The most effective methods of controlling potato pests. Potato diseases and pests: description and effective protection

We all love potatoes, so most owners of summer cottages grow them.

To get good harvest(or even better, early) summer residents begin to prepare seed tubers long before planting, then plant them and carefully care for the plantings.

But, nevertheless, sometimes the potato harvest does not make us happy at all.

For humans, potatoes are the second bread, but there are also competitors. For them, potatoes are sometimes the first bread.

These are numerous potato pests. Most of them, like us, love to eat tubers (mole crickets, wireworms and others).

There are also those who adore potatoes from tuber to flower (Colorado beetle).

The main potato pests in most regions are the mole cricket and the Colorado potato beetle.

There are many more less common, but also harmful insects. The gardener needs to protect his potatoes from all these gourmets.

Characteristics of potato pests

Many plant pests are amazingly resistant to environmental influences.

They also adapt to the action of pesticides - they develop protection and genetically pass it on to their offspring.

It’s not an easy task to garden a garden in a country house. But the summer resident knows how to protect potatoes.

And there are a lot of pests.

Colorado beetle

Dangerous potato pest: capable of completely destroying plantings.

Originally Mexican, the beetle got its name after massive damage to potatoes in Colorado.

This happened back in 1859.

A quarantine pest entered the territory of the USSR a hundred years later, first choosing the Ukrainian SSR.

It was possible to contain it until 1975. Afterwards, the Colorado potato beetle managed to spread from European territory countries to the Far East.

Description. A bright, noticeable, provocative striped beetle.

Dimensions – 10 mm on average. Dense shiny orange body. The hard elytra have strictly five stripes along them. The stripes are black. Under the elytra are membranous wings.

Due to the membranous membranes, the beetle flies well.

The reddish-orange beetle larvae are the most harmful. They hatch from small yellow eggs located in clusters of rows.

The eggs are attached to the bottom of the leaf and are not immediately visible. But it is impossible not to see the work of the larvae. They are extremely voracious, grow quickly, reaching half the length of their parents (15 mm).

Biology. In the spring, male and female beetles emerge from their winter shelters, ready to reproduce.

They wintered deep in the ground, sometimes deeper than half a meter, as adults. By the time the Colorado potato beetle emerges, it already has comfortable development conditions.

It won’t come out before the nightshades appear; it will wait until it gets warmer. One female beetle will lay up to a thousand eggs per season (depending on the region, how many generations it will have time to produce).

Over the course of half a month of feeding, the hatched larvae go through four molts.

Eating leaves down to the stems, they grow and go into the ground. There, shallowly (10 cm), they pupate.

After two, sometimes three weeks, it is already an adult beetle. It either goes out to continue its invasion of nightshades, or remains in the ground to winter if the feeding season is over.

Intense heat or chemical treatments “drive” the beetle, causing long flights.

It can cover tens of kilometers by air. Having found a suitable place, he will continue his destructive activities.

The beetle loves young potato foliage, and from early plantings it partially moves to younger ones.

When the potatoes are finished, or they are dug up by the owners, the beetle does not fly away. Switches to tomatoes, pepper planting.

And he especially loves eggplant beds - they get no less than potatoes.

Control measures. The beetle has little fear of “chemistry”: it dies partially, not from all poisons and not in all phases.

The survivors continue to develop and feed, and produce offspring resistant to the drug.

This is a problem for industrial plantings, but a gardener can protect his plot from potato pests.

The techniques and methods are as follows:

• Mechanical;
• Agrotechnical;
• Biological;
• Chemical.

Mechanical– not a single Colorado potato beetle has yet been able to develop resistance against a broom and a bucket.

We place a bucket on one side of the bush and, with a broom, sharply shake off the beetles from the other side into the bucket.

There should be liquid at the bottom of the bucket, preferably with the addition of diesel fuel or pesticides. So that the Colorado potato beetle cannot crawl out or fly away. You will have to do this often.

Some females will still manage to lay eggs on the bottom of the leaf.

This can be easily eliminated: with fingers wearing work gloves, press the sheet down from above and below in the place of masonry. The eggs are crushed, the leaf remains intact.

If you overlooked or missed the moment, and larvae appeared, a broom will help again.

You just need to place the bucket quickly, but carefully - the larvae, like beetles, fall down instantly when touched. Like overripe apricots falling off a branch in the wind.

This is an adaptive reaction: to fall and hide, to survive.

You have to adapt to the beetle: who will outwit whom.

There is also a technique for fishing with bait. The potatoes have just sprouted, the beetle has gone to the top, hilling is carried out and the seedlings are covered.

And pieces of cut potatoes are laid out between the rows. Hungry beetles will find them, and the owner of the site will find the beetles themselves.

Agrotechnical. We take into account the biology of the pest.

It overwinters in the soil. This means that thoughtful crop rotation is required. Alternation of crops on the site.

We do not plant potatoes in the same area - this is strict. You can’t do it after nightshades either. Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers grew on the plot - these are unsuccessful predecessors for potatoes.

Planning to plant these crops nearby is another mistake. Crop rotation will also remove potato plots from other potato pests.

Digging. By digging up the area before frost, you will disturb the “apartments” of those individuals that remained to winter shallowly.

Not all of them lie dormant at great depths during winter, especially in regions with mild winters.

Some of the beetles will freeze to death (remember - one female is capable of producing thousands of offspring).

Spring repeated digging or milling of soil that is almost ripe, but still cold for the pest, will complement the process.

Biological. The use of drugs that have a detrimental effect on the beetle.

They don't harm anyone else. The long-known bitoxibacillin is still relevant today.

Later ones are also used: agravertine, fitoverm.

Chemical. If you cannot control the beetle, the deadlines are missed, and instead of leaves on the potatoes with rowan clusters - Colorado potato beetle larvae, you have to use insecticides.

It is advisable not to bring potato planting to such an unpleasant state.

This includes loss of productivity (or even the entire harvest), and contact of the gardener himself with poisons.

Previously, organophosphate pesticides were actively used, but now they are trying to avoid them: they are highly toxic.

Chlorophos, the former protector of potatoes, is prohibited, karbofos is almost never used.

Actara is a good preparation - it sticks to the leaves and is not washed off by rain. Protects the month, does not penetrate the tuber.

Medvedka

The pest is large, polyphagous, numerous. It differs in appearance from other insects in size and appearance.

Potatoes are one of the mole cricket’s favorite delicacies, like everything juicy that is located underground.

Description. It’s hard not to recognize this insect; the mole cricket only resembles itself.

Belongs to Orthoptera: it has wings. It flies, however, very rarely, and even emerges from the ground at night. It is difficult to see a mole cricket during the day, unless when digging up the soil.

The body color is brown, the belly is lighter than the front.

The mole cricket (adult) is larger than five centimeters. The front part is hard - a shell. It is shorter than the soft belly.

The shell allows the mole cricket to retract its head into it, but not completely. The mouthparts are well adapted for gnawing and crushing plants.

The mole cricket's front legs are burrowing, with them it makes underground passages and builds nests.

A relative of crickets, mole crickets cannot jump. But underground, close to the surface, it can “emanate” from almost the entire garden.

Biology. Loves warmth and moisture. But it settles almost throughout the country.

Only northerners were lucky not to encounter this potato pest.

Polyphagous, will not neglect almost any vegetation. That’s why it’s tenacious.

The female builds nests in the soil, choosing the depth according to temperature: so that her incubator warms up.

He cuts plants above the nest and monitors the constant temperature.

Three weeks or a month and a horde of small copies of the mole cricket, still soft and light gray, is ready to feed. There are 200 or more of them in a nest.

Control measures. Fighting a mole cricket is difficult. General measures to combat various potato pests (and mole crickets too) - as in the fight against harmful Colorado potato beetle.

These are crop rotation, agricultural technology, poisoned baits.

Different types of traps are also used:

• Trap dung pits (before winter);
• Buried bottles with the remains of beer.

Chemical measures are difficult; drugs are used only with a grain mixture in the holes during planting, but this is ineffective.

Wireworm

By damaging the tubers, in addition to aesthetic damage and deprivation of their presentation, the wireworm opens an entrance for fungal infections and bacterial lesions.

Description. The wireworm is a black beetle, adult length 5 mm.

Dense, long, worm-like larvae are harmful. They are yellow, multi-segmented. Gluttonous, like all insect larvae.

Such a larva pierces the tuber right through like a wire, which is probably why the beetle itself got its name.

The beetle is also called the click beetle: if you place it on a hard surface with its back down, the beetle bends, making a characteristic click. At the same time he rolls over onto his feet.

In the “pre-computer era,” children loved to watch these revolutions.

This is also a defining feature: having found a similar beetle on the site, you can check whether it is a wireworm or another type of insect. It clicks and turns over, that means it’s him.

Biology. Long-lived - the larva can make holes in potatoes in a plot for 5 years before pupating in the soil.

In winter, it hides deeper into the ground - half a meter. Adult click beetles overwinter shallowly.

Having matured, the larva pupates, then transforms into a young beetle, which will fly out in the spring to lay eggs.

Control measures. General agrotechnical standards adopted for potatoes, plus specific ones for the pest.

• The aroma of marigolds repels the wireworm; it is unpleasant for him.
• Doesn't like neighbors legume family– you can sow peas along the potatoes, and alfalfa next to the plot. Beans, if they are bush beans, will also be a good neighbor.
• Potatoes have difficult enemies to eliminate, and wireworms are no exception. Summer residents adapt to at least reduce the number of pests with traps. For bait, pieces of potatoes are laid out over the area. Place the chopped tubers in jars buried level with the ground.
• You can make a “kebab” for the larvae - string pieces of potato onto sticks or wire and dig into the soil of the area. Remove it periodically, destroying the caught wireworms.
• Create acceptable conditions in the garden for birds, they will help catch the click beetle. Provide water - birds settle near the water. Just don’t forget to put a board in the water: sometimes the bird falls into the container and cannot get out. The board will help.
• Destroy wheatgrass, it is a breeding ground for wireworms.
• The wireworm selects acidic soils. Lime them, add chalk and wood ash.
• Biological method: biosoil “Protection”. It is laid out in holes when planting. The wireworm will encounter its enemy, the wireworm nematode, and will be defeated.

