Birch tar in the garden from pests: the pros and cons and instructions for use

Birch tar has long been used in the garden as an effective remedy for pests, ranging from insects to rodents. The tool is inexpensive and affordable, which is why the interest in it among gardeners does not dry out. Consider the use of birch tar in the garden against pests, the advantages of its use, the effect on various types of insects, pathogens of viral and bacterial diseases and the disadvantages of this natural insecticide.

Benefits and benefits of using tar in the garden

What benefits of birch tar can be noted:

• as a natural substance, tar is harmless to humans and animals, it does not destroy insects, but acts as a powerful repellent, repelling them with a strong and persistent odor;
• tar is not washed off for a long time, does not weather, therefore it has a prolonged action;
• pests are not used to it;
• acts against completely different pests - slugs, insects, rodents and moles;
• no special equipment needed to work with it;
• negative consequences of its use for plants have not been noted.

Birch tar after application is able to protect plants for 3-4 weeks, just like chemical preparations. But, at the same time, it is completely harmless, does not contain toxic chemical compounds that are found in agrochemicals. For this reason, it can be recommended to be used by those gardeners who want to receive environmentally friendly products from their beds and gardens.

With regular use of tar, plants do not suffer from fungal, bacterial diseases and viruses, they do not develop infections on their leaves, stems and fruits. They have the ability to develop normally throughout the growing season, the fruits are clean, put in storage, stored for a long time, do not rot or deteriorate. Storage loss is minimal.

Mechanism of action

Birch tar has a strong deterrent effect on moles, hares, field mice, insect pests from different classes, slugs and soil pests - bears and wireworms. As you can see, the spectrum of action of the product covers almost all known pests. This makes it universal, tar can replace chemicals, it is almost identical to agrochemicals in its effect on pests.

Tar does not kill, but repels pests, forcing them to leave the site for a while or for good. The number of pests is reduced, which makes it possible to reduce the number of treatments with synthetic insecticides.

How to make it and where to buy it

Cleaned tar can be bought at a pharmacy, but it is sold in small bottles of 100 ml, this amount is not enough for use in the garden. You can buy it in gardening stores and on websites selling agricultural products. In this case, it is sold in small plastic buckets of 1-2 kg. Long shelf life of tar allows you to use it for several years.

If you have problems buying tar, for use as an insecticide, it is best to prepare it yourself from birch bark. For cooking, you can take not only fresh bark, but also from old fallen trees. The quality of the product will not deteriorate from this.

How to cook: you will need two old pots, one smaller one, you need to dig into the ground, do not close the lid. Put a larger pot or tank on it.There should be holes in the bottom for the tar to drain. Fill the upper container with pieces of bark, close the lid. Cover the pan with firewood and set it on fire. When the firewood burns out, birch coals will be in the upper container, and tar in the lower one. For storage, a viscous liquid must be poured into a container that can be tightly closed so that air does not penetrate into it.

Rules of application

Birch tar in private households can be used against various pests of garden crops. Each case has its own characteristics.

From the Colorado potato beetle

Preparation of the solution: Pour 30 ml of tar into 10 liters of warm water and add 30 g of soap chips for sticking. This solution is sprayed with tomatoes and potatoes from the beetle. The frequency of spraying is every 2 weeks until the complete extermination of insects.

From Medvedka

In areas where these pests are found, you need to prepare the soil before planting seedlings - spill it with a solution of 20 ml of tar per 10 liters of water. Repeat in a week, when the plants get stronger, you can water the soil less often - after 2 weeks.

From moles (hamsters, marmots)

To drive these animals from the site, you need to find their holes and close the passages with a piece of cloth soaked in a mixture of tar and vegetable oil (3 to 1). If new moves appear, you need to repeat everything.

From hares (mice, voles)

Hares and mice can damage the bark of trees in winter. To prevent them from doing this, you need to moisten the sawdust with tar solution (1 tablespoon per bucket) and cover the tree trunks with them. Whitewashing with a mixture of 1 kg of chalk and manure, 3 tbsp. l. tar in 8 liters of water. The solution should be creamy in consistency. Whitewashing should be carried out in autumn, when preparing trees for winter.

From the onion fly

To protect against this pest, the seedlings must be soaked in a tar solution prepared from 1 tsp before planting. tar in 1 liter of warm water. When shoots appear, 2 weeks later, you need to shed the earth with a weak solution of the product: dissolve 1 tbsp in 10 liters.l. fly in the ointment. You should repeat the treatment again after 1.5-2 weeks.

From the cabbage fly

The pest can affect not only the cabbage itself, but also related crops - radish, radish, turnip, daikon. To scare away insects, the soil on the beds with cruciferous mulch is saturated with sawdust (per 10 l 1 tbsp.). During the season, sawdust is laid 2 times - in spring and in the middle of summer.

From sea buckthorn fly

Tree processing is carried out for 2 months - from mid-June to mid-August. At this time there are years of butterflies that lay their eggs on the fruit. Trees are sprayed with a solution of 2 tbsp. l. fly in the ointment on a bucket of water. The strong smell of the product repels insects.

From carrot flies and psyllids

Carrot beds are watered with a solution with the same concentration. For the whole season before harvesting root crops, 4 waterings must be done, 2 must be carried out in June and 2 in August, so that there is an interval of 1.5-2 weeks between them.

From the sprout fly

You can process seedlings of all vegetable crops. The beds are shed with liquid from 1 tbsp. l. funds for a bucket of water.

