How to get rid of a wireworm in your garden forever

Providing proper care for vegetables planted in a personal plot, special attention should be paid to preventive measures to prevent the invasion of parasites. Small insects cause tremendous damage to plants, reducing yields or completely depriving them. The wireworm is one of the most difficult pests to remove. How to fight and how to get rid of the parasite in your own garden, let's talk forever further.

What does a wireworm look like and can you get rid of it

Wireworm is considered one of the most dangerous pests in the garden. What does he look like?In appearance, the insect looks like worms with a length of 1 to 4.5 cm... The brown body has three pairs of legs. The parasite can be distinguished from other underground inhabitants by its dense shell, which consists of a strong chitinous shell. The peculiarity of the wireworm is that it is not an independent species of insects, it is the larva of the click beetle.

The larvae turn into a beetle for a rather long period of time - from 2 to 5 years. During this time, parasites cause considerable harm to vegetable crops, eating up the roots of plants. Wireworms spend winter in the soil, sinking 10-15 cm... Insects do not freeze out even in severe frosts, their vitality is explained by the ability to go deep into the soil up to 60 cm.

Click beetles appear in vegetable gardens as early as April, as soon as the daytime temperature reaches 8-10 °. In early May, they lay their eggs directly in the soil (under lumps, bushes). A new generation of wireworms is born after 15-20 days. During the first year of life, their body reaches 5-7 mm.

What plants are affected by the pest in the country?

The gluttony of the wireworm is obvious, what he just does not eat. These are cereals, melons and vegetables, as well as some ornamental plants. Swollen seeds, seedlings, young shoots and tender stems can be a delicacy. Even the roots of fruit trees get it.

The larvae show particular interest in such plants:

• potato;
• corn;
• carrot;
• sunflower;
• salad;
• alfalfa;
• tobacco;
• melon;
• watermelon, etc.

Why is the parasite dangerous?

The wireworm gnaws at the roots of vegetable and grain crops, which weakens the plant. The defeat of the pest can be noted by the slowed growth of the tops. The parasites make holes in the roots, which reduces the quality of the crop. In addition, the larvae are carriers of fungal infections and harmful bacteria.

In addition to the harvest, the wireworm also poses a danger to humans, which consists in the use of chemicals. Toxic substances are deposited not only in the fruits, but also in the soil, which negatively affects the subsequent planting of the new season. This is due to soil pollution, violation of its structure and microflora due to the death of earthworms and beneficial microorganisms.

How to deal with the parasite in the garden and greenhouse?

The larvae can live both in the open ground and in the greenhouse, therefore, it is worth treating the beds for prevention with any method of growing vegetables. As an active agent for the parasite, special preparations are used, which include chemicals. Not all gardeners resort to radical methods of combating wireworms, therefore, folk recipes are used along with chemicals.

The use of special preparations to protect crops

It so happens that the folk methods used do not give a positive result, the parasite continues to actively harm the crops grown... Special chemicals come to the defense, which you need to use only in accordance with the instructions in the instructions. Particular care should be taken in measuring the dose; it is strictly forbidden to increase the recommended indicator.

One of the new developments in agrochemistry is the drug Nemabakt, which is obtained by combining two organisms of different species (predatory nematodes and bacteria). The principle of action of the tool consists in the penetration of the nematode into the wireworm. There, she releases a bacterium that destroys the insides of the pest. They, in turn, feed the nematode. The wireworm has no chance of survival.

To combat the larvae, you can cultivate the land:

• Prestige;
• Provotox;
• Bazudin;
• Thunder-2;
• Diazinon, etc.

Insecticides are used at different stages of plant development, but any treatments are completed 20-30 days before the start of harvest. After the completion of harvesting, the preparations can be used to cultivate the soil. All parasites are afraid of poison, so it will not be difficult to kill them.

Using folk methods to combat beetles in the garden

It is highly undesirable to use insecticides in the country, and products based on biomaterials cost money. And summer residents cannot find time to buy them because of the difficulty of leaving the outskirts of the city to the center. Alternative methods come to the rescue, which have been tested for effectiveness for years.

• In early spring and June, young shoots of almost every crop need weeding and loosening of the soil. This rule of agricultural technology is also used as a control measure for wireworms. Eggs, larvae and the beetles themselves, once on the surface, become food for birds. In addition, under the influence of the sun, eggs become unviable.
• As traps, many gardeners plant corn or lettuce, the roots of which are fond of wireworms, in the aisles of vegetable crops. All that remains is to pull out the growing shoots from the ground along with hordes of pests.
• Before planting plants, it is useful to water the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (2 grams per bucket of water). In addition to the disinfecting effect, the composition will scare off parasites.
• The easiest way to deal with a wireworm is considered to be dusting the beds and row spacings with wood ash. Soaked in ash, the soil becomes uninteresting to insects. You can throw some ash into the hole and protect the crop during the planting phase.
• Mineral salts, sprinkled on the surface of the soil, will serve as a good fertilizer for vegetable crops and scare away the wireworm.
• The pest population is reduced by a procedure used to neutralize acidic soils - liming.
• Also, ammonia, ammonium nitrate and lime helps to protect the crop.Treating the beds with these agents in the right dosages will help defeat the pest and protect crops in the future.
• You can also destroy the wireworm with eggshells, scattering them over the garden beds.

Especially popular is a recipe that includes a set of plants that are insecticides in nature:

• dandelion (200 g);
• nettle (500 g);
• celandine (100 g);
• mother and stepmother (200 g).

The components must be crushed, filled with warm water (10 l) and allowed to brew for 3-4 days. It is necessary to water the beds with a solution 2-3 times at intervals of 1 week.

Preventive methods for the appearance of wireworm on potatoes and potato fields in spring and autumn

Many gardeners believe that it is impossible to completely exterminate the wireworm. Therefore, the goal of preventive measures is to reduce the number of parasites, as a result of which the amount of damaged crops is reduced.

The following actions are recognized as effective and acceptable agrotechnical measures that can reduce the population of larvae.

• Autumn cleaning of the beds with a careful selection of plant residues that can be used by pests for wintering.
• Digging the soil just before freezing. Once close to the surface of the ground, the larvae will freeze out. For the method to be effective, the digging depth should not be less than 25 cm.
• Wheatgrass and millet rhizomes attract larvae, therefore, the plants should be disposed of. The roots should be removed completely from the ground.
• Agricultural technology of vegetable crops provides for periodic loosening of the soil. In May and June, this should be done every week so that the laid eggs of the click beetle are exposed to open sunlight. They die from overheating, which means that an increase in the population can be prevented.
• Setting up traps can also help reduce the number of parasites.... To do this, you need to make small depressions in the soil in different parts of the garden, put a little slightly rotted grass or hay in them, moisten them and cover with a small board or pieces of slate. Every couple of days, you need to look into the traps and take out the wireworms who have gathered for dinner. Potatoes are often used as bait - the pest's favorite delicacy.
• Among the methods of control, one of the most effective is the observance of crop rotation. It is not worth planting in the same place every year, a good harvest cannot be removed with this method, but it will turn out to attract more insects. The wireworm is especially fond of potatoes and is often found in the potato field. By the way, planting a tomato after him will not save the situation, since these two crops are in the same group.

Systematic treatments, timely weed control and thorough cleaning of the garden after harvesting leave no chances for the larvae of the click beetle to survive. As you can see, it is not difficult to deduce them.