Nematode

Potatoes have a named enemy: the golden potato nematode. Sounds nice, looks ugly.

The damage is enormous. It is specific, develops on potatoes and plants of its family - nightshade. Affects roots.

Description. A nematode is a miniature, microscopic worm. It does not grow more than a millimeter, but nematodes are numerous.

The roots are affected first - the potatoes may not develop tubers at all.

There are types of nematodes that also affect the tuber. This is a stem nematode. It infects the stem and, trying to compensate for this, it branches and bushes heavily.

By the end of the growing season, the nematode moves to the tubers, it is not visible - it is small.

Already during storage it becomes clear: the tubers are infected. They turn blue in places, the skin becomes cracked, inner part turns into dark dust.

By spring, almost the entire crop may be lost in storage.

If the bushes do not grow, the roots are covered with swellings, there are almost no tubers and they are ugly lumpy - this is a root-knot nematode.

Control measures. Nematodes infect the soil and then live in the infected area for many years.

Here only prevention is effective:

• Healthy planting material;
• Competent crop rotation;
• Separate storage of tubers intended for seed purposes;
• Disinfection of instruments if they have come into contact with soil that could contain nematodes;
• Autumn digging;
• Disinfection of tubers with potassium permanganate - a weak solution - before planting;
• Pre-planting application of urea to the site;
• Adding ash to the hole.

Naked slugs

These unpleasant mollusks are very harmful. However, potatoes are rarely attacked.

They prefer non-poisonous tender foliage of cruciferous plants: lettuce, radishes, cabbage.

They can feast on onions: eat the foliage right up to the bulb.

If the slug has such bad luck that there is nothing like it for his table, and is so lucky that the year turned out to be rainy, the toothy one will come for potatoes.

It will get to the tuber and feed, spoiling the harvest for the owner of the site.

Control measures. Common, available means:

• Traps - wet rags, boards, cardboard - laid out in different places at night, will work during the day. Slugs will hide there from light and heat. By removing the covers, insects are easy to collect. If you have chickens and especially ducks at your dacha, they will be happy with this feeding.
• Sprinkling the rows with ash: the slug will not overcome the obstacle, the alkali burns its body.
• You can cover the approaches to the potatoes with a layer of sand - the slug will not risk moving on the sand.
• The slug doesn't like strong coffee either. Spraying the seedlings and the surrounding soil with coffee solution will protect the potatoes.
• Slugs die from salt, but it is not advisable to salt the soil - plants will not be happy with salt either.
• You won't find slug in parsley. This potato pest doesn't like the smell. herbs. If it really annoys your potatoes, sow parsley next to it - look at the result.

Potato scoop

Potatoes have their own scoop – the potato scoop. But the pest is not specific, it is polyphagous, despite the name.

The armyworm is an inconspicuous brownish, sometimes gray, medium-sized butterfly. Wingspan: 3 - 4 approximately centimeters.

The butterfly is harmful only as a producer, and the damage is caused by the caterpillar.

All caterpillars are voracious. The armyworm robbers at night, and during the day hides in carefully gnawed potato tubers.

Control measures. You can’t just take a scoop; in addition to agricultural technology, you will have to use “chemistry.”

This will reduce the environmental friendliness of the product, but will provide it with a chance to exist.

Try to take the safest medications. Nembakt, Aktellik, Bazudin.

Follow the instructions - take care of your health, too much is dangerous.

Khrushchev

May beetle larva is a problem in potato plots. She loves to eat, her size (4 cm – adult) dictates her appetite.

I crunch the tuber – both a table and a temporary home. The larva eats this house from the inside to the peel.

This potato pest is a gardener's disaster.

The larvae live quietly, feed, overwinter in the ground for up to 4 years, then pupate and become beetles by autumn. These beetles will overwinter and fly out to feed.

They live in forest and forest-steppe areas, almost everywhere in the country in the European part.

In Asia too - up to the eastern borders, excluding cold northern places.

The beetle is large. The adult is a pest of forest and park plants and plantings (trees), gardens - eats foliage.

The larvae eat everything underground and are omnivorous. The roots of trees, garden plants, weeds - everything goes to the “Khrushchev table”.

The larva feasts there for up to 4 years and can easily destroy a tree in a day.

The biology of Khrushchev is characterized by cyclicality: it is not always possible to see it.

Three years, sometimes four years pass - mass hatching and emergence of adults.

Then for ten years it is not visible, this does not mean getting rid of the pest. The cockchafer is busy actively reproducing, preparing for the next summer and migration: colonizing the spaces free from it.

Control measures. From the description it is clear that they are not simple:

• Mechanical - two diggings (autumn, spring), and collection of larvae at this time.
• Sowing umbelliferous plants - dill, coriander, fennel. They are attractive to the beetle’s enemies – entomophages that feed on the pest’s larvae.
• At the beginning of summer, early in the morning the beetles are still cold. You can shake them off, sitting inactively on the branches, onto the litter. They will not run away - they are numb from the cold.
• Turf in the garden. Sodding prevents the beetle from laying eggs in the soil. This will protect the garden, but you won’t be able to sod the vegetable garden.
• The garden plot is protected by sowing legumes. Their ability to release nitrogen into the soil by root nodules is very unpleasant for the beetle. If clover, alfalfa, beans, and peas are buried in the ground when digging, additional protection is created. The beetle leaves the site.
• Lupine and mustard are the Achilles heel of Khrushchev. This is what they cannot eat, neither the larvae nor the May beetles. The latter cannot stand the smell and fly away.
• Of the chemical compounds worth paying attention to: the beetle does not like chlorine. Sprinkling bleach on the ground when digging is unpleasant for humans, but no more than the harm caused by Khrushchev.
• A special drug - anti-chrush will help with the massive infestation of an area with this potato pest. Before planting the tubers, water the holes with a diluted suspension. Lasts for a long time.
• Biological products. And here Nembakt and Fitoverm come in handy.
• Weak solutions of potassium permanganate or ammonia, infusion of onion peels - improvised means - also work against beetleworm.
• If there are shrews on the site, they will cope with the Khrushchev themselves.

Potato moth

Unwanted, relatively young, newcomer to the country. An inconspicuous butterfly made its way from the south.

Kuban learned about it about thirty years ago. The butterfly itself does not eat, it still ate a larva, and now its function is reproduction.

The moth can produce up to 8 generations if the region is warm.

The larvae immediately begin feeding. Beautiful name moths - fluorimea does not cover up the outrages caused by the larvae.

The caterpillars mine the stems, the leaves gnaw out the internal contents, the pulp, leaving the surface membranes of the leaf intact. This is visible: whitish winding stripes, passages inside the leaves are insect mines.

The larvae also penetrate the tubers; at first they are invisible. But storage facilities are a real paradise for moths. She spends the winter there, feeds, and turns potatoes into dust.

Control measures. This potato pest is a quarantine pest.

It was possible to contain it in pre-perestroika times. After a long journey, the length of the potato moth began to be determined by the thickness of the wallets of those transporting the infected material.

The barriers of quarantine have been greatly shaken. The moth settled in all regions suitable for its temperature.

It manages even where it is cold - in storage facilities. No one will freeze grocery or even seed potatoes.

You need to fight:

• The resumption of quarantine, and for all nightshades.
• Disinfection of storage facilities in summer.
• Glue traps with pheromones - during the summer period of moths - on the site.
• Choice of variety. In moth-prone areas, you can bypass the dangerous pest. Early varieties grow at temperatures unacceptable for potato moths. By growing them, this misfortune can be avoided.
• Embedment depth. The sissy - the larva of the potato moth - will not descend deeper than 10 cm. It's cold there, especially on early landings. Deep planting and subsequent high hilling (planting on ridges) will protect early potatoes; moths will not get close to the tubers.
• For the same purpose - to keep the tubers deeper - the irrigation method is chosen. The sprinkling method is physiological. Plants will be stronger, pests will have a hard time.
• Deep planting will save potato tubers (early). But the above-ground part can be affected. Therefore, they use agricultural technology - they mow the tops at the beginning of yellowing. It is burned, the crop is dug up, and removed from the plot immediately. Dry in another, moth-free place.
• Good old friends - biological products - entobacterin, bitoxybacillin are also used against this serious potato pest.

Potato large aphid

But it also harms potatoes. Mainly as a carrier of diseases.

According to morphology and biological features close to other aphids, there are no special differences.

Control measures:

• Agrotechnical – destruction of weeds, cleaning of fields during the plant-free period, crop rotation;
• Biological – the use of aphid-killing biological products that are safe for humans;
• Chemical – treatment with insecticides;
• Household helpers - the use of ash-soap solution, disinfection of greenhouses, the use of burning solutions (garlic, mustard, tobacco, celandine).

Mouse-like rodents

They are found in any area, only the numbers are different.

In the summer, mice find other food for themselves, and by autumn they take a liking to juicy potato tubers. Rats can even drag tubers into holes.

In storage facilities – permanent and temporary – rats spoil the harvest. They gnaw on various tubers, damaged potatoes become sick and rot.

It's more difficult to fight them. On the site, the main helpers are cats.

Poisoned baits are placed in storage areas inaccessible to cats.

They also help different designs mousetraps, rat traps. Rats, however, are smart and extremely careful. If you have a rat-catcher, things become easier.

We got acquainted with the main pests of potatoes, but that’s not all that plagues our favorite vegetable. There are also many diseases - non-infectious. We will deal with them in subsequent articles.

It’s not easy to grow potatoes and protect them from all the hungry tuber lovers. But the work is not in vain.

Already in the summer, young potatoes will begin to delight the gardener’s family.

