How to get rid of wireworms in carrots: a review of effective remedies

Each gardener takes care of the health of his plantings on the site, because the harvest is a reward for the investment. One of the dangerous pests of carrots is wireworm. It is a larva of a nutcracker, affects tubers and root crops. Eating plant foods is necessary for him for active growth. How to get rid of wireworm in carrots so that it does not cause damage to the crop?

What harm does the wireworm do to carrots?

Wireworms live in the soil, looking for beds with nutritious and fleshy root crops. Finding a suitable object, it literally bites into it, causing mechanical damage to carrots. The aerial part in adult plants rarely suffers, and a person discovers the results of a pest only during harvest.

At the same time, the plant inevitably suffers, because the larvae draw useful elements and juices from the root crop. As a result, the amount of harvested carrots is reduced, and its quality becomes worse due to damage. Another danger lies in the fact that the affected plants become vulnerable to damage by a fungal and bacterial infection, because microorganisms easily penetrate the root crop through cracks and holes in carrots. Because of this, putrefactive processes appear that can lead to the death of the plant.

The wireworm is especially dangerous for planted seeds and young carrots. He is able to completely destroy them.

Nutcracker beetle larvae often inhabit colonies, affecting individual sections of the bed. Therefore, one of the signs of damage in young plants is local thinning of the plantings.

Special means in the fight against wireworms

One way to deal with wireworms in carrots is to use special chemicals. Contact insecticides have proven themselves well. They can be used to treat seeds before planting and beds intended for carrots.

List of drugs effective against wireworm:

1. "Bazudin" can be called "heavy artillery." It is highly toxic, therefore it is recommended to use it only when other insecticides do not solve the problem.
2. Less harmful for humans is Diazinon and a number of drugs, which contain the same active substance.
3. The insecticide "Prestige" is designed to fight primarily with the Colorado potato beetle, but shows good results for the destruction of wireworms. The drug reduces the population of pests at least twice. It is much less harmful than Bazudin.
4. "Provotox" has an important advantage: it is not addictive in the wireworm. In addition, it is not destroyed by earthworms and is a drug of prolonged exposure, for a long time protecting the rows of carrots from a pest.

Other universal insecticides are also effective: Aktara, Grom-2, Zemlin, Trap, and others.

When buying insecticides, you must not forget: when re-treated with drugs with the same active substance, wireworms may develop immunity to them.

Good results are obtained by applying superphosphate granules pre-treated with a solution of insecticides (Actellik, Decis or Karate 15 ml each) with water (80 ml) and acetone (200 ml). To prepare poison, superphosphate must be scattered with a thin layer and sprayed with the prepared liquid. Another option than processing carrots from wireworms is fertilizers with ammonia content.

In addition, there are biological preparations for the larva of the nutcracker. Their natural enemies are the nematode worms. For example, you can buy the bio-insecticide "Nemabact" or a special soil "Protection", which is poured into rows intended for planting carrot seeds. Such funds are harmless to humans and root crops.

Precautionary measures

Before using any insecticide, it is important to read the instructions for it before doing this. Even drugs with a single active substance are used in different ways, because its concentration is often different.

In order not to be poisoned by a chemical, you must follow the universal rules of protection:

• prepare the tool and process the beds in gloves;
• additional safety will be provided by glasses and a respirator;
• processing should be carried out in calm weather;
• the best time is early morning or evening twilight;
• After completing work, wash your hands thoroughly.

All this will help to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Folk remedies

Folk tricks tell how to water carrots from wireworms. For example, these are infusions of various herbs (the amount of plant material is indicated per 10 liters of water):

1. Celandine: 100 g finely chopped plant. Insisted 3 days.
2. Nettle: 500 g. To sustain at least 12 hours.
3. Dandelion: 200 g (12 hours).
4. Coltsfoot: 20 g (also infused 12 hours).

The resulting product is watered the beds before planting and directly the plants themselves. To achieve the desired effect, you need to repeat the procedure 3-4 times with an interval of 7-10 days.

To scare away pests, before planting seeds, it will effectively etch the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Wireworm traps

Another interesting way to deal with wireworms is to destroy them mechanically. But, since they are hiding in the bowels of the beds and they cannot be removed from carrot plantings, special traps are used. The principle of action is simple: a gardener makes a bait, which from time to time checks and eliminates pests.

Trap Options:

1. Dig a small hole near carrot beds and put half-rotted grass in it. You can use household waste of plant origin (for example, peeling potatoes). To make the trap even more attractive to the larvae, moisten the bait with a small amount of water. After a couple of days, adult beetles and their larvae will gather in it. It remains to burn the prey.
2. Plant cereal seeds (especially attractive for wireworm barley and oats). After emergence, they are dug up and destroyed by larvae, which were attracted by nutritious roots.
3. Plant potatoes or slices of root vegetables on long twigs: beets and carrots, and add bait to the side of the bed. Every few days, you should take out the bait and kill the wireworms who came to feast on easy prey.

If the bait is additionally treated with an insecticide, this will increase the effectiveness of the trap. All the individuals who gnawed the treat prepared for them, will die, and not only those who were "taken by surprise."

Prevention

There are also preventive measures that will to some extent protect carrots from being hit by a wireworm:

1. Larvae love acidic and moist soils. Therefore, the soil must be lime if necessary. To do this, wood ash, lime, chalk are brought into the ground.Dolomite flour and a simple egg shell, which remains in every home after cooking, will also help.
2. If you plant a salad in the rows of carrots, then its juicy roots will distract the larvae from root crops.
3. Maintain cleanliness on the site, fighting weeds, without leaving grass and tops between the beds.
4. In autumn, make a deep digging, choosing larvae from the soil and destroying them.
5. Crop rotation: crop rotation is unfavorable for nutcracker larvae.
6. Bean planting: these plants repel wireworms.
7. Using mustard as a siderate with embedment in the soil produces a phytosanitary effect.

Preventive measures do not completely protect carrots from wireworms, but significantly reduce its number.

The maximum effect is achieved with an integrated approach. If carrots eat wireworms, which makes the crop less quality, then only regular use of preventive measures and special means will relieve the pest.