How To Get Rid Of A Wireworm In Your Garden

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Agronomist Alexander Zharavin from Kirov answers

Wireworm

Wireworms are the larvae of click beetles, of which the following species are found in the Non-Black Earth Zone: wide, dark, striped, black and shiny.

These are polyphagous pests that harm corn, onions, sunflowers, potatoes, root crops (carrots and other crops). They also harm melons and gourds, to a lesser extent - annual legumes (peas, beans). The greatest harm from them is obtained when the seedlings are delayed, in drought, when sowing seeds in unheated soil and with excessively deep seeding. The wireworm gnaws through the passages both in the roots of plants and in their ground part. Perforated tubers are traces of their lunch. Getting rid of a wireworm is not easy. But you can try.

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You can fight the wireworm using agrotechnical methods, as well as using chemical agents

Agrotechnical methods include:

1. Fighting weeds and, first of all, wheatgrass.

2. Liming and phosphorization of soils, but it is undesirable to do this before planting potatoes, as this can affect the quality of tubers.

3. Mandatory soil cultivation (pre-sowing, inter-row, autumn).

4. Strict observance of crop rotations is necessary: it is advisable to plant annual legumes before potatoes and root crops (of course, if there is a wireworm in the garden).

5. The deployment of baits and traps is also used. The baits are made from pieces of potatoes, carrots or beets, into which you need to stick twigs and bury them to a depth of 10-12 cm. In a day or two, the baits should be examined and destroyed (you can feed them to chickens). After the destruction of the wireworm, you need to renew the cut again, sprinkle it with water and bury it in other places at the same depth. In early spring, small bundles of straw and leaves can also be laid out on the site. Capture and destroy the beetles gathered there.

6. The cultivation of white mustard for siderat (green fertilizer) also helps in the fight against this pest.

7. It is useful to introduce ash (up to 1 l / m2) in the fall for digging the soil.

Chemical measures include the following:

1. Introduction of ammonium-containing fertilizers (15 g / m2 of ammonium nitrate or 30 g / m2 of ammonium sulfate) before sowing root crops and planting potatoes.

2. Watering the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

3. Application of the insecticide diazinon (basudin) at a dose of 40 g / m2; the measure is justified only with a large number of pests.

In conclusion, I note that although the chemical method is the simplest, it is advisable to resort to it only as a last resort, since diazinon is highly toxic (highly toxic) for humans and other warm-blooded animals. Therefore, with a relatively low number of pests, try to limit yourself to agrotechnical methods. Moreover, if the potatoes cannot be included in the crop rotation, then the part of the land allotted for this crop most populated with larvae should be occupied with early potatoes, so that after harvesting it, you can have time to grow mustard for siderat.