And then she will be the queen of the table in different variations - until the next harvest.

See you soon, dear readers!

Various pests can harm potatoes. Each of them needs to be dealt with using specific methods. To prevent their development, preventive measures should be taken in advance.

Common potato pests

The Colorado potato beetle is the most common and dangerous potato pest. It is voracious and causes significant damage to the crop. In addition, adults are capable of flight, so they can travel long distances and infest many plantings.

The Colorado potato beetle is a member of the leaf beetle family. This pest has an oval body, the length of which varies between 8-15 mm and width - 7 mm. The abdomen is orange in color with black spots. Hard elytra are adjacent to the body of the pest. This beetle has three pairs of legs.

Both larvae and adults of the pest feed on the leaves of cultivated and wild nightshade plants. In addition to potatoes, they eat leaves of tomatoes and eggplants, and bell peppers.

Adults overwinter in the soil, at a depth of about 50 cm. After wintering, they come out and begin to feed and mate.

Females lay eggs on the underside of potato leaves. During the season, one female Colorado potato beetle lays about 350 eggs. Larvae emerge from the eggs. This happens 1-2 weeks after laying. It all depends on weather conditions.

The larvae, like adult beetles, eat potato leaves, leaving only the stems. Having destroyed the tops of one plant, the pests move to another.

The lifespan of this pest is 1 year, but some individuals live up to 2-3 years.

Birds that destroy insects are not able to fight this pest. This is due to the fact that many toxic alkaloids accumulate in the bodies of Colorado potato beetles - this makes them inedible.

These pests are capable of destroying the entire potato crop, as they are very voracious. Colorado beetles can consume not only young stems, but also ripe tubers.

Caterpillars

Caterpillars can also cause damage to potatoes. This is a potato scoop. The caterpillars of this butterfly prefer moist soil, as well as shaded areas. The caterpillar appears on the potato stem in late April - early June.

Cutworms are predominantly nocturnal. Caterpillars belong to the group of polyphagous pests: they feed not only on potatoes, but also on carrots, onions, and some other crops.

The greatest damage is caused by the potato cutworm caterpillar in rainy years, at moderate air temperatures.

The potato cutworm is light yellow or bright red in color, its head is red, without a pattern. Body length is about 5 cm. It has 8 pairs of legs. The caterpillar infects the area above the root collar. The plant on which the cutworm has settled quickly dries out and withers.

Caterpillars penetrate inside the potato tuber, gnawing the stem of the bush. Thus, the entire plant suffers.

Caterpillars usually do not damage potato skins. They make a small hole and a passage, at the end of which they initially form a small, but constantly increasing in size, cavity, which is gradually filled with excrement. When the cutworm finishes feeding, it leaves the tuber, making a new, wider move. Potatoes damaged by the caterpillar usually rot due to secondary infection.

The mole cricket is an orthoptera insect whose body reaches up to 5 cm in length. The body is large, dark brown in color. The mole cricket has short wings and powerful legs, with the help of which it can burrow deep into the ground. This insect also has strong jaws and long whiskers.

An adult mole cricket makes a nest not too deep underground, which it fills with eggs. After laying, hundreds of 2-3 mm larvae hatch. They grow for several years, after which they begin to lead a full-fledged lifestyle.

The mole cricket poses a danger to all plants that come across its path. It harms not only potatoes, but also cucumbers, beets, cabbage, and grains.

The insect has a spindle-shaped abdomen and a head with large eyes. There are two pairs of tentacles around the gnawing mouth. The insect reproduces in the ground, laying up to 250 eggs at a depth of 15 cm or more.

Not only adult mole crickets, but also their larvae pose a danger to potatoes. They chew through the stem, causing it to fall or dry out and stop developing. The mole cricket is also capable of gnawing large cavities in tubers.

Most often, the mole cricket completely eats up the root crops. Even those potatoes that were simply “eaten up” by a mole cricket are unsuitable for food.

The wireworm is a pest whose danger is comparable to that of the Colorado potato beetle. It belongs to the beetle family. The length of its body reaches 7-20 mm.

Externally, wireworms are the larvae of click beetles with a finger-like process directed backwards.

The adult is a black beetle with an elongated body.

One female is capable of laying up to 150 eggs. The larvae hatch after 20-40 days. They grow and develop over 3-4 years.

In the first year, the larvae do not pose a threat to cultivated plants, but in the next 3 years they become more active and are able to eat the seeds even before they sprout.

Wireworms cause great harm to potatoes. They destroy seeds and shoots, gnaw roots and stems, and penetrate root crops and tubers. Because of this, the potatoes begin to rot.

Wireworms actively eat potatoes if the weather is hot, there is not enough moisture, and also if they lack wheatgrass roots, which are the favorite food of this pest.

The golden potato nematode is a microscopic pest that is the causative agent of the disease globoderosis.

The nematode lives in the soil, remaining active for up to 10 years. The pest survives the winter in the form of larvae and eggs in cysts.

In the spring, the eggs develop into larvae that penetrate the roots of the plant. Here they develop until they become sexually mature females and males.

Females tear apart the roots, partially remaining inside the plant. After fertilization, they lay eggs inside their own body. When the eggs mature, the female's body dies and the eggs remain inside it. When harvesting potatoes, the cysts fall off and penetrate the soil. The development cycle repeats.

Nematode under a microscope

The potato flea beetle in adulthood is a beetle up to 3 mm long. The main color is black, the limbs have a dark brown tint.

The flea beetle harms potato tops. Larvae developing on roots can cause loss healthy bushes. If present optimal conditions for the development of the pest, a significant part of the crop is spoiled.

Potato flea beetles leave pits and holes on the surface of leaves. Adults eat foliage. If it was severely affected, then the potato seedlings die, especially if the planting was late.

Potato flea beetle larvae colonize root system various nightshade plants: not only potatoes, but also tomatoes, eggplants.

The potato flea beetle causes the greatest damage to bushes if it is a warm and humid year.

This pest is a carrier of many infectious potato diseases.

This butterfly can destroy up to 80% of the crop. It has a small size, reaching 6-8 mm in length. In summer, the development process from egg to adult takes up to 4 weeks.

Potato moth is unpretentious to external conditions. A butterfly lays eggs on bottom part plant leaves. A clutch usually consists of 1-20 eggs. The eggs hatch into caterpillars, which later turn into butterflies.

The potato moth feeds on the underside of the potato leaf. When the tops dry out, the pest moves to the tubers. Through the eyes and cracks on their surface, the moth penetrates inside and feeds on the pulp.

Potato moth weakens potato bushes, damages tubers and reduces the quality and quantity of seed.

This pest belongs to the order Hemiptera. These are small insects, their body length reaches 3.5 mm. Among them there are both winged and wingless individuals. The pest is found everywhere.

The body is shiny, elliptical in shape, color ranges from white-green to yellow-green.

The mouthparts of these insects are adapted for piercing tissues and sucking juice from plants. Because of this, damaged potato leaves dry out, the crop stops growing, and productivity decreases.

Feature of these pests is that they leave sugary secretions in the places from which they absorbed the juices. These secretions attract other pests, creating favorable conditions for the development of fungi. In this case, the crop completely dies due to the invasion of various insects.

Aphids reproduce very quickly in dry, warm weather. The number of aphids is significantly reduced if there are ladybug.

May beetle

May beetle larvae can also cause damage to the potato crop.

The cockchafer appears in late April – early May. One female lays up to 70 eggs in the ground. After a few weeks, the larvae appear. In the first year, they feed on organic debris, enriching the soil with waste products and benefiting the soil. In subsequent years, the larvae develop a chewing apparatus, thanks to which they are able to eat potato roots and tubers.

The larvae are located in the upper layers of the soil, at a depth of 20 to 40 cm.

At high concentration larvae in the soil are destroyed large number potatoes. Even one larva at the age of 3-4 years can damage several dozen tubers in just a few weeks.

It is quite simple to determine that the potato was affected by the larva of the cockchafer: if the leaves wither, dry out and turn yellow for no apparent reason, then this is the result of the activation of this pest.

Naked slugs do not often attack potatoes, but they can still cause damage.

Their body length, depending on the species, can reach 3-6 cm. They are most active at night. The most attractive places for them are high humidity.

Slugs attack the foliage and tubers of potatoes. They chew irregularly shaped holes in leaves. They leave only the stem and the largest veins intact.

Crawling from one plant to another, slugs spread fungal and viral diseases. If they damage potatoes, late blight develops.

Rodents

Potatoes are also dangerous individual species rodents Often this crop is spoiled by the mole rat, an animal that resembles a mole. Instead of eyes, he has a fold of skin covered with stiff stubble. It feeds only on root vegetables and does not eat insects. The mole rat eats large potatoes on the spot, and drags small ones into a hole.

The ground rat also gnaws potato tubers. It can be seen on land plots which are located near bodies of water. It penetrates 15-25 cm underground and chews root crops. In addition to damaging the crop, the rodent disrupts the root system of plants, which leads to their drying out and reduced yield.

The earth rat also creates pantries underground in which it hides food for the winter. The depth of such warehouses is about 20 cm. This rodent is very prolific and breeds many new pests in a short time.

Cicadas

Cicadas are insects small size(1-3 cm), which look like jumping butterflies. During the day they live in anthills, and at night they come out to drink plant sap.

Cicadas reproduce very quickly: it only takes 20 days for an egg to develop into an adult. Their widespread distribution throughout Russia was facilitated by the import of plants from abroad.

By sucking the juice from the leaves of cultivated plants, leafhoppers cause damage to them: this leads to a slowdown in development and growth cessation, as well as the death of part of the potato bush.

Potato leaves damaged by leafhoppers turn yellow and become deformed, and white or red spots appear on their surface. Bacteria and fungi easily penetrate through damaged areas, causing the development of various diseases.

Leafhoppers can also act as carriers viral diseases. These pests infect plants with poisonous saliva and lay eggs. Both adults and larvae pose a threat to plants.

