Potato moth or, as it is also called, fluoridea, can destroy almost the entire crop in just one season. Due to the scale of the damage, it can be compared with the biggest enemy of potatoes – the Colorado potato beetle. Probably any farmer will be horrified to see a moth on a potato bush. Moreover, it can harm the crop repeatedly, because for a long time the parasite continues to live in weeds, tubers and even in the soil.
How to detect potato moth
Potato moth has small dimensions, however you can still see it. The parasite activates in the evening, in the afternoon it is extremely difficult to detect it, since it will hide between the leaves of potatoes. To find the pest in the afternoon, you need to slightly move the leaves on the potato bushes, if there is a defeat for fluoridea, you will certainly see flying insects.
However, it is worth saying that this may not happen, in which case it is worth taking a closer look whether there are sitting insects on the leaves.In addition, you can see the moves that have been gnawed by potato moth, as well as excrement arising in the process of life. Also, if there is a similar parasite, you will probably find traces of cobwebs and rot on the leaves. However, blackness and the presence of moth larvae in tubers will be direct evidence of the presence of fluoridea. If such signs were detected, it is worth taking immediate measures to combat fluoridea in order to save the future crop.
What it eats
At the beginning of its life cycle, that is, at the larval stage , fluoridea feeds on leaves, more precisely, their lower part. When the tops dry out, and the larva grows to the state of a larva, the insect tries to feed on the tubers, thus penetrating deeper into them, laying off new offspring of pests. In addition to potatoes, potato moth likes to enjoy such products:
- Bell pepper
- Eggplant
- Tomatoes
- Solanaceous plants
Despite the large amount of information about the dangers and methods of controlling the parasite, many gardeners have no idea how to deal with it, today we will try to shed light on the solution to this problem.
Why is it dangerous
As already mentioned, potato moth is primarily dangerous in that it affects the crop at lightning speed, which can deprive you without potatoes principle.In order for all the work done in the garden or field not to be in vain, you need to pay maximum attention to preventive measures, since it is much easier to carry them out compared to fighting.
It should be said that potato moth at the larval stage is not considered less dangerous, because at this stage of development, potato moth can harm the potato at the stage of planting, ripening and even storage. Experienced gardeners argue that the presence of a pest this year, unfortunately, will not give you the opportunity to harvest a good crop even next year, it is so difficult to get rid of potato moths once and for all. To increase your chances of fighting the parasite, it’s worth taking measures immediately, because fluoridea is characterized as an extremely tenacious and prolific insect that survives at all stages, including during storage in the repository.
Main harm
- Weakening of many crops due to the destruction of the deciduous system
- Significant reduction in the quality and quantity of the crop
- Negative effect on the amount of seed
- Tomato bushes and bell peppers also suffer from fluoridea, which usually grow nearby
It happens that in only one potato a farmer discovers more than 10 larvae at different stages of development, of course, you can’t call this vegetable a potato anymore, rather, it’s a house for a potato moth, after all, there is practically no pulp left in it.Of course, you can’t eat infected potatoes in any case, it can cause poisoning, and such a vegetable looks extremely unattractive.
How to deal with moths
It’s very difficult to fight a moth
Before we talk about effective methods of dealing with parasitic butterflies and how to deal with potato moths, you need to understand that the insect will be destroyed by itself if it does not have food. If you are faced with a massive defeat of the fields with fluoridea, then the best option is to temporarily abandon the planting of nightshade crops and the potato itself. If you are not ready to make such sacrifices, you will have to resort to the use of poisons. Unfortunately, today, despite the rapid development of agriculture, there is still no such tool that could solve the problems of fluoridea defeat once and for all, that is, no one can give you a 100% guarantee of the result.
Through the use of poisons and various means, you can significantly reduce the number of parasites, and also do not let the problem acquire a more global scale. It is worth saying that such an event must be carried out strictly before the first ovaries are formed.
Anti-Aging Products
We’ll find out which agents have proven their best:
- Bacillius-based drugs and tablets Turingiensis, these are such agents as Letto, Entobacterin, Bitoxibacillin and Lepidocide. These means are used to process potato bushes before the first ovaries are visible; otherwise, all points indicated in the instructions should be fulfilled. This will help reduce the number of hatched larvae, ensure their partial death, as well as reduce the fertility rate of adult females, and mutate the development of potato moths any of the stages, especially a drug such as Lepidocide;
- Methyl bromide. This is bio-gas, which is used as a pest control after the crop has been harvested, usually the method of fumigation is chosen, as it turned out to be the most effective. Thanks to this treatment, up to 97% of the larvae that can be in the tubers at the time of harvesting are destroyed;
- Fluoridea traps. Special capture devices are able to fight both with larvae and with adult insects. However, they can be effective only if the defeat was not global, otherwise such a method of struggle is absolutely ineffective.
- There are also a lot of popular pseudo methods of fighting fluoridea, but because of their practical futility, talk about them we will not.
Prevention
As already mentioned, it is better to resort to preventive methods to combat fluoridea than to launch a situation before a large-scale defeat by the pest. We learn what preventive measures can be effective:
- An excellent preventive measure is to warm the potato tubers on the eve of planting, a suitable temperature of 40 degrees;
- Hilling the culture, it is important to understand that this is not necessary not only to make your beds look neat, but also for the purpose of overcoming all possible pests;
- When watering the crop, carefully make sure that the tubers do not appear above the ground. If you organize by watering according to the type of sprinkling, then with a high probability you will be able to protect the crop from being defeated by a pest and you will not have to process the tubers either before planting or during storage in storage. By the way, it is necessary to store potatoes under the right conditions, usually, cellars, cellars and other suitable storages are used for this;
- A well-organized crop rotation is the key to a good harvest. So, if you carefully select tubers before planting, if a suitable depth is chosen for this, then with a high probability you will not encounter the problem of fluoridea damage, you will not have to treat the soil with poisons.
- Alternatively, you can switch to the cultivation of the earliest potato varieties, as they turn out to be as resistant to fluoridea as possible.
Conclusion
Now you know how to get rid of potato moth, what to do if a parasite is wound up in the culture.Finishing the story about potato moths, it is worth mentioning once again that the defeat of fluoridea cannot go away on its own, over time the problem will only worsen and cover more and more new territories. If this becomes a regional issue, local governments are required to take quarantine precautions that veto the removal of crops outside the territory.
If you look at how other countries are fighting the pest, you can find out that, for example, in South Africa it is customary to fight a parasite with the help of specially grown wasps that feed on fluoridea larvae. Unfortunately, this method of struggle can be applied only in the southern hemisphere, because wasps live only there. About how to deal with potato moths in our latitudes, it was described in detail above.
In addition, there is the experience of countries where the import and export of potatoes is strictly controlled outside the country. For example, in Ukraine it is impossible to introduce potatoes to individuals, and when importing crops to Australia, the tubers must undergo a mandatory temperature warming, in addition, they are necessarily treated with an insecticidal cocktail. This once again suggests that the problem is prevalent throughout the world.
