How vinegar and mustard from the Colorado potato beetle are used
Vinegar and mustard from the Colorado potato beetle is one of the available and effective remedies for controlling potato insect pests. It has many advantages over industrial insecticides - it is a natural composition, safety for crops and the ecological environment, as well as the absence of addiction in adults and their larvae.
Vinegar and mustard from the Colorado potato beetle: action of the remedy
Pros of mustard vinegar for Colorado potato beetles:
- drives out both adult bugs and their larvae from the garden;
- potato foliage treated with a mustard-vinegar mixture becomes unattractive to insects;
- after processing the bushes of potatoes, the beetles leave the beds in search of a more comfortable place to live.
For the treatment of potato beds, you cannot use vinegar essence with an acidity of 70%, as this will provoke tops burns. Table acid is the best choice, but it also requires special care. Acetic acid should not be inhaled or kept close to the body - this can cause burns to the epidermis and mucous membranes.
Colorado potato beetle vinegar and mustard are combined with other home remedies as well as industrial insecticides. This significantly increases the effectiveness of the fight and allows you to quickly get rid of pests in garden beds.
Dry mustard against Colorado potato beetles
Mustard processing of potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle is carried out in a variety of ways. The easiest one is to sprinkle potato leaves and soil with dry mustard mass in the aisle or in places where insects were seen.
For processing vegetable crops, a solution is used:
- Dilute ½ cup of dried mustard powder in 2 liters of cool water;
- leave the solution to infuse for 48-72 hours;
- Strain the prepared liquid and add clean water so that the total volume of the composition is 10 liters.
To prepare the working solution, you can use not cool water, but boiling water. In this case, the liquid is infused for no more than 24 hours, after which it is filtered, topped up to the required volume and used to irrigate the beds with potatoes.
Mustard liquid can be used not only for spraying, but also for watering vegetable bushes. For this purpose, prepare a solution from a glass of dry powdery mass and 9 liters of water.
For maximum efficiency of the working composition, you can add 70-90 g of grated soap (preferably household soap). Such a drug helps to quickly get rid of not only Colorado bugs, but also pests that live in the ground - slugs, wireworms.
Mustard and vinegar recipes against the Colorado potato beetle
Spraying potatoes with vinegar and mustard is carried out using a regular mustard solution with the addition of ½ cup of table vinegar per bucket. The liquid must be mixed well so that the powder is completely dissolved.
A solution against the Colorado potato beetle can also be prepared according to another recipe - dissolve a glass of dry mustard mass in 10 liters of warm water and leave to infuse warm for 12 hours. After that, pour in a glass of vinegar and stir.
With a large number of Colorado beetles infecting almost all garden plants, you can prepare a product with a powerful insecticidal effect from 10 liters of water, 1 kg of dry mustard powder and ½ glass of acetic acid with a concentration of 9%. Care must be taken when using this solution, as the risk of burning the potato bushes is too high.
To increase efficiency, mustard-vinegar solution can be mixed with other components:
- laundry soap;
- onion peel;
- decoction of garlic;
- wormwood decoction;
- turpentine.
Turpentine will help to enhance the deterrent effect of the folk remedy. To do this, dissolve in a bucket of water heated to room temperature 100 g of dry mustard powder with 100 ml of turpentine and the same amount of acetic acid. With this tool, you can both spray potato bushes and water them. You can also add 300 ml of infusion of 2 heads of garlic, onions or wormwood.
How to use vinegar and mustard from the Colorado potato beetle
Solutions with vinegar and mustard from the Colorado potato beetle have a complex effect - they not only "force" the pests to leave the potato beds, but also prevent their reappearance.
Basic rules for using mustard with vinegar against the Colorado potato beetle:
- To obtain the maximum effect, it is necessary to process not only the aisles, but also the plants themselves.
- Spraying potatoes with vinegar and mustard is best done at least 3-4 times per season. The first treatment is carried out in the spring, as soon as the young plants get stronger and rise 10-15 cm above the ground.
- When using dry mustard powder, you can pre-spray the bushes with soapy water. Thanks to this, the solution remains effective for up to 4 days. But it must be borne in mind that rains and high humidity wash off the product from the potatoes. If it rains after treatment, it must be repeated.
- To combat pests of potatoes, you need to use only a freshly prepared solution, the remnants of the product cannot be stored. Acetic acid retains its effectiveness for no more than 3 hours.
- The treatment of potato bushes with mustard-vinegar solution is best done in a calm evening, in warm, but not hot weather. When exposed to direct sunlight, the liquid evaporates quickly, which can lead to sunburn on the tops.
- Potato tops must be completely dry before spraying. With high humidity, it is better to postpone pest control to another day.
- Before use, the solution must be drained, otherwise the particles of mustard powder can clog the spray bottle.
- It is necessary to spray not only the upper part of the leaves, but also the lower one - it is there that the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle attach.
The vinegar and mustard solution can be used in a variety of ways:
- spray with garden sprayers on potato tops;
- watering plants and aisles from a watering can, dusting by hand.
Mustard as siderat
Sowing row spacings with mustard seeds is considered an equally effective way of dealing with Colorado beetles. After flowering, the plant can be mown and spread out under the bushes.
This not only eliminates potato pests, but also improves the composition of the soil, preventing the emergence of weeds, insect pests and the growth of bacteria. The mustard crop can be used as food or as livestock feed.
Vinegar and mustard is a simple, budgetary and effective remedy for Colorado beetle control. A properly prepared solution helps to quickly get rid of garden pests and maintain a rich potato crop.