Potato pest control methods

When pests appear, you must immediately take measures to combat them, otherwise you can not only lose the harvest, but also get potato tubers infected with diseases that pests carry.

The most effective methods for controlling pests are the following:

Chemical treatment

Various drugs with chemical compounds – reliable way, which allows you to neutralize beetles and insects that harm potatoes:

• To cope with the Colorado potato beetle, you should treat the area with Colorado, Sumicidin or Marshall.
• To combat caterpillars, the drugs Danadim and Zolon are used.
• Drugs such as Medvetox, Medvecid, Fenaskin Plus are effective against mole crickets.
• A nematode that harms potatoes can be neutralized using chemicals that contain phosphamide or mercaptophos (Dimethoate, BI-58).
• To neutralize the wireworm, use Force, Celeste Top, Voliam Flexi.
• Potato cutworms are sensitive to insecticides Tsimbush, Decis.
• Rodenticides and fumigants are effective against rodents.
• Potato moth is removed from the site with the same drugs that are used to combat the Colorado potato beetle. This pest also dies from Decis or Fastak. If potato moths are infested in a cellar with harvested, then the affected tubers can be treated with solutions of Lepidocide or Bitoxibacillin. You can also use FAS or Gamma smoke bombs.
• If there are leafhoppers on the site, then the affected potato bushes need to be treated with insecticides such as Proteus, Calypso, Vizcaya, Akarin.
• Insecticides such as Force, Thunder 2, and Regent are used against potato aphids.

When using chemicals, you must follow the safety rules specified in the instructions to avoid harm to your own health.

Traditional methods

To combat the Colorado potato beetle, you can use calendula: this plant has an odor that these pests cannot tolerate. You can plant it around a field where vegetables are planted.

You can also fight the Colorado potato beetle using wormwood tincture. You need to take a third of a bucket of fresh wormwood, pour boiling water over it and leave. Treat the infected areas with the resulting infusion.

Many pests do not like the smell of garlic or onions. That is why affected potato bushes can be treated with an infusion based on them. To prepare, you need to take 250 g of onion or garlic, chop it, add a liter of water. Infuse for a week in a closed container, then treat the bushes with the resulting composition.

Potato flea beetles are fought with a mixture that consists of ash, chamomile decoction and tobacco dust, taken in equal proportions.

You can effectively fight mole crickets with the help of chicken droppings: this pest does not live on fertilized soil. You need to take 2 kg of litter and dissolve it in 10 liters of water. Dilute the resulting solution again at the rate of 1 part solution to 5 parts water. Fertilize mole cricket-infested areas with this mixture.

Many pests cannot tolerate the smell of plants with a strong aroma. That is why you can plant parsley, mustard, lavender, peppermint, coriander, basil, and fennel next to potato bushes.

Soil care

To get rid of pests, it is necessary to dig up the soil in early autumn, thus bringing to the surface layers that may contain larvae and eggs. During the summer, you need to loosen the soil.

Preventive measures

To prevent the appearance of pests on potatoes, adequate measures must be taken in a timely manner.

To prevent the appearance of the Colorado potato beetle, you need to:

• plant potatoes next to garlic, beans, coriander - they interrupt the aroma of nightshade crops, which attracts the pest; if there are no such plants, then they should be planted around the perimeter of the area where the potatoes are planted;
• Sprinkle spruce or birch sawdust between the rows of potatoes - they give off a resinous smell that repels beetles.

To prevent the appearance of nematodes it is necessary:

• treat the soil in which the potatoes grew with urea: per 1 sq. m of land you need 1 kg of urea, it is covered and dug up;
• burn the infected plant without shaking off the soil;
• give preference to varieties that are resistant to this pest: these include Rosara, Zhukovsky, Symphony.

You can prevent the appearance of wireworms in the following ways:

• plant legumes next to potatoes - they repel this pest;
• do not leave potatoes in the ground for the winter, even if they are spoiled;
• dig up the garden deeply in the fall;
• remove weeds and remove them from the garden.

To prevent the appearance of mole crickets, you should:

• dig the soil deeply in the fall;
• loosen the soil in spring and summer on a regular basis;
• plant plants with a strong smell next to potatoes: coriander, marigolds;
• When planting potatoes, water the holes with iodine solution (20 drops of iodine per 10 liters of water).

Watch a video about potato pests and measures to prevent their occurrence:

There are many types of pests that spoil potatoes. You can fight them with the help of chemical and folk remedies. To prevent the appearance of pests, you should take care of the soil and dig it up in the fall. Plants with a strong smell should be planted around the perimeter of the garden.

Potatoes have become a part of our diet. But there are contenders for eating potatoes besides us. And if you don’t monitor and care for the plant as it grows, you may never get a harvest. There are a huge number of pests that eat the plant from the very root to the flowers. The illustrations will help determine who is eating the leaves or may be nibbling on the tubers of the crop.

The leaf beetle is one of the most important pests of not only potatoes, but also eggplant, physalis, tomato and sweet pepper.

One female beetle produces up to 700 similar pests. In the southern regions, from two to three generations of the Colorado potato beetle are hatched per season. From the eggs laid by the female, larvae appear after one to two weeks, which eat the pulp of leaves at the tops of the plant.

After the larvae grow a little, they spread throughout the entire plant and even onto neighboring plants. After a couple of weeks of intensive feeding, they burrow into the soil to a depth of 10 centimeters to pupate. After three weeks, the adult pest crawls out of the ground to, eating the plant, produce its offspring.

In summer and autumn, in good dry weather, they are able to fly to other areas tens of kilometers at a speed of up to 8 kilometers per hour. The life of this leaf beetle lasts from one to three years.

Sensing danger, the Colorado potato beetle does not fly away, but pretends to be dead and falls to the ground.

The wireworm is the larva of the click beetle. In the form of a larva this type of beetle is from two to five years. And even as an adult, it burrows into the ground for wintering up to 10 centimeters deep. And in the larval state, the click beetle can be underground at a depth of up to 60 centimeters.

Wireworm damages young shoots and tubers potatoes. It bites, leaving behind holes in which rot settles. Some types of wireworm damage not only potatoes, but also buds and young shoots of grapes.

Nematodes

Herbivorous nematodes damage the root system very many plants. Potatoes are no exception. The result of the nematode's activity can be seen along the edges of the tubers in the form of soft, dark-colored parts.

Medvedki

These are one of the largest representatives of the family of burrowing insects. The mole cricket belongs to the order Orthoptera. The length of this insect reaches 8 centimeters. Capable of flying to a height of up to five meters.

They live in burrows that they dig themselves. They lay about 500 eggs in a nest to a depth of 15 centimeters, which is made in warm soil, For example compost heap. The size of the nest generally corresponds to the size of the individual itself.

The mole cricket eats everything that is underground: roots and bulbs of plants, potato tubers.

The only thing the mole cricket was not seen was eating garlic.

Cutworm caterpillars

The potato cutworm is an enemy of many plant crops. This is a butterfly whose caterpillars intensively eat plants such as potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, raspberries, lilies, strawberries, corn, iris, rhubarb, onions, hops, beets, cabbage, and cucumbers. It belongs to the noctuid family.

Their caterpillars feed stems, leaves and rhizomes. They do this at night, living up to their name.

The life of this butterfly is only a couple of weeks, and during this time it lays up to 200 eggs, from which caterpillars appear a week later.

These caterpillars damage from 10 days to a month all parts of the potato plant. After this time, they turn into a pupa, and after another week they turn into a butterfly again. It is our task to stop this endless cycle, at least on the scale of our lands.

They belong to the family of hemipteran jumping insects of small size (from 1 to 3 centimeters).

They live in anthills during the day, and at night they come out to drink the juice of the plant under the protection of ants, making holes in the plant with their piercing sucking mouth. Rot and pathogens penetrate into these holes with corresponding consequences.

carry phytoplasma and viral diseases plants. Parts of damaged plants, after the work of the leafhopper, wither and die.

A small bug up to three millimeters in size, which in adulthood eats the upper part of the potato plant, is the potato flea beetle.

Having three pairs of limbs for their movement, they very quickly spread throughout potato plantings and capture large areas.

The larvae of this beetle feed the lower part of the plant and its root system. The potato flea beetle is very active in dry weather.

Pest control on potatoes and in the ground

Methods of pest control are completely different. But they can be divided into chemical, mechanical and folk.

Mechanical methods of insect control

TO mechanical method Potato pest control includes:

• autumn and spring digging land before and after planting potatoes
• pest collection hands.

By digging up the soil in late autumn, you can remove the mole cricket's nest outside. The winter cold will definitely destroy the entire clutch of the mole cricket. In addition, by digging, there is a chance to once again dig up the mole cricket itself.

Loosening, hilling and weed removal also helps get rid of some pests. Loosening and hilling kills pest larvae. Adult pests can live on weeds.

When collecting pests by hand, do not forget that the Colorado potato beetle can pretend to be dead. Therefore, be sure to destroy the collected insects in such a way as to be sure of this.

One of the control methods is to collect pests manually

Chemical

This method implies chemical treatment.

The most popular drug today is considered Prestige. An analogue of this drug, Tabu, is also used. It is either sprayed on the planting material a couple of weeks before planting, or watered into the hole directly during planting of the potatoes.

These drugs “etch” the seed material, helping to get rid of pests and prevent certain types of diseases.

The drug Prestige is removed from potatoes only after 2 months. Consider this fact when consuming young potatoes.

Folk remedies

In their home areas folk remedies can combat unwanted insects quite effectively.

Very often, before planting, seed potatoes are treated either potassium permanganate solution, or diluted with water ash. Ash is also placed in the hole before planting. The procedure helps repel insects and prevents the development of harmful larvae in the ground.

In order to prevent the appearance of wireworms, in addition to ash, you need to add lime flour. To catch mole crickets, beer bottles and traps are installed. For catching the Colorado potato beetle using live bait early spring lay out the chopped potatoes.