From the sawfly

A mixture is prepared from this pest: pour 1 tbsp. l. ash 5 liters of warm water, 1 day insist. Then it must be filtered, add a third of a bar of soap and 2 tbsp. l. tar liquid. Stir the mixture until smooth. Spray plants during bud swelling, repeat after 1-1.5 weeks.

From the wireworm

First you need to prepare an infusion of 1 tbsp. l. fly in the ointment on a bucket of water, leave to infuse for an hour. Spray or moisten potato tubers with this liquid before planting; shed grooves or holes in the beds in which the seeds will be sown.

From aphids

Tar solution will help get rid of aphids. It is prepared as follows: dissolve half a bar of soap in hot water and add 1 tbsp. l. fly in the ointment. Spraying is carried out 2 times with a break of a week. Moisten all leaves of plants until completely wet on both sides.

From ants

To prevent insects from climbing tree trunks from the ground, their boles are smeared with tar since spring. A thin layer applied once a year is sufficient. If an anthill is found in the garden, a few milliliters of the drug can be dripped on top of it. Ants, like most insects, do not tolerate a sharp and strong tar smell. Gradually they will leave the site.

From spider mites

To prepare a mixture from this pest, you need to take half the soap, grate it, dissolve the chips in hot water. When everything is dissolved, add 20 ml of the drug to the infusion. Stir and spray plants damaged by the mite.

From cabbage whites

Sawdust soaked in tar and laid out on the beds with cabbage will help scare away pests from butterflies plants.

From gooseberry moth

Pest larvae damage gooseberry ovaries. So that the crop does not suffer, the bushes are sprayed with a solution that is made from a bucket of water, 50 ml of the product and a third of the bar of soap. Spray bushes before they begin to bloom, and after flowering.

From codling moth

Trees from the codling moth are sprayed with a solution prepared from 2 tbsp. l. means, a third of a bar of soap, dissolved in a bucket of water. Spray plants at the stage of a pink bud and a second time - after flowering is completed. You can also hang plastic bottles with liquid poured into them (1 teaspoon per 5 liters)

From hawthorn

Concentration of the solution: in 10 liters, dilute 20 ml of the product and half a bar of soap. Spraying should be carried out in the green cone stage, before flowering, then, if the caterpillars nevertheless appeared on the trees, with a break of 2 weeks.

From Raspberry Strawberry Weevil

If the ovary on the bushes dries up, the flowers darken, this is most likely the result of the activity of weevils. Plants are sprayed 2 times with a break of a week when they throw out the buds. The liquid is prepared from 10 liters of water, 2 tbsp. l. detergent and 30 g of soap shavings.

For prevention, neighboring blackberry bushes and other fruit bushes should also be treated with this drug, if they are next to raspberries or strawberry beds.

From the cherry weevil

Treatment of cherries and cherries from weevils is carried out before the buds open, during the period when they bloom and before flowering. Concentration per bucket: 1 tbsp. l. and a third of a bar of soap.

Against scab and other bacterial and viral diseases

In addition to various pests, birch tar can destroy pathogens - bacteria and viruses. The solution is prepared from 2 tbsp.l. drug in 10 liters of water. In the infusion, you can add 1 tbsp. ash. Trees are treated with a universal remedy in spring, autumn and during the season, if they show signs of infection.

Disadvantages of using

Despite the fact that this natural remedy has a lot of advantages, it also has disadvantages. For example, it repels not only harmful, but also beneficial insects, including bees, so it is not used during flowering. You can not spray trees, bushes and vegetables when the fruits are ripe on them. The product will remain on their surface for a long time and will not have time to disappear before collection. The tar is washed off badly, when used, its smell can be felt.

It is not recommended to use tar preparations for the treatment of indoor flowers - for the same reason - a persistent smell will be felt in the room. It does not always disappear even after airing. Tar is not compatible with pesticides, other agricultural chemicals, so you need to maintain a gap between their use.

Birch tar almost does not dissolve in cold water, only in hot water, so the preparation of preparations based on it is possible only in heated water. They cannot be stored for a long time, they should be used for 1-2 hours, after which the infusion will begin to delaminate. In itself, such a property does not worsen the characteristics of the product, but requires immediate use, which is not always convenient.

Pure tar liquid is concentrated and therefore toxic, can cause irritation and allergies. You need to work with it in gloves to protect your hands, goggles and a respirator. Tar almost does not wash off clothes, so you need to wear old clothes that you don’t mind.

Don't use conventional sprayers because the liquid sticks to the nozzle and closes the holes. It's hard to wash it off. For spraying the solution, it is best to use homemade spray bottles from plastic bottles.The solution itself does not adhere to plants very well, to improve adhesion, it is necessary to introduce soap into the solution.

Birch tar is still used in the household, including as a plant treatment. Perfectly protects them from various pests and infectious diseases. They can process crops from pests of almost all common species. Tar is stored for a long time, it is spent sparingly. As for the number of sprays, there is no exact recipe here. If the insects just appeared and did not have time to multiply, then perhaps 1 spraying will be enough. If it was not possible to get rid of them at once, it is necessary to carry out repeated treatments until the pests completely disappear.

Tar, diluted in the correct proportion, is not toxic to plants, does not cause burns, does not adversely affect the growth processes, flowering, development and ripening of fruits.Does not cause addiction in pests, even after frequent and constant use. It has a long and stable effect, can protect plants for 3-4 weeks. For humans, tar is also harmless, does not cause poisoning, but, if it gets on the skin, it sticks to it and is almost not washed off.

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