Wireworms - very tough worms yellowish to the touch, up to 3 centimeters in length, which cause great harm to our crops. Potato crops are most susceptible to this pest. By itself, the worm is a larva of the beetle called the Nutcracker.
Wireworms are inherently multifarious, the most attractive delicacy for them is wheatgrass roots. Hence the conclusion, if there is wheatgrass on your bed, there will be a wire.
These parasites move easily in the soil. For them to live it is enough that the soil has a humidity of 50 percent, the ambient temperature was not lower than twenty degrees. In dry soil, the wireworm practically does not live, but is able to go down in search of moisture to a depth of one meter. The more soil moisture in your garden, the closer to the surface will be a worm. Damaging potato tubers, making passages in them where a hotbed of disease is formed, dry or wet rot. As a result, the storage of potatoes in terms of significantly reduced. And the cost of your labor is not justified.
What you need to do to prevent the reproduction of this infection:
- soil liming - the wireworms do not like the soil with high acidity. Just do not overdo it, since an increase in acidity contributes to the appearance of another not less harmful misfortune - common scab.
- application in the treatment of soil ammonia-containing fertilizers. The toxic effect of these substances helps a lot in the fight against wireworms.
- application at the site of crops - lures. To do this, we use oats, barley, corn, plants that love wireworms, which need to be treated with insecticides in advance, dried, and sown in your garden, somewhere in two, three weeks, before planting potatoes. By caring for the sowing of potatoes( loosening, hilling) the seeds of these crops that have sprouted, you will automatically destroy.
- the more often and carefully we take care of the garden( loosening, harassing weeds), the less the likelihood of the increase in the number of this parasite is the obligatory early treatment of seed with insecticides of systemic action.
These measures, which are not laborious, but effective, will allow you to greatly protect your crops from the action of the wireworm.
Video about the effective fight against wireworm
Have a good harvest!