Although these means are quite effective, they are still not suitable for large areas of potato planting, as they require large physical and time expenditures.

In order to correctly and purposefully use insect control methods, you need to correctly identify the pest and what harmful action it performs.

What are the gastronomic preferences of potato pests?

There are many ways to control potato pests. But the best way to fight is preventing their occurrence.

Timely digging up the garden, loosening the soil, treating the beds from weeds, constantly changing the place where potatoes are planted, pre-treatment seed material And proper care During the growing season, plants will help to avoid not only problems with potato pests, but will also prevent many plant diseases.

Potatoes are number one in popularity vegetable crop throughout Eurasia, these root crops are extremely valued on other continents. In many countries, these tubers are rightfully considered nothing more than “second bread,” so it is not surprising that such close attention is paid to protecting potatoes from diseases and pests: employees of agricultural research institutes are improving control methods and developing new effective means.

What are the diseases of potato tops and tubers: photos and descriptions of infections

To get started, read the photos and descriptions of potato diseases, and at the end of the article, learn about treating plants for infections.

Late blight. The causative agent is the pseudofungus Phytophthora infestans, division Oomikota.

Symptoms: Rapidly increasing dark brown spots appear on the leaves, starting from the lower ones, as well as on individual sections of the stem. The tops of potatoes affected by this disease turn black and dry out, and rot in wet weather. In damp weather or during morning dew, a whitish cobwebby coating consisting of sporulation forms at the border of the spots with healthy green tissue on the underside of the leaf. Tubers show sharply defined grayish and then brown depressed hard spots various sizes. On a section of the tuber, under the spot, rusty-colored pulp is visible, spreading inside the tuber in the form of tongues or wedges.

Sources of infection: mycelium in planting tubers, oospores in plant debris and soil, distributed by zoospores and zoosporangia (conidia) with water and wind.

Alternaria, or early dry spotting. Pathogens: Alternariasolani, A. alternata, division Deuteromycota.

Symptoms: on the leaves of potatoes affected by this disease, before budding, 15-20 days before flowering, brown or dark brown spots with concentric circles appear, on them wet conditions conidial sporulation is formed. The fungus secretes alternaric acid, which causes necrosis of stems, petioles and leaves.

Source of infection: mycelium and conidia in plant debris, soil, less often tubers, spread by conidia.

Cancer. The causative agent is Synchytrium endobioticum, division Chytridiomycota. The disease is subject to internal quarantine.

What are the symptoms of this potato disease: small smooth and light tubercles form on the tubers, mainly near the eyes, which then turn into voluminous brown (outside) growths with an uneven bumpy surface. Over time, they are destroyed and, under the influence of bacteria, become a mucous, bad-smelling mass; the tubers do not develop.

Sources of infection: cysts in the soil, zoospores spread through soil water.

Black scab, or rhizoctonia. The causative agent is Rhizoctonia solani, division Deuteromycota.

Symptoms: Black sclerotia (scabs) of various sizes appear on the tubers, resembling lumps of stuck soil.

As can be seen in the photo, with this potato disease, brown ulcers measuring 1 cm or larger appear on the sprouts and roots:

The affected area dies. In humid, warm weather, a white felt coating forms on the stems. Sources of infection: sclerotia on tubers and in soil.

Powdery scab. The causative agent is Spongospora subterrapea, division Plasmodiophoromycota.

Symptoms: star-shaped ulcers form on the tubers, at the base of which a powdery brown spore mass is noticeable. Small growths appear on roots, stolons and stems various shapes. They are white at first, then darken and disintegrate.

Sources of infection: cysts in the soil, spread by zoospores in soil water.

Silver scab. The causative agent is Helminthosporium solani (Spondilocladium atrovirens), division Deuteromycota.

Symptoms: With this potato disease, grayish or light brown spots of varying sizes and shapes appear on the surface of the tubers. Areas of the affected tissue become slightly depressed and acquire a characteristic silvery sheen, due to the fact that the mycelium develops between the epidermis and periderm, the skin peels off, and air penetrates there. The disease progresses during tuber storage.

Sources of infection: tubers and soil, spread by conidia.

Lumpy scab, or oosporosis. The causative agent is Oospora pustulans, division Deuteromycota.

Symptoms: dark tubercles with a diameter of 3-4 mm with a depressed groove at the base are formed on the tubers. The tubercles are located singly or merge. The disease progresses during tuber storage.

Sources of infection: diseased tubers and soil.

Dry fusarium rot. The causative agents are fungi from the genus Fusarium, division Deuteromycota.

Symptoms: Grayish-brown or dull, slightly depressed spots of various shapes appear on the surface of the tubers. The pulp becomes brown, rotten and dry. When describing this potato disease, it is worth noting that later the spots increase; the tissues in these places wrinkle, and convex grayish-white or pinkish pads form on their surface.

Sources of infection: sclerotia, conidia on tubers, in soil, plant debris, spread by conidia and mycelium.

Phoma rot. The causative agent is Phoma exigua (P. solanicola), division Deuteromycota.

Symptoms: During flowering, elongated blurry spots appear on the stems at the base of the leaf petioles; numerous small pycnidia form on them brown. U late varieties In potatoes, along with the spots, elongated oval ulcers 1-1.5 mm deep and up to 4 cm long are noted. The affected stems die prematurely. The tubers are covered with dark, hard, depressed spots up to 2.5-5.0 cm in diameter. On the section under the pale brown spot, a dark border between the diseased and affected tissue is noticeable. Often voids form, on the walls of which a grayish coating of mycelium is noticeable. Over time, brown or almost black pycnidia appear on the peel.

Sources of infection: affected tubers and post-harvest plant residues, soil, dissemination by conidia.

Common scab. The causative agents are actinobacteria (actinomycetes) from the genus Streptomyces, most often Streptomyces scabies.

Symptoms: on tubers, most often on lentils, superficial, irregularly rounded ulcers with a diameter of several millimeters to 1 cm appear.

Pay attention to the photo - with this disease of potato tubers, the ulcers often merge, forming a continuous crust:

Common scab can also attack stolons and roots. Sources of infection: contaminated soil; the pathogen can persist on planting material.

Blackleg. The causative agent is the bacteria Pectobacterium atrosepticum.

Symptoms: areas of the affected stem turn brown, dark brown, or purple. The upper leaves first become chlorotic, curl into a tube along the main vein, then turn yellow and dry out. The lower leaves acquire a leathery consistency, break, and the edges curl upward. The stems are easily pulled out of the soil. The core of the tuber, starting from the stolon part, rots. The tissues darken, become soft, slimy, and acquire an unpleasant odor.

Sources of infection: remains in planting material and on plant residues until they rot.

Bacterial brown rot, or wilt. The causative agent is the bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum. This is an external quarantine object for Russia.

Symptoms: the plants suddenly wither, the leaves turn yellow, become wrinkled, become covered with abundant exudate and droop. Often the wilting process proceeds so quickly that some drying stems retain their original color and only later become brown. Along with signs of browning and wilting, cases of maceration and blackening of the stem are observed. The root part softens and rots.

As you can see in the photo, with this disease the potato stem often splits:

The vessels turn brown. The cause of wilting may be the action of toxins. With further development of the disease, the pathogen penetrates into the stolons, from them into young tubers, causing browning of the vascular ring. Sources of infection: infected soil, plant debris, tubers carrying latent infection, weeds from the nightshade family.

Ring rot. The causative agent is the bacteria Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus. This is an external quarantine facility with a high phytosanitary risk and is under special control.

Symptoms: As a result of blockage of blood vessels, plants quickly wither, leaves turn yellow, wrinkle, leaf petioles and stems droop. On the cut, the affected area of ​​the vascular system has lemon yellow color and oily consistency. When you press on a tuber or stem, a light yellow viscous mass emerges. Bacteria also cause pitting rot of the tuber, which is detected only at the end of storage. When peeling the tubers, rounded (the size of a pinhead, sometimes larger) spots of rotting pulp of yellow or cream color are noticeable; around them the tissue is more transparent, but still hard.

Sources of infection: affected tubers.

Spindle-shaped tubers, gothic. The causative agent is Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV). Quarantine object.

Symptoms: diseased plants are elongated, the leaves are small, wrinkled, dark green or purple in color. The tubers are multi-eyed, elongated, irregular in shape, often fusiform.

Sources of infection: affected tubers; transmitted through potato tubers, by contact, as well as by some insects, bedbugs, several species of aphids and some beetles.

Look at the photos illustrating the description of this potato disease:

Wrinkled mosaic. The causative agents are Potato virus Y (PVY), usually in combination with Potato virus X (PVX).

Symptoms: There is swelling of the tissue between the veins, wrinkling and corrugation of the leaf, mosaic, leaf lobes curl down. The leaves are a lighter shade than usual. Over time, they die and hang (without falling off). In the first year, the disease manifests itself weakly. In the second or third year, plants lag behind in growth, internodes shorten, leaves become small, curly, and chlorotic. Flowering is often absent; the growing season ends 3-4 weeks earlier.

Sources of infection: transmitted with tubers, spread by aphids and other sucking insects.

Striped mosaic. Pathogens - Potato virus Y (PVY), in combination with Potato virus X (PVX), Potato virus S (PVS), Potato virus M (PVM).

Symptoms: necrotic dark stripes, dots and spots appear in the corners between the veins and on the veins of the leaves. The leaves darken, become brittle, die and hang on thin tall petioles. Necrosis is also found on leaf petioles and stems.

Sources of infection: mostly tubers; spread by aphids and mechanical contact.

Curling of leaves. The causative agent is Potato leaf rool virus (PLRV).

Symptoms: in the first year of infection, the edges of the upper leaf lobes curl. The upper side is colored yellow, and the lower side is pinkish. In subsequent years, the leaves of the upper and lower tiers become deformed. They acquire a leathery consistency, become brittle, yellowish with a reddish, purple or bronze tint. The leaf lobes are curled into a tube along the midrib. The leaf petioles are located under acute angle to the stem. Tuberization is weak. Tubers can produce thread-like shoots.

