The larvae of click beetles, known to gardeners as wireworms, cause significant damage to potato, carrot and beet tubers.
These creatures do not disdain seedlings either: if 3-5 days after planting you notice that the seedlings are lying as if they were mown down, it means that wireworms have worked on them.
Of course, you shouldn't let the pest do business on your property. To get rid of the parasite, try using the following methods.
1. With the arrival of spring, start digging up the beds, during which you should get rid of all the weeds, especially couch grass.
2. Plant potatoes where peas or beans were previously grown.
3. 2 weeks before planting, carry out bait sowing, during which you need to lower 5-6 grains of oats, corn, barley or wheat into holes located at a distance of 50-70 m. When shoots appear, dig them up together with pests and destroy them.
4. As bait, you can use pieces of potatoes or beets, which should be buried in the ground at a depth of 5-15 cm. Mark these places with sticks, and after 3-4 days, remove the bait and destroy it along with the pests.
5. To reduce damage from wireworms, experienced gardeners sow lettuce between rows of potatoes – the pest feeds on its roots as well.
6. Before you start planting potatoes, treat the soil by watering it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per 10 l of water) at a rate of 0.5 l of water per hole or under the root. Please note that this method is only suitable for alkaline soils.
7. You can also use three-day infusions of celandine (100 g of chopped herb per 10 liters of water), dandelion (200 g per the same volume of water), celandine (200 g per the same volume of water) or nettle (500 g per the same volume of water).
The treatment is carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 7 days.
