development cycle lasts 2–2.5 years. Pests are omnivores, they feed on everything that gets in their way when building burrows: beetles, worms, plant roots, and they love to feast on root vegetables and young potatoes.
Treatment of potato tubers against diseases with Fitosporin
Fitosporin is a new generation natural biofungicide used for the prevention and treatment of plants from fungal and bacterial diseases. It has no analogues in terms of concentration of beneficial bacteria and quality. The main active component is the live spore bacterium Bacillus subtilis - Bacillus subtilis. The effectiveness of Fitosporin-M is also enhanced by the Gumi fertility elixir. The product is perfect for pre-sowing treatment of potatoes, while protecting the seed from diseases and accelerating the germination of tubers.
The drug is sold in packages in the form of a paste. To prepare the stock solution, you need to dilute the paste in a 1:2 ratio with water, stir thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous solution. And a working solution is prepared from the mother liquor. For pre-sowing treatment, spray with a solution prepared at the rate of 4 tbsp. l. (60 ml) stock solution per 300 ml (1.5 cups) water. From the resulting amount of solution, you can spray 10 kg of tubers.
The potatoes are scattered on oilcloth and evenly sprayed with the prepared solution, allowed to dry, avoiding direct sunlight. Treatment can be carried out 1-2 days before or immediately before planting.
Benefits of preplant treatment
Knowing all the advantages of pre-planting treatment of tubers, many gardeners do not even doubt the need for it, since this agrotechnical technique is capable of:
- protect vegetable crops from many pests;
- have an effect against fungi;
- activate the development of sprouts;
- accelerate tuber germination;
- reduce the number of sprayings during the growing season, which will reduce the concentration of chemicals in the soil and root crops;
- ensure evenness of fractions and increase marketability by 20 percent or more;
- facilitate the care of the crop as a whole.
In addition, the soil on the site will remain clean, which is important for further cultivation of garden plants.
Chemical means for protecting potatoes before planting
Chemical remedies most often have a prolonged effect for 20-45 days. Active poisons of the drugs disintegrate within a few weeks, which is especially dangerous for early varieties. But if you decide to treat the seed against pests and diseases, then use universal means
- Prestige,
- Taboo,
- Commander,
- Aktara.
When using these products, strictly adhere to the instructions for use.
The following preparations can also be used for dressing potatoes.
Copper sulfate - 1 tbsp. l. dilute in 6 liters of water, dip the tubers into the prepared solution for 2-3 minutes, then allow them to dry.
Potassium permanganate . Prepare a solution at the rate of 10 g of product per 10 liters of water, stir well so that the crystals dissolve. And then the vegetable is immersed in the solution for 30 minutes.
TMTD VSK is a contact fungicide; it does not penetrate the plant, but it suppresses growth and kills mycelial spores on the surface of tubers. Treatment is carried out before planting. The product is mixed in equal quantities with water and the working solution is sprayed at the rate of 200 ml per 10 kg of potatoes.
Prestigator is both a fungicide and a pesticide, an analogue of Prestige. To prepare a working solution, 10 ml of the product is diluted in 10 liters of water. The working solution is sprayed on the planting material 2-3 hours before planting. Consumption rate – 100 ml per 10 kg of tubers.
Recommendations and tips for spraying
Simple tips and recommendations from experienced gardeners will make the fight more effective.
- Potatoes should be treated against the Colorado potato beetle in dry weather without wind. In this case, the leaves of the plants must be dry.
- It is best to poison pests in the evening.
- To make the solution stick to the leaves (longer effect), add a little laundry or liquid soap to the working composition.
- After preparation, the solution is used within several hours. Over time, it loses its effectiveness.
- After each treatment, be sure to wash your hands and wash your clothes.
On a note!
The peculiarity of the pest is that the insect easily adapts to new stressful conditions, so the methods and preparations used are regularly changed.
How to treat potato tubers with potassium permanganate
When treating potatoes with Prestige or Tabu, we use strong chemicals - insecticides. They kill not only the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm. But it’s worth thinking about how big it will grow later if it’s treated with such strong agents? The proposed remedy will do much less harm, but at the same time will protect the seed from further development of diseases and damage by insects.
To prepare it for 10 liters of water, take:
- 1 tsp. margartsovka,
- 2 tsp. boric acid,
- 3 tsp. (or 1 tbsp.) copper sulfate.
Add them to the water and stir well. Potassium permanganate will protect potatoes from wireworms, copper sulfate will protect them from fungal diseases, and boric acid is a growth regulator and will make the vegetable germinate faster.
For greater effect, you can add 1 liter of mullein to the solution. It contains many microelements, enzymes and humates, which will also be beneficial for the vegetable.
Then place the box with potatoes on a wide basin or bathtub, and water the tubers from a watering can so that they are all moistened with the prepared solution. The solution will wet the entire surface of the tubers and flow into the basin through the holes in the box.
The solution can be poured back into the watering can and poured over another box of potatoes.
There is no need to soak the potatoes in the solution, since they already have sprouts on them that can burn during processing. Place the box with the processed vegetables in the sun or under a canopy so that the vegetables dry.
Work can be carried out no earlier than 5 days before disembarkation. By the time of planting, the potatoes should turn a little green so that nutrients are more attracted to the sprouts.
Neighbors who can't stand the "striped one"
There are plants whose aroma cannot be tolerated by Colorado. Therefore, they need to be planted between potato beds to repel pests. List:
- Chernobrivtsy;
- borage;
- marigold;
- cilantro;
- nasturtium;
- matthiola bicornuum (colorful, fragrant and very low-maintenance flower);
- hemp;
- fragrant tobacco (the grass is poisonous to Colorado, bushes located at a distance of 3-5 m from it will definitely be protected).
Potatoes can also be planted between rows, along the perimeter or diagonally next to:
- Paslenova.
- Beans.
- Vegetable beans. It is recommended to plant in beds with potatoes grown from seeds. It will be small in size and will not shade the repellent plant.
- Bow.
- Horseradish.
They will not only repel the beetle, but will also produce a harvest. The following plants planted around the plot of land will also create a barrier to “invading” pests:
- tansy;
- catnip;
- white claret.
Of course, this method does not guarantee that there will be no harmful insects. However, such a barrier will significantly reduce their population.
Treatment of potatoes against late blight before planting
Some gardeners ask and ask whether it is possible to treat late blight before planting? Late blight on potatoes is a threat to most of the crop. Warmth and moisture are the optimal environment for the development of fungal infections. Spores of the causative agent of late blight live in the soil and remain on the tubers. They can be carried by water flows or wind, and remain on last year's plant debris. Fighting the disease is difficult, but necessary.
Dry weather and hot sun rays prevent the development of late blight. But it is difficult to predict in advance what the weather will be like in summer. For the purpose of prevention, it is advisable to treat tubers at the pre-sowing stage. This will help prevent the proliferation of spores at first. Fitosporin will cope well with this task.
To prevent massive crop loss, gardeners need to use potato varieties that are resistant to late blight. In addition, for preventive purposes, it is necessary to treat the soil in advance. Pre-sowing treatment is carried out using chemicals - fungicides, biological and folk remedies.