Sources of infection: affected tubers; spreads with tubers, during the growing season of plants, aphids, potato ladybugs, Colorado potato beetles, and some bugs.

Stolbur. The causative agent is the phytoplasma organism Tomato stolburphytoplasma (group 16SH).

Symptoms: On potato plants, marginal chlorosis of the apical leaves first appears, their growth slows down, and small leaves develop. The leaf segments are narrow, pointed, rigid, often folded along the midrib or curled into a groove. Chlorosis spreads to the entire plant, the upper leaves become purple in color. Parts of plants become rough and tough. Some plants die before tubers form. With late infection, small, often ugly and soft tubers are formed, sprouting thread-like shoots.

Sources of infection: The disease is spread by bindweed planthoppers - Hyalesthes obsoletus. Reservoirs of phytoplasma are field bindweed, thistle, spurge and other perennial weeds, in whose rhizomes they overwinter, as well as infected leafhoppers.

"Witches' Brooms" Pathogens are phytoplasma organisms from group 165VII.

Symptoms: On infected plants, chlorosis of the upper leaves first appears. Plants form a large number of thin side shoots of rounded cross-section with small pale green leaves. There is inhibition of growth of the main shoots in length. The leaves of affected plants are reduced, simple or with a reduced number of lobes. Tubers are numerous and small. They sprout in the soil with thread-like shoots.

Sources of infection: The causative agent of the disease is spread by several species of cicadas; by grafting or insects it can be transferred to tomato, tobacco, pepper, and eggplant.

Overgrowth of lentils - non-communicable disease, observed in the second half of the growing season under conditions of high soil moisture and lack of oxygen. Small growths appear on the surface of the tubers white turning into brownish spots when drying. The growth of lentils is the first sign of tuber suffocation.

Smothering of tubers is observed when there is a lack of air in the soil due to waterlogging or severe compaction, as well as in the layer of tubers during storage. As a result, part of the surface of the tuber becomes soft and the peel is easily removed. When the tuber is cut, rotted tissue is revealed in the form of a white or pinkish mushy mass with the smell of alcohol. Often healthy tissue is separated by a dark border from the affected tissue.

False cancer its symptoms are similar to real cancer, differing in the morphology and consistency of the growths. It is a physiological disorder of tubers caused by changes in temperature and humidity. It is rare during the growing season and during storage.

Threadiness of sprouts and curls can be caused by premature awakening of the eyes due to high temperature and poor soil aeration, mechanical damage, as well as high temperature and lack of oxygen during storage of tubers.

Deforming jaundice. The disease manifests itself in the form of interveinal chlorosis - a characteristic folding of leaf blades near the midrib. When leaves are severely damaged, they become chlorotic, often with necrosis, severely deformed, and weakly dissected. Often the lobes are reduced, sometimes they are even absent. Round tubers with very hard pulp are formed.

Ferrous, or rusty, spotting. The cause of the disease is the influence of unfavorable soil conditions, mainly lack of moisture and high temperature with acute phosphorus deficiency. Foliar feeding of plants with phosphorus and watering potato plantings reduce the likelihood of disease manifestation.

Darkening of the pulp appears when there is insufficient supply of potassium to the tubers. The spots are concentrated around the eyes and can cover large areas inside the tuber. Darkening of internal tissues is observed during storage at high and low temperatures, lack of oxygen and excess carbon dioxide. Darkening of the outer layers of tuber tissue can be caused by mechanical damage.

Look at the photos of diseases of potato tubers and tops, described above:

Hollowness of tubers is formed as a result of a lag in the growth of internal tissues from external ones in humid, warm weather in fields where nitrogen was applied in large doses organic fertilizers. The disease appears as cavities or voids, often star-shaped. The hollow cavity is covered with thin skin of cream or light brown color. The tubers are more watery.

Tuber growth occurs when the growth of a tuber in the soil is suspended and resumed due to Not favorable conditions. “Children” are formed on the tuber - outgrowths of various sizes. Often, when planting seed tubers in cold and damp soil, as well as as a result of storing tubers with a lack of air, several nodules are formed from the eye instead of sprouts. When alternating dry and wet weather during the tuberization period, stolons can develop from the eyes of young tubers, from which one or more small nodules are formed.

In the next section of the article you can see photos, descriptions of pests and learn about the treatment of potatoes affected by insects.

Pests of potato leaves and tubers: photos, descriptions and control measures

Having learned what potato diseases there are, it’s time to get acquainted with the pests of this crop.

The complex of potato pests is relatively small and in Russian conditions there are no more than 60 species. This is explained by the poor adaptation of many local pests to crops of American origin, as well as the presence of substances toxic to many insects in the above-ground parts of nightshade plants. However, the few species that have adapted to potatoes cause very serious damage to them. Among polyphagous pests, the most important are soil-dwelling pests of tubers: larvae of click beetles and darkling beetles - wireworms and false wireworms, caterpillars of gnawing cutworms. Local damage is caused by mole crickets, beetle larvae, and slugs. Mouse-like rodents - water voles and gray voles - also cause harm. Of the specialized soil pests, potato nematodes cause great damage.

Among the specialized pests of the above-ground parts of plants, the most serious, widespread and widespread is the Colorado potato beetle. Two other dangerous pests - the potato moth and the 28-spotted potato ladybug - have a geographically limited distribution.

Other pests of the above-ground parts of plants - stem cutworms and nightshade flea beetles - are of secondary importance. Seed plantings are seriously damaged by aphids, the main carriers of potato viral diseases. Due to the high harmfulness of the complex, the leading role in the effective protection of potatoes is played by chemical method. Some pests - potato moth, golden cyst nematode - have quarantine significance.

Aphids- carriers of potato viral diseases (order Homoptera, family True aphids). A group of aphid species is ubiquitous on potatoes, the damage of which does not pose a significant threat to the crop, but when feeding they carry pathogens of various viral potato diseases: leaf curl, mosaic leaf curl, mottled, striped and wrinkled mosaic, spindle tuber. Thus, aphids cause severe damage to seed production and the production of healthy planting material. Among potato aphids, the most common are 5 species: peach aphid (Myzodes persicae), buckthorn aphid (Aphis nasturtii), buckthorn aphid (Aphis frangulae), common potato aphid (Aulacorthum solani) and large potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae). In general, these are small insects, from 1.2 to 2.8 mm. Peach, common and large potato aphids are predominantly green in color; Buckthorn and buckthorn aphids are yellow in color.

Peach, buckthorn and buckthorn aphids- migratory species in which eggs overwinter on primary host plants. Peach aphids in the southern regions - on peach and plum. In the northern regions, its cycle becomes incomplete: females overwinter in greenhouses, storage areas, piles, basements on various plants and plant residues, and partly in the field with post-harvest residues. In two other migratory species, eggs overwinter on shrubs - buckthorn and buckthorn.

Common and large potato aphids are species with an incomplete cycle: there are no primary hosts, females overwinter in greenhouses, storage facilities on plants and plant debris. Secondary host plants on which winged female dispersers migrate and develop in the summer, in addition to potatoes, are numerous, diverse herbaceous plants, cultivated, wild and weeds. IN natural conditions Aphids develop from 5 to 15 generations per year. In greenhouses they reproduce year-round and can produce over 20 generations. Mass colonization of potatoes by aphids occurs in the middle - second half of the growing season. Aphid colonies develop and feed on the undersides of leaves. Winged individuals, flying from diseased plants to healthy ones, transmit viral pathogens when feeding.

Effective protection measures: spatial isolation of potato seed plantings from other potato plots and wintering areas of aphids by 1.5-2 km; optimal early planting of seed potatoes; destruction of weeds in and around fields; thorough removal of post-harvest residues; Close monitoring of winged aphid infestations using yellow flower traps and counting aphids on leaves. To combat these potato pests, at the beginning of the mass colonization of plants with a population of over 80 aphids per 100 leaves, seed plantings are sprayed with insecticides Shar Pei, Tzipi, Bi-58 New, Confidor Extra, Biscaya.

Colorado potato beetle - Leptinotarsa ​​decemlineata (order Coleoptera, family Leaf Beetles). The Colorado potato beetle emerged as a potato pest in the mid-19th century on the northern slopes of the Rocky Mountains (Colorado), in a short period it spread throughout the US potato growing zone, during the first half of the 20th century it penetrated into Europe and has now become the main potato pest in the world. It is widespread and harmful in almost the entire potato growing area of ​​Russia, with the exception of the northern region and most of the East Siberian regions. Depending on climatic conditions, the Colorado potato beetle produces from 1 to 3 generations per year, which determines the level of its prevalence and harmfulness. In the sustainable development zone of the 1st full generation (Northwestern, Central, Volga-Vyatka, Ural and West Siberian regions), the Colorado potato beetle has a massive but uneven distribution. Its harmfulness varies greatly from year to year. The zone where the pest usually gives 2 complete, and in the south often 3 generations: the Central Black Earth, North Caucasus, Southern regions, is a place of continuous mass distribution and constantly high harmfulness of the Colorado potato beetle. The Colorado potato beetle most seriously damages potatoes and, in the south, eggplants. Tomatoes are damaged to a lesser extent. It can develop on wild and weed nightshades: datura, bittersweet nightshade, henbane, belladonna.

