How to get rid of wood lice on the site forever: measures to combat drugs and folk remedies

Weeds in garden plots and orchards cause great damage to crops. One of the most common is wood lice - a grass that actively grows in rainy weather and covers the soil with a thick carpet. Let's consider how to permanently get rid of wood lice in a summer cottage using mechanical, chemical and folk methods. We will also figure out what preventive protection against re-growth is.

Features of grass

The scientific name of woodlice herb is medium chickweed. It is a herbaceous plant of small height, capable of intensive growth in soils with abundant moisture.

Distinctive features of woodlice weed are:

• juicy strong stems;
• leaves are medium-sized and rounded;
• small, star-shaped white flowers that persist throughout the growing season.

Before the seeds ripen, about five weeks pass from the first days of flowering, then the cycle repeats.

During the season, one shrub is capable of producing up to 15,000 weed seeds. Seeds are characterized by the following features:

• early germination at an air temperature of +4 °С;
• preservation in the soil from two to five years;
• environmental resistance.

The root system of woodlice consists of numerous thin and long roots that quickly strengthen and spread in the surrounding space.

The intensity of the growth of woodlice grass on the site depends on the type and quality of the soil on the site. Soil with high acidity contributes to the rapid spread of the weed across the territory - woodlice cover the ground in the form of a continuous large carpet. With other soil compositions, this weed grows in separate bushes.

Harm from woodlice

Before you start fighting wood lice in the garden, you need to figure out how dangerous and harmful weed is:

1. Dense coating of a large part of the garden with woodlice prevents sunlight from entering. This makes natural air circulation impossible. As a result, microorganisms actively develop, which destroy beneficial bacteria.
2. Due to the abundant growth of roots, there is a lack of moisture for other crops on the site.
3. The soil becomes weakened and depleted as weeds draw all the nutrients and vitamins out of it.
4. A weed that covers the soil with a dense and thick blanket does not allow it to be sufficiently ventilated and warmed up, as a result of which it is exposed to the influence of pathogens.
5. Luxury thickets of woodlice provide shelter and food for cruciferous flea beetles, weevils, aphids, nutcracker beetles, and other insect pests.

Reasons for appearance

The main reasons for the growth of woodlice weed in vegetable gardens and suburban areas are increased soil acidity and excess moisture.

How to get rid of wood lice forever?

You can deal with wood lice in several ways - mechanical, technical and folk.

Mechanical action and agricultural technology

In order to eliminate the weed, it is necessary to carry out mechanical and agrotechnical work in early spring - after the snow has melted and the soil has thawed, but before the start of the vegetation process.

Mechanical impact on wood lice can be divided into several stages:

1. Loosening and digging the soil in the garden, removing various plant residues and roots of weeds.
2. Loosening while removing the roots of the sprouts.
3. Perform regular weeding throughout the season - every time new shoots start to appear. To do this, use a small narrow spatula or a garden tool designed to gently remove plant roots.
4. Use a pitchfork to carefully dig the soil after the harvest is done. At this stage, it is also necessary to clear the area of weed roots so that they cannot take root for the next season and sprout.

At the end of weeding, it is imperative to clean the garden plot from plant residues and small roots. This will prevent new weeds from sprouting.

Cut woodlice should never be used for compost production. This is due to the fact that in the process of preparing this organic fertilizer, weed seeds may sprout.

Another useful agricultural method is mulching. The purpose of this procedure is to block the access of natural light to crops, including weeds.

Shelter can be made from:

• wood planks;
• agrofibres;
• black polyethylene film;
• roofing material;
• remains of old linoleum;
• 10 cm layer of leaves, grass or hay.

Features of soil deoxidation

For greater efficiency, agrotechnical methods should be combined with soil deoxidation. This procedure must be carried out from year to year, because over time, the level of soil acidity is restored and returns to its original levels.

Reduce acidity in several ways. Most often, quicklime or hydrated lime is used for these purposes, as well as dolomite flour.

Lime should be added to the soil layers during autumn or spring digging.

In the first case, after the entire crop is harvested. To determine the optimal amount of lime for a plot of 100 square meters, you need to take into account the degree of soil acidity:

• very sour - 60 kg;
• medium sour - 45 kg;
• slightly acid - 30 kg.

By adding some water, you can get slaked lime, which is recommended for use during spring weeding of the soil on the site. For each square meter, 50 to 150 grams of lime will be required.

When using lime, there is one drawback - this chemical can cause burns on the stems and roots of plants. Therefore, in some cases it is advisable to use dolomite flour, which is more gentle. In this case, the amount of the product also depends on the acidity of the soil:

• very sour - 600g;
• medium sour - 500 g;
• slightly sour - 400g

Chemicals

Chemical-based products are very effective, but they pose some danger, so extreme caution is important when using them.

The following types of herbicides are suitable for controlling wood lice on the site:

• "Zero";
• "Hurricane";
• "Tornado";
• "Glisol";
• "Glyph".

Chemical preparations are recommended to be applied once a year - in the fall after harvest. To treat the site, it is necessary to choose quiet, calm days so that toxic components do not spread over its entire area. All work must be carried out in protective clothing.

Complete herbicide treatment is carried out only in cases where there are no other plants nearby. If there are other crops nearby, only spot treatment is acceptable.

Weed under the influence of chemicals is destroyed approximately on the 5-7th day. First, the leaves on the tops begin to turn yellow, and then the whole plant acquires a brown tint.

Weeding

A common method is weeding. It must be performed every week so that the weed woodlouse becomes depleted and loses its viability.It is necessary that all the torn particles of the plant dry out, because even a minimal amount of moisture is enough for it to take root. It is recommended to weed after the woodlouse seeds have ripened.

Folk methods

There are several effective and safe folk methods for controlling woodlice and other weeds in the plots:

1. Herbicidal soap made from grated laundry soap, as well as equal parts of table s alt and table vinegar. With a solution of this remedy, it is necessary to abundantly treat the places where the wood lice grow.
2. S alt. It can be used both in a dry state and as a solution for watering the site. One square meter of the garden will require one and a half kilograms of s alt.
3. A strong solution of baking soda is used to spray the seedlings of a weed growing at a distance of at least twenty centimeters from other cultivated plants.
4. Treat wood lice with a liquid mixture of water and vinegar (two cups each), alcohol (30 ml), citric acid (1 sachet) and detergent (2 teaspoons).

Recurrence Prevention

Competent prevention will help protect against the reappearance of wood lice in the summer cottage.

It is necessary to ensure that no excess water remains outside the beds after watering.

You also need to perform a series of actions that create the most unfavorable environment for the spread of the weed:

1. Observe crop rotation rules.
2. Plant green manure plants on the remaining free soil.
3. Mulch with sawdust, compost or pine bark.

In addition, every autumn it is recommended to carry out deep digging of the soil, as a result of which the roots of the weed remaining in the deep layers will freeze.

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