How to get rid of wireworm in potatoes in the fall and not let it overwinter

Autumn is a special time for every gardener and gardener - it is pleasant chores associated with harvesting, and preparatory work for the upcoming season. And it is precisely at this time of the year that it is necessary to think about how to make the result become even better next year. But if the last harvest of potatoes turned out to be very meager, then this makes us pay attention to pests that contributed to this. Today we want to talk about how to get rid of wireworms in potatoes in the fall and what steps should be taken to destroy such a dangerous parasite.

A little about the pest

The Colorado potato beetle has always been the main pest of potatoes, but the wireworm, which is more “modest” in popularity, is also a very dangerous parasite for this crop. It spoils the crop no less strongly, spreads very quickly across the site, and its reaction to attempts by gardeners to get rid of it can be called rather weak. Who is he and why is this happening?
The wireworm is called the larva of the nutcracker. He got his name because of the peculiarities of the structure and appearance: he has a long thin body, with hard-to-wrap, integuments painted in yellow-brown. The length of the caterpillar is about 2 cm.

On a note! Their body is so strong that it’s almost impossible to crush the larva with your fingers!

In the first year of life, wireworms are not particularly dangerous. At this time, they are small and damage the plants very slightly. The greatest damage is caused, as a rule, by older individuals - caterpillars, which are already in the second or third year of development. During this period they become especially voracious and eat the roots, underground parts of the stem and tubers. In the latter, the wireworm leaves long strokes.

Gradually, the larvae of the nutcrackers increase in size, their integuments become darker, and in about the fourth or fifth year of their development they pupate. This period usually falls on July or August. After 15-20 days, young nutcracker emerge from the pupae, which, in turn, already lay eggs in May next year. For this reason, when a wireworm is detected during harvesting, measures to destroy it in the spring should not be postponed, it is necessary to immediately consider how to cultivate the land from the pest, in the fall.

On a note! If, when digging a plot or in potato tubers, you find larvae of a nutcracker, then do not think that individuals of only this stage of development are present in your garden. There is a wireworm, which means there are adult beetles, and pupae, and eggs!

Distribution features and harmfulness

The proliferation of wireworm, and, consequently, the harm that it is capable of causing, largely depends on weather conditions and soil conditions. For example, if the autumn turned out to be hot, and the soil on the site became dry, then the pest is guaranteed to go to a depth.During this period, it becomes much less dangerous, but at the same time, getting to it with the goal of destruction will be somewhat more difficult. If the weather is rainy or the humidity level is high enough, then the substrate will become wet, and the parasite will immediately begin to move up. As a result, if you fail to catch on in time, the wireworm will inflict serious damage on the crop that has not yet been harvested.

The increased activity of the larvae of the beetle-nutcracker in the area will be evidenced by the wilted aerial parts of potato bushes. Moreover, it is not necessary that all the plants become wilted - if there are wireworms on the beds, some bushes, perhaps even the majority, will seem quite healthy.

But not only the aerial parts of plants suffer, the main damage is, of course, in the rhizomes and tubers. When the pest gnaws the passages in the young potato, then they do not drag out over time, and then the adult tuber in this place will already have a very large funnel. Especially huge damage from older larvae, as they are able to gnaw through the vegetable through. A damaged surface can no longer protect the root crop from the penetration of pathogens of bacterial and fungal diseases. As a result, damaged specimens often rot during storage.
And even in a dry year, wireworms can be dangerous. Despite the fact that in such weather he goes deep into the soil, being close to a juicy tuber, he will certainly invade inside, since there he will find the desired moisture.

On a note! For this reason, sometimes the early potato varieties, the formation of which occurs in moist soil, but the later ones, are more damaged by the wireworm!

In addition, the greatest harmfulness of the nutcracker larvae is observed precisely in acidic soils. And if the site is located in a shady lowland, where it is usually very damp, then the pest that has appeared can cause real devastation here. He also loves thickened plantings and often settles where, along with cultivated plants, weeds grow in abundance, especially wheat grass.

How to destroy wireworm?

Since the wireworm spends the bulk of his life in the ground, it is quite difficult to fight it on potatoes, and in the fall, and at other times of the year. And even if the parasite goes to a depth where there are no succulent root crops anymore, it feels quite normal there. In the deep layers of the soil, he finds rhizomes of weed grass or uses rotted stems of plants that remained after the next digging of the site.