As you can see in the photo, these potato pests are medium in size, 9 -12 mm, with an oval-convex body:

The elytra are pale yellow with 10 black longitudinal stripes. The pronotum is yellow-orange with a variable pattern of black spots and streaks. The eggs are elongated oval, yellow, orange or red. The larvae are worm-shaped, with 3 pairs of legs, the body is convex, up to 12-16 mm. Larvae of younger instars have a darker, grayish-brown and reddish-brown color. Older larvae have brighter colors: pink, orange, orange-red or yellow. The head and legs are black, there are two rows of black spots on the sides of the body. Adult beetles overwinter in the soil, mainly in fields, at a depth of 10 to 60 cm. The lower critical temperature for overwintering beetles is -9...-11 °C. The emergence of overwintered beetles begins in the spring when the soil warms up to 14-15 °C. Females lay eggs on the underside of leaves in clutches of 15-50 eggs. The average fertility of females is 400-700 eggs, the maximum is up to 4000. One female can colonize 10-15 plants. The duration of development of eggs is 6-10 days, larvae - 15-24 days. At first, the larvae stay in a group in the place where eggs are laid, then they concentrate in the tips of the shoots, feeding on young leaves. Older larvae spread throughout the plant, severely damaging the leaves. Having completed development, the larvae go into the soil to pupate at a depth of 5-15 cm. The Colorado potato beetle damages potatoes throughout the entire growing season. Beetles and larvae damage leaves mainly by gross eating. Feeding on 20-30 larvae can cause complete defoliation of the plant. Damage is most significant during the period of budding - flowering, when plants begin to form tubers and are especially sensitive to loss of leaf surface. By the end of the growing season, the importance of damage to the crop gradually decreases.

Protective measures. Maintaining crop rotation and isolating new potato plantings from last year's by 1.5-2 km reduces and slows down the colonization of plants by the pest. Inter-row tillage during the period of larvae leaving for pupation causes significant mortality. Pre-harvest removal of tops 1-2 weeks in advance causes the death of larvae that have not completed their development and deprives young beetles of additional nutrition. Careful removal of post-harvest residues prevents self-seeding and the development of early foci of the pest the following year. Deep plowing of the soil after harvesting destroys some of the wintering beetles. Among potato varieties of domestic and foreign selection, there are comparatively less damaged by the Colorado potato beetle, for example: Iskra, Zarevo, Polet, Belorussky Ranniy, Lasunok, Charivnitsa, Stolovy 19, Ando, ​​Bintye, Kennebec. Potato forms resistant to the Colorado potato beetle have been developed using genetic engineering methods. The first measure to control potato pests by treating with insecticides can be carried out during the formation of potato bushes when more than 5% of the plants are colonized by beetles.

The main treatments are carried out during the period of mass hatching of younger larvae, during the period of budding - flowering when more than 10-15% of plants are colonized by oviposition and larvae (with average number 15-20 larvae per 1 plant). In case of very high numbers, repeated treatments are carried out at intervals of 7-10 days. Considering the possibility of development of resistance to insecticides in the Colorado potato beetle, the treatment system should alternate chemical and biological preparations, insecticides of different groups, and use multicomponent preparations. To protect potatoes from these pests, the bacterial drug bitoxybacillin is used against younger larvae. Among a wide range of insecticides for spraying plants against larvae and beetles, the following preparations are used: Actara, Confidor Extra, Borei, Biscaya, Apache, Coragen, Regent, Shar Pei, Fastak, Vantex, Kungfu, Tsipi, Fitoverm. Another way to protect potatoes is to treat the mother tubers or the bottom of the furrow when planting with systemic preparations: Aktara, Prestige, Cruiser, Imidalit, Wave Flexi.

These photos show how these potato pests are combated:

28-spotted potato ladybug - Epilachna vigintioctomaculata (order Coleoptera, family Ladybirds). Representative of a group of herbivorous ladybirds. A species common in the Far Eastern region. The beetles are relatively polyphagous and damage nightshade crops: potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers; pumpkin crops: cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, and beans. Corn and beets are less commonly damaged. Beetles usually damage melon crops at the beginning and end of the growing season, and in the middle of the season they feed on nightshades. The larvae develop only on nightshade crops. The beetle is small, 4-7 mm long, strongly convex, hemispherical in shape. The color is yellow-orange, with 14 black spots on each elytra. The larva is campodeoid, with 3 pairs of legs, up to 7-10 mm in length, pale yellow in color, with 6 longitudinal rows of black branched spines on the back. 1 generation develops per year. Beetles overwinter on the edges of forests, under fallen leaves, as well as in fields under the remains of tops and in the top layer of soil. The emergence of beetles from wintering areas begins at the end of May. Beetles feed on wild and cultivated plants. From the beginning of summer, females lay eggs on the underside of leaves of potatoes and other nightshades in groups of 10-75. Fertility - from 250 to 500 eggs. Beetles and larvae damage leaves in a similar way, producing a very characteristic striated skeletonization in the form of a series of narrow stripes on the underside of the leaf. The harmfulness increases significantly after the development of older larvae. Damaged leaves dry out, which significantly reduces plant productivity. The larvae pupate openly on plants. At the end of the season, beetles of the new generation fly to their wintering grounds.

Thresholds of harmfulness - over 5% of infested plants with a population of 2-3 beetles per 1 plant on seedlings; 10% of infested plants with a population of 3-5 larvae per plant in the flowering phase.

Protection measures: crop rotation and spatial isolation of nightshade and pumpkin crops; thorough cleaning, removal of post-harvest residues, destruction of weeds. To treat potatoes against these pests, spraying with Iskra, Tzipi, Shar Pei, and Fitoverm preparations is used.

Potato moth - Phthorimaea operculella (order Lepidoptera, family Eminoptera moths). A species of American origin, widely distributed in various parts Sveta. Specialized pest of nightshade crops. Damages potatoes, eggplants, tobacco, and less so tomatoes and peppers. Develops on physalis, datura, belladonna, henbane. Object of external and internal quarantine. Distributed in Krasnodar region and the Republic of Adygea. This is a small potato pest with a wingspan of 12-15 mm. The forewings are gray, with a longitudinal blackish stripe and dark dots along it. The hind wings are light gray with a yellowish fringe. Caterpillar up to 10-13 mm long, yellowish-pink or yellowish-green, with a white longitudinal stripe on the back. Potato moth produces 3-4 generations per year in field conditions; in potato storages, another 2-3 generations can additionally develop. Older caterpillars or pupae overwinter in fields under plant debris and in the top layer of soil; some overwinter in storage facilities. The emergence of butterflies and the colonization of plants begins in mid-late spring. Females lay 1-2 eggs on the underside of leaves, leaf petioles, stems; in storage, these pests lay eggs on potato tubers. Fertility - up to 200 eggs. The eggs take 3-10 days to develop. The hatched caterpillars burrow into leaves, stems or tubers. Caterpillars develop from 11 to 48 days, pupate at the base of leaves, on the surface of the soil, in storage - in floor crevices. Caterpillars mine various parts of plants. They make passages along the main and lateral veins of the leaf, make winding passages under the epidermis of the stem, and eat away passages in the fruits of tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. In potato tubers, tunnels in the surface layer are eaten away, starting from the eyes and causing severe damage. Accumulations of excrement remain on the surface of the tubers; the skin of the tubers above the tunnels dries out and wrinkles. They are mainly distributed by caterpillars carrying potato tubers.

Protection measures: strict compliance with quarantine on nightshade crops coming from infected areas; survey of a three-kilometer zone around the primary points of entry of imported plant products; conducting inspections of ware potatoes on ships in ports; storing potatoes at moderate temperatures unfavorable for moth development; mowing and destroying potato tops 5-7 days before they dry out. Quick, thorough cleaning and removal of tubers from the fields. During the growing season, spraying plants with insecticides atom, sharpei, zipi, danadim. Before storing tubers for storage, they are immersed in a 1% solution of the biological product lepidocide.

Look at the photos of potato pests described on this page:

Protective measures. Systematic inspection of potato plantings for timely detection of nematode outbreaks. Carrying out a set of quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the pest. Compliance with crop rotation with the return of potatoes and other nightshade crops no earlier than after 7 years. Destruction of nightshade weeds. The use of potato varieties resistant to golden cyst nematode, for example Crystal, Diamant, Red Scarlet, Lugovskoy, Zhukovsky Ranniy, Ryabinushka, etc.

Below you will learn how to deal with potato diseases and pests in order to protect the harvest.

How to deal with potato diseases and pests: protection system

In the system of protecting potatoes from diseases, an important role is played by organizational and seed production measures aimed at obtaining healthy planting material and increasing plant resistance to diseases. It is necessary to use disease-resistant varieties and obtain healthy seed material. In areas where golden cyst nematode occurs, use varieties that are resistant to it.

It is important to observe crop rotation, returning potatoes to their original place no earlier than after 4-6 years. The best predecessors are winter grains, turnover of perennial grasses, legume-cereal mixtures, fallow, corn, beets and other row crops. It is necessary to maintain isolation (at least 1 km) of seed plots from commercial and household plots, as well as from last year’s planting sites. In areas of golden cyst nematodes, special anti-nematode crop rotations are used.

To combat potato pests and diseases, as well as increase plant resistance to late blight, it is necessary to add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a ratio of 1: (1.2-1.4): 1.5, boron fertilizers.

Timely plowing to the optimal depth promotes active mineralization plant residues, death of pathogens of late blight, Alternaria, Phoma, reduction in the number of wintering pests.

20-25 days before planting, seed tubers are kept for 10-12 days in diffused light at a temperature of 15-22 ° C, greened, making them less accessible to pathogens. Tubers with signs of disease are destroyed. In order not to have to resort to the treatment of potato diseases such as fusarium, fomoz, rhizoctonia, oospora, silver scab, etc., autumn treatment of seed tubers is used before storing them with fungicides Maxim and Tecto.

To assess the number of wireworms, soil excavations are necessary.

If there is a threat of mass harmfulness of the Colorado potato beetle and soil-dwelling pests, treat the tubers before planting or the bottom of the furrow during planting with systemic neonicotinoid insecticides.

And in conclusion, find out what else you can use to treat potatoes against diseases and pests.

Other measures to combat potato diseases and pests: how to treat crops

Potatoes are planted in an optimally early and short period of time, observing the optimal norm and planting depth. This creates a temperature and water regime favorable for plant development, and seedlings are minimally affected by rhizoctonia and bacteriosis.

