Before, when there were no various chemicals for pest control, our ancestors managed to grow a wonderful crop of various crops. How did they do it? The fact is that previously only folk methods of pest control were used. For example, many have used tar to kill most insects. Below we will see how to use birch tar in the garden from wireworms and other pests.
Properties of birch tar
In fact, there are 2 types of tar. Both of them are prepared from birch, but in completely different ways. To prepare birch bark tar, dry distillation of young birch bark is carried out. Such a process takes quite a lot of time, but it fully justifies it. The birch bark tar product has a pleasant smell. It is often used to treat skin diseases, and is also taken orally.
Birch tar is valued for its excellent medicinal properties. It is used to treat fungal diseases. It is also used as an antimicrobial and antiseptic agent. It is widely used not only in medicine, but also in horticulture and cosmetology. But now we will talk about the use of this substance in the garden or garden.
Pest Control
Birch tar can completely replace pesticides. It helps to fight the following pests:
- Colorado beetle. The tar product will help bring out the Colorado potato beetle on potato beds, as well as on eggplant and pepper bushes. To prepare the drug, it is necessary to prepare 10 liters of water, 10 grams of birch tar and 50 grams of ordinary laundry soap.
- Lukovaâ flies. With the help of tar, prophylaxis against onion flies is carried out. To do this, half an hour before planting, the onion is placed in a bag with tar and mixed well. For 1 kg of onion, you need one tablespoon of the substance. You can also water the already planted onions with tar. To prepare a solution in one container, combine a fly in the ointment, 30 grams of laundry soap and 10 liters of non-cold water. After a few weeks, the procedure is repeated.
- Cabbage butterfly. Butterflies can greatly harm the cabbage crop. To protect the beds, you can place pegs around the area with cabbage. Then they are wrapped with unnecessary rags, which were previously soaked in a tar product. This method will scare away the cabbage.
- cabbage fly. To scare away the insect, you should prepare a special mulch. Sawdust is moistened with a solution of tar and sprinkled on the soil around the heads of cabbage. The solution is prepared at the rate of 10 liters of liquid per 1 spoonful of tar.
Fighting wireworm
Most often, the wireworm infects beds with potatoes, although it likes to feast on other root crops. Even the most powerful chemicals are not able to completely destroy the pest. However, with the help of birch tar, this is easier than ever.
The fight should begin even before planting potatoes in the holes. Planting material is treated with a solution based on a tar product. To do this, water and one spoonful of tar are mixed in one 10-liter container. The solution is mixed well, and then applied to the potato tubers with a sprayer.
For those who grow potatoes by seed, the following method is suitable:
- it is necessary to prepare a tar solution from 10 liters of water and 2 teaspoons of the substance;
- the mixture is left for an hour to infuse;
- then dig holes for sowing seeds;
- using a sprayer, spray all prepared wells with a solution;
- start sowing seeds.
If the site has never been processed, it is possible to carry out shock prevention from the wireworm. To do this, first treat potato tubers, and then the wells with a solution of tar. Then you can use only one of the listed methods.
If you grow potatoes with tubers, then you can carry out additional prevention from wireworms. For this, the tubers themselves are first prepared. They are abundantly sprayed or dipped in a solution of tar. Then the potatoes are placed in the dug holes, but they are in no hurry to bury them.
Next, we need sawdust and again the same solution of birch tar. The first step is to prepare the solution according to the recipe described above. You just need to significantly reduce the amount of ingredients. The volume of the solution depends on the size of the site and the amount of sawdust.
Sawdust is slightly moistened with the prepared mixture and lightly sprinkled with potatoes placed in the holes. This will provide additional protection for the crop. Remember that you can use the above methods both individually and in combination. Below you can see the video, which clearly shows how this can be done.
Conclusion
From this article we can conclude that you should not neglect folk methods for pest control. As you can see, these methods proved to be excellent in practice. In addition, the tar product is a completely ecological substance that does not harm human life and health in any way. Of course, you will have to spend a little more time preparing than usual. But the effort you put in will definitely be rewarded.
The above describes ways to deal with other common insects that destroy part of our crop every year. Let’s not allow any pests to settle in our garden!