How to deal with the larvae of the May beetle

Larvae of the May beetle - one of the worst enemiesall gardening and gardeners. They do not have a narrow food specialization (in other words, they eat everything), and until the larva turns into a beetle it takes 3-5 years. During this time, the larva has time to cause significant damage to the crop. How to deal with the larvae of the May beetle?</ p>

The struggle with the larvae of the May beetle is not an easy task: they hide in the ground at a depth of about half a meter, so you can find them only if you do a deep digging of the garden.

By the way, digging up the garden is one of the oldest and most effective methods of combating these larvae. Discovered larvae must be selected from the soil by hand and destroyed, bay strong salt solution, and you can run on the dug up the garden of chickens who are happy to remove pests.

Also, larvae eagerly eat starlings, so you can build a birdhouse on the site. Yes, and urchins do not miss the opportunity to eat fat larvae, so if you have a family of spiny animals on the site, you do not need to expel them.

How to deal with the larva of the May beetle on strawberries

You can also try to get rid of the larvae of the May bug by special insecticides for the destruction of pests living in the soil. These include, for example, drugs with active thiamethoxam or diazinon (insecticides of intestinal and contact action).

Also well-established biological insecticides containing microscopic worms - nematodes. Some nematode species parasitizesoil pests, including larvae of the May beetle. However, please note that you need to buy such drugs in specialized stores or directly from manufacturers: nematodes are living organisms, and if they die due to improper storage, they, naturally, will not help you fight the larvae of the May bug.

To prevent the defeat of plants, the larvae of the May beetle use various means. Some plants (for example, strawberries) watered solution of ammonia (for 10 liters of water - half a tablespoon of alcohol). You can also dig in the rows of strawberry grooves depth of 30-40 cm and shed them 0.75% solution of carbofos or 0.1-0.2% solution of "Decis".

Use and infusion of onion peel: 100 g of onion or garlic husks are poured into 10 literswarm water, cover with a lid and leave for 3-5 days. The resulting liquid of dark brown color should be diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 1. Under a bush of a strawberry it is enough to pour out a liter of such infusion, and under bushes of a currant are poured on 1-2 buckets. Another recipe: drip 10-15 drops of iodine in a bucket of water and pour this solution around the tree.

Larvae of the May beetle do not like the smell of chlorine, so you can safely fertilize the soil with chloridepotassium and other chlorine-containing fertilizers. And in the autumn, you can dig a vegetable garden and water it with "White" or another liquid with a chlorine content. In the spring, before digging up beds, sprinkle the earth shredded eggshell. You can also plant mustard and white clover on the site.

Destroy not only larvae, but also adult beetles (fewer beetles - less than larvae). Early in the morning and in the evening, when the air temperature is not higher than 10 degrees, you can spread the litter under the trees and bushes, shake the beetles on it and then destroy it. So it is necessary to do 3-4 times with an interval of 5-7 days.

Well-established light traps. In the garden you need to hang the light bulbs, and under themplace the container with water, which is added a few drops of kerosene. You can also use sticky traps, for example, newspapers with a sticky substance applied to them for catching flies. In the evening, beetles will fly to the light and fall into the water or stick to the traps, in the morning it remains to "harvest" and destroy the beetles.

Fight with the larvae of the May beetle is not easy, but if you make some effort and combine different methods of struggle, you can minimize the damage caused by these voracious pests.