Eggplants, as you know, belong to the nightshade family, which also includes potatoes.
Every gardener knows what is fraught with planting different crops of the same family in the neighborhood. At the very least, the spread of diseases, which can be supplemented by common pests.
Considering the relationship between eggplants and potatoes, summer residents should be wary first of all of the invasion of the Colorado potato beetle.
The pest can appear from anywhere: from under the ground where it spent the winter; from neighbors who treated the plantings; or even just get lost in your own garden.
How to protect eggplants
Fortunately, the pest is more interested in potatoes and does not show up in the eggplant bed for the time being.
But you shouldn't wait for his visit and it's better to treat the plantings with wood ash. The treatment is carried out early in the morning or after rain, simply sprinkling the plantings with ash on wet leaves, and at the same time the spaces between the rows.
Another way is to treat with a mustard solution (100 g mustard powder, 100 ml vinegar, all this for 10 liters of water). The treatment is carried out once every 7 days.
Along with this, you can plant marigolds or calendulas in the garden bed or sow mustard.
