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Processing potatoes from all kinds of diseases and pests is an extremely important procedure that should not be ignored. Every year, from fungal diseases, as well as from attacks by both underground and terrestrial insects, gardeners lose up to 60% of their crops. Faced with these problems, they begin to look for a solution that will help rid the potatoes of these misfortunes. Someone begins to use various folk recipes to protect potatoes, and someone buys ready-made chemicals, which include Prestige. Processing potatoes before planting with this tool has its pros and cons. We will talk about them in this article.
Description of the preparation Prestige
Prestige refers to chemical dressers for potatoes and other vegetable crops. This drug has a wide spectrum of action, which has a variety of effects on plants:
- Insecticidal, which allows you to protect potato plants from lepidoptera and homopteran insects, the Colorado potato beetle, aphids, wireworms, psyllids, leafhoppers, midges, larvae of the cockchafer.
- Fungicides, which reduces the likelihood of diseases of potatoes and other vegetable crops with the most common diseases, such as powdery mildew, rot, mold, scab, septoria and leaf rust.
- “Anti-stress effect”, which contributes to the accelerated development and growth of the cultivated crop. In addition, tubers treated with Prestige will have faster germination and shoot formation.
- Increase in marketable tubers, as well as overall productivity.
Composition of Prestige
The main substances due to which the Prestige effect is achieved are:
- Imidacloprid is a member of the chlornicotinyl class. Imidacloprid is distinguished by its excellent systemic and contact action. The concentration of imidacloprid will be 140 g/l. Its main action is associated with blocking the transmission of nerve impulses to postsynaptic membrane receptors. For humans, this substance is not very dangerous, but for insects, even its slight concentration is fatal. Imidacloprid rather quickly breaks down into individual elements, so by the time the crop is dug up, it will no longer be in the tubers.
- Pentsikuron related to contact pesticides. Pentsicuron, which is responsible for the pesticidal effect, inhibits biosynthetic processes in the body of the fungus and inhibits their germination. The concentration of this substance in the preparation is 150 g/l. The disintegration of the pesticide into individual non-toxic substances occurs in 40-50 days.
Due to such terms of disintegration of picicuron, the use of Prestige is possible only on vegetable crops with an average or long ripening period.
Principle of action of the preparation Prestige
After planting potatoes treated with this preparation, the active substances react with soil moisture and are released. Thus, they surround the potato tuber with a protective halo. With further growth of the plant, the active substances come not only from the treated tuber, but also through the soil around it. As a result of this, a systemic and uniform distribution of substances occurs throughout all the vegetative organs of the plant. This distribution makes it possible to provide reliable protection of plants and potato tubers from various pests throughout the growing season.
In addition to the protective effect, the drug has a general strengthening effect on potato plants. Plants treated with this preparation are much better able to withstand such adverse conditions as:
- drought;
- heat
- sudden change in temperature;
- lack of light.
Period of activity of the preparation Prestige
The total period of preservation of the activity of the drug Prestige is about 2 months after the treatment of tubers. In this case, a pronounced fungicidal effect will last from 30 to 40 days. Such a period of Prestige activity allows you to provide powerful protection to potato plants throughout their growth.
These values are generalized. For different pests, the time of Prestige protection activity will be different:
- throughout the entire growth period, the potato will be reliably protected from wireworm, scab and rhizoctonite;
- within 37 days after the germination of tubers, the plants will receive protection from the Colorado potato beetle;
- 39 days after germination, potato plants will be protected from aphids.
Safety measures when working with Prestige and its toxicity
When working with any chemical preparation, including Prestige, safety measures must be observed. When using it, the gardener must have the following personal protective equipment:
- gloves;
- respirator or gauze bandage.
As for the toxicity of the drug, it definitely exists. The instructions for the drug indicate that it belongs to the 3rd class of toxicity, that is, it is moderately dangerous.
It contains pesticides that take time to break down and be eliminated. That is why it is forbidden to process early varieties of potatoes with Prestige. Tests carried out in laboratory conditions have found that the zero concentration of the drug in the tubers is reached only after 50 – 60 days from the moment of treatment.
Pros and cons of Prestige
The following advantages of Prestige can be distinguished:
- destructive effect on pests and insects;
- protection against fungal and infectious diseases;
- strengthening the resistance of plants to adverse conditions;
- acceleration of germination of tubers;
- improved plant growth;
- strengthening of the processes connected with photosynthesis of plants.
In addition to the above advantages, the drug also has disadvantages:
- toxicity;
- цена.
How to use Prestige
Prestige preparation is used for presowing protective treatment of potato tubers.
There are two ways to use Prestige to protect potato tubers:
- Pretreatment. With this method, potato tubers must be treated with Prestige 2 or 3 weeks before planting in the ground. It is necessary to treat potato tubers with Prestige only in a dry room, in which there is no drinking water and food. Before processing, the tubers must be well dried, laid out on a film and sprayed abundantly with a working solution, which is prepared by mixing 10 ml of the preparation with 200 ml of water. This amount is enough to process 10 kg of planting material. If you need to process a smaller or larger number of tubers, then the proportions must be reduced or increased accordingly. The solution should be prepared immediately before processing, without subsequent storage. After processing, the tubers should be left for germination. It is necessary to transfer or transport processed tubers only in sealed bags.
- Processing before planting in the ground. The working solution for this method is prepared in the same proportion: 10 ml of the drug per 200 ml of water. Before processing, the tubers should be laid out on a film and evenly sprayed with a Prestige solution. Immediately after processing, planting them is not worth it, they should dry out a little. This is done so that the solution has time to soak into the tubers, and not go into the ground. Only after the surface of the tubers has dried, they can be planted in the ground.
When processing a small number of tubers by any of these methods, they can not be sprayed with a solution, but dipped into it. In this case, the tubers should be placed in a net or bag.
The Prestige preparation is simply indispensable in the case of growing potatoes on a large scale. For personal subsidiary farms, this drug is not yet so actively used. Some gardeners do not use it due to its toxicity, others are used to fighting pests the old fashioned way with the help of ash and various infusions. But there are those who have tried the Prestige drug on their potato beds and shared their feedback about it.