During the period of plant development to a height of 10-15 cm in the zone of stable harmfulness of the Colorado potato beetle, it is possible to spray with insecticides against overwintered beetles (if not carried out). pre-planting treatment). The main treatment with insecticides or biological products against the Colorado potato beetle is carried out at mass development larvae of younger instars during the period of flowering budding. If necessary, treatment of potatoes against diseases and pests is repeated at intervals of at least 7-10 days, but no more than 2 treatments against each generation, observing alternation of insecticides.

To determine the start date of treatments against late blight and Alternaria, the signal plot method is used, which allows reducing the number of treatments. Both artificial and natural backgrounds of the disease are used in the areas. Planting of tubers in signal areas is carried out simultaneously with the start of planting potatoes on the farm or a week earlier. Signal areas are located at a distance of at least 100 m from other potato fields. Starting from the emergence of seedlings, the manifestation of diseases is monitored daily or every other day. When the first symptoms are detected, the signal area should be eliminated and the fields should be sprayed within 5-7 days. In the absence of signal areas, fungicide treatment begins when the first symptoms appear on susceptible varieties, sometimes during the phase of leaf closure in the row, which can reduce the effectiveness of treatments. All subsequent spraying to combat potato diseases and pests is carried out regularly, taking into account the short-term forecast of disease development, the phytosanitary state of potato plantings and the duration of action of the fungicides used. It is advisable to carry out the first treatment against Alternaria blight approximately 7 days after the first symptoms of the disease appear.

Most effective protection control of potatoes against pests and diseases is achieved by treating the tops with combined preparations. On seed and food plantings, the first 1-3 treatments are recommended to be carried out with fungicides such as Acrobat MC or Tattu. If the frequency of occurrence of resistant forms of the fungus on ware potato plantings does not exceed 30%, then, for example, Ridomil Gold MC can be used. In the second half of the growing season (after flowering), as well as after the appearance of the disease on the tops, it is advisable to use contact fungicides, such as Ditan M-45, penncozeb. All contact and combined action fungicides recommended against late blight are also effective against Alternaria. The fungicide speed is also effective against Alternaria blight.

On seed plantings when there is a mass infestation of aphids - virus carriers, spraying with insecticides is carried out. Plants with signs of viral and bacterial diseases are cleaned 3 times: the first - when the plant height is 10-15 cm, the second - during mass flowering, the third - at the beginning of the tops dying. Sick plants with tubers are destroyed. To protect seed material from viral and bacterial infections, pre-harvest destruction of tops is carried out (by mowing or desiccation) no later than 7 days after the final treatment with fungicides. On commercial plantings, removing potato tops 7-10 days before harvesting limits the development of diseases and the Colorado potato beetle.

Potatoes are harvested in warm and dry weather. For the first 15-20 days of storage (treatment period), the temperature is maintained at 13-17 °C, in the subsequent period - 2-4 °C. Foci of wet rot are removed along with the adjacent layer of healthy tubers.

Protection against potato cancer, brown ring rot, golden cyst nematode and potato moth requires compliance with quarantine measures.

This selection of photos shows how the fight against potato diseases and pests is carried out:

Yellow-brown beetles, about a centimeter long and distinguished by longitudinal stripes on chitin, are well known to potato growers and pose the main danger in many regions of the country. Adults, and especially larvae, can completely destroy castings and young stems. If, when this potato pest appears, it is not combated, the yield may be reduced by half.

Insects cause the greatest damage during the formation of tubers, when buds and flowers appear on the bushes. Knowing about the existence of effective chemicals, such as Taboo for processing potatoes, many summer residents still do not give up folk ways fight against the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm. Among these measures:

• destruction of insect eggs, collection of larvae and adults;
• Irrigation of seedlings and grown bushes with plant infusions based on celandine, tansy, basil;
• joint planting with beetle-repellent crops, such as legumes or coriander.

Effective protection against pests will be three times treatment of plantings with Komandor, Iskra, Mospilan, Aktara or other preparations.

The main thing is that no chemicals are used 20 days before digging the crop.

Biological means of protection, for example, Boverin, Fitoverm and Agrovertin, manifest their effect within 5–7 days and are especially effective against the main pests of potato tops, larvae.

Wireworms – potato pests and their control

Tough, up to 3 cm long yellow larvae of click beetles feed on succulent underground shoots, roots and tubers. They especially love wheatgrass, so when these potato pests are discovered, the fight against them should begin with the removal of this weed. Tubers affected by wireworms are covered with passages and are often affected by rot, nematodes and potato diseases.

You can protect your crops from dangerous pests by:

• applying ammonia-containing fertilizers;
• liming of soils to reduce its acidity;
• sowing bait plants;
• frequent loosening of the soil and destruction of weeds
• pre-sowing treatment with insecticides or the use of chemicals, for example, Taboo for treating potatoes during planting.

Insecticidal treatment of planting material and treatment of furrows with Tabu helps protect plants for 45 days.

In addition, the drug is active against the Colorado potato beetle, aphids and leafhoppers. In this case, the protective properties last up to 35 days.

Cicadas

Externally similar to aphids or flea beetles, these pests of potato tops feed on plant juices and thereby cause serious damage to plantings:

• At the puncture site, spots first form, and then the tissues of the damaged parts of the bush die off completely.
• Damaged areas become a pathway for the penetration of bacterial flora, mold spores and sources of other infections.
• The insects themselves carry diseases dangerous to nightshades, including stolbur.

To protect seedlings from leafhoppers there will be useful use insecticides Cruiser and Taboo for treating potatoes before they enter the soil. And with the help of Karate Zeon you can destroy leafhoppers around potato plantings.

Potato flea beetle - pest of tops

There are different types of flea beetles and they are distributed throughout the world. Adult beetles, up to 3 mm long, are pests of potato tops. And thin, with three pairs of legs, larvae developing on the roots, in years favorable for insects, can cause the loss of healthy bushes and most of the crop. Contributes to defeat late boarding tubers and dry, hot weather.

You can notice traces of potato flea beetles by characteristic holes and pits on the surface of the leaves.

In addition to Taboo, phosphamide with a concentration of 0.2% can be used as a means of protection and control of potato pests every 10 days. Adults are caught using sticky bait traps. And on small country plantations, spraying with infusion of chamomile or tobacco dust mixed with wood ash is effective.

Potato nematodes: signs of damage and control measures

It is almost impossible to examine microscopic roundworms in person. But traces of the presence of the golden potato nematode are clearly visible in the photo and to the naked eye. These are pest cysts similar to millet grains that cover the roots of the infected plant. In this form, the pest overwinters and can remain viable for at least 10 years. Bushes affected by nematodes are visually depressed and stunted in growth. Characteristic sign Soil infection by nematodes is yellowing of the lower leaves on potato bushes. If such a plant is pulled out, you will notice fibrous roots with small tubers. And sometimes potatoes are not formed at all.

If plantings are affected by potato stem nematode, signs of its presence on tubers look like depressed gray spots that grow and crack over time. The tissue under the affected peel takes on a brown, friable appearance, and clusters of the pests themselves are found at the border with healthy flesh.

Nematodes are easily transferred into soil from planting material and soil. The source of infection can be garden tools, shoes and even water. Therefore, before planting, it is recommended to wash the tubers with a brush under running water, and after digging up the bushes affected by the pest, carefully remove them from the beds and burn them. If there are root-knot, stem or golden nematodes in the soil, the pest distribution area is clearly visible in the photo of the site.

To avoid damage to tubers by worms, planting is carried out as early as possible, and preference is given to the earliest ripening varieties, the ripening of which is less than 60 days - the development cycle of nematodes.

Protection from and control of potato pests, in the case of nematodes, consists of:

• in the use of resistant varieties;
• in compliance with the rules of crop rotation, which consist in changing crops at least every 3-4 years;
• in crops where potatoes, legumes, corn and perennial grasses grow, clearing the soil of pest worms.
• in use chemicals for treating soil, for example, thiazone, carbamide, carbation or heterophos.

Harmless-looking moths of brown or gray color are serious pests of potatoes, and the fight against them, or rather their caterpillars, should only be carried out in a comprehensive manner. These insects are unpretentious and are found everywhere, but take root especially well in shaded corners with high humidity. Armyworm eggs, which often overwinter on wheatgrass, turn into larvae in the spring and move on to potatoes and other nightshades.

You can clearly see how the potato pest in the photo, gnawing the stem above the root collar, gets inside, and then penetrates into nearby tubers and bushes, causing damage to many plants.

You can fight potato cutworms:

• by removing grass weeds;
• using pheromone traps;
• affecting pests with insecticides.

This insect, which is similar in photo to the potato cutworm, develops not only in the summer months. It is also active in storage conditions at temperatures above 10 °C. During the warm season, the potato moth can produce up to eight generations, and if the adult individuals do not cause serious damage to the crop, the caterpillars damage both the tubers and the green part of the bush.

In places where signs of a potato pest are found, it is necessary:

• take care to store potatoes at a temperature not exceeding 5 °C;
• use only healthy planting material;
• plant heated tubers as early as possible;
• Hill up the seedlings high;
• carry out deep digging both in spring and autumn;
• fight self-seeding of wild nightshade;
• hill up the bushes high,
• Before digging up tubers, cut off and destroy the tops.

Treatment of dug tubers with lepidocide prevents the development of pests. Help against potato moths in garden beds will be similar to those used in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle and other pests of potato tops. Treatment against potato moths and cutworms can be repeated at the end of August. This will prevent the caterpillars from going down to the roots.

If the gardener's goal is high yield quality tubers, preventing the proliferation of potato pests and combating them should be mandatory complex measures on the site.

And here it is impossible to do without systematic monitoring of the condition of plants, as well as without creating favorable conditions on the plantation for potato growth.

Potato pests and their control - video