On a note! Nutcracker larvae can live on the beds themselves, and in the aisles, and on the edge of the garden, and even beyond. This must be taken into account when organizing the fight against it!

It is not advisable to use chemicals in the fall, and in general, it is highly undesirable to use such drugs on the site. This is due to the fact that any pesticides contain highly aggressive substances that are toxic. They remain in the soil and eventually turn into root crops. As a result, such products are far from being the most useful.

Because of this, the methods of dealing with wireworm in the fall will be based solely on competent agricultural technology. However, even with the systematic conduct of such events, it is extremely difficult to completely get rid of this parasite, but it is quite possible to reduce its population and harmfulness to a minimum.

Agrotechnical methods

So, you need to process the site as follows:

• First of all, after harvesting, the garden should be cleaned of tops and weeds. Here it is necessary to remove from the earth all the rhizomes - both long and small, and even those whose length is only a couple of centimeters. Further, it is important to collect plant debris and take them out of the site, it is better to burn it right away, since the wireworm loves to winter in them and develop.
• Next, we conduct a deep digging of the entire garden - at least 20-25 cm.Moreover, it must be more thorough than digging spring. This event allows you to destroy a significant mass of both larvae and adult beetles. Why it happens? This is due to the fact that in the fall the pest settles in the soil for wintering. They lie deep in front of the very frosts, so it is advisable to dig it during this period. And it is better to complete this event twice: in September - to get rid of eggs, and in October-November - to dig out larvae and adults.
  

  Advice! After each digging, it is advisable to run poultry into the garden. Hens will enjoy bugs with pleasure and will help you in this way in the fight against them! In addition, being in an unusual environment in the cold season, the parasites will greatly weaken and become easy prey for other insects or simply die from the cold!

• When digging the soil, the detected beetles and their larvae can be collected by hand. This event is rather laborious, but at the same time it helps to reduce the pest population somewhat.
• When you dig a site for the second time - in late autumn, then in the process it is advisable to introduce a wood zone into the soil. With this tool, you are guaranteed to destroy a fairly large number of malicious larvae. Instead of wood ash, it is quite possible to use chalk or lime.

If your site is very large and does not allow manual digging, then in this case it is necessary to replace it with dump plowing, and be sure to the full depth of the arable horizon. They do this in the same period - mid-late October (depending on the climatic zone), before the onset of frost. In this case, you can not add lime to the soil, but simply fill it with a plot. In any case, in the spring, when the snow melts, it will penetrate the substrate and thus displace the pest.

Agrotechnical methods of controlling wireworms in autumn are absolutely safe for cultivated plants, and if they are carried out for 2-3 years, then the number of harmful individuals can be reduced by 60%, and sometimes by 90%.

Trap

In order to cope with the parasite and not harm the landings, bait traps can be used in parallel with ongoing agricultural activities. Some of them are cooked in September, others - in October-November.

So what can be done?

1. The simplest and most common technique is to leave a bunch of grass, straw or hay on the site. For greater efficiency, you can decompose several of these baits. Attracted wireworms will accumulate on rotting plant debris, after which (after about 3-4 days) you will only have to carefully collect these heaps and destroy together with the parasite away from the garden. This procedure is usually carried out in the early fall after harvest.
2. Another good bait is a potato cut in half. It is dug into the soil by about 20 cm and left there for several days, after which it is dug. At the same time, on each piece there are many larvae, since the crop has already been harvested, and there is nothing to eat from them. And in order not to lose the places in which the baits were laid, when digging them in, they must be marked with branches. Some people prefer to string potato wedges on a fishing line or wire, leaving an end above the surface of the soil. Such bait must be used several times.
3. The third way to lure and destroy wireworms is to use the bait in a jar. For these purposes, it is advisable to take small glass containers with a volume of 0.25-0.5 liters. At the bottom of each should put a few pieces of chopped potatoes, beets or carrots and dig them into the ground to the neck. Such baits are recommended to be placed in the shade so that the vegetables do not dry out in the sun. For 1 hundred parts of the garden, 10 jars are usually used. Every 2-3 days, the contents of the container (caught wireworms, beetles and vegetables) are shaken and a new bait is put.

On a note! It is worth noting that the latter trap works well mainly against adult bugs! But even this will be useful, since this method helps to prevent future years of adults and laying eggs!

And remember, the fight against potato wireworm in the fall will bring better results if you manage to negotiate with neighbors in the plot and carry out agricultural technology at the same time. Have a good harvest!