Potato moth – a small beetle, but a large pest! Eliminate it before destroying everything in the warehouse!

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The potato moth (Phthorimaea operculella) is a pest that was previously present only in Dalmatia, and the fact that it is spreading more and more in the continental parts of Serbia speaks of climate change that is happening and allowing it to appear where it once could not succeed due to harsher climatic conditions.

It’s not too late for the blue fruit spray

It is a pest that causes damage to potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and tobacco. It can also feed on some weeds.

The problem with this harmful insect is that it can create a problem so that it does not affect the appearance of the aboveground part of the plant. Damage from the potato moth is noticed only during the extraction of potatoes, but most often in the warehouse, where in favorable conditions the pest continues to develop, causing increasing damage, which can be so great that seed tubers are unusable, and mercantile are difficult to sell in the market. .

A new disease has appeared in the orchards!

The potato moth can develop 5 generations in the field, and in warehouses, if the conditions are favorable, it can develop another 2-3 generations. As the temperature increases, the time required for the development of each stage decreases and the development of a larger number of generations is enabled. You should follow the reports of professional services that inspect the entire area around you, because they appear as soon as there are some problems.

Protect fruit trees from wildlife during the winter!

The first steps of protection begin with the planting of potatoes, by choosing healthy tubers that are laid in the ground to a depth of about 12 cm. Earlier planting of potatoes is important and varieties of shorter vegetation should be planted. Also, the potato moth appears less on plots that are irrigated during the vegetation because it prevents the formation of cracks and allows it to maintain the compactness of the banks. It is necessary to maintain the banks throughout the year. It is best to use pheromone traps to determine the presence of this insect. It is also desirable to respect the crop rotation, because in that way the possibility of greater infection during the potato vegetation is reduced.

If a larger infection occurs, it is necessary to pick up the infected tubers and then bury them in a remote place. It is desirable that the temperature in the warehouse is 9 ° C or a little lower, because then the possibility of moth development is reduced, and it is obligatory to bring only healthy and whole potato tubers into the warehouse. The removal of tubers should be harmonized with the possibility of removing the tubers from the field. Do not leave the tubers in the field during the night, because eggs can be laid on the tubers that will be brought into the warehouse. The remains of cime and the remaining tubers after extraction must be destroyed, because the potato moth overwinters in the pupal stage in the tubers and dried cim remains, from where they hatch in the butterfly season.

How to treat trees? Bloody yours appeared in the orchards of apples, pears and quinces

Regularly inspect the warehouse and, if necessary, perform chemical protection with appropriate insecticides. When chemical measures to protect potato crops in the field from the potato moth are necessary, they can use the same preparations that we use to control the potato beetle. It is important to apply insecticides with ovicidal-larvicidal action. It is desirable to better disinfect the warehouse before storing a new genus in order to protect against potato moth. Storage surfaces (floors, walls and ceilings) of empty warehouses can be treated with insecticides based on malathion, pyrimiphos-methyl, cypermethrin and deltamethrin.

Source: Better Country / Household