Tar from the Colorado potato beetle: properties, preparation and use in the garden

Our distant ancestors have been growing vegetables and fruits for centuries, getting excellent yields from them. Due to the fact that there were no chemicals then, they knew many eco-friendly folk methods for getting rid of garden pests. In particular, they used birch tar from the Colorado potato beetle and other harmful insects.

Composition of tar from birch bark

It is a black viscous oily liquid with a blue-green tint. It has a specific, not very pleasant smell. In small quantities, it contains about 10,000 chemicals of organic origin.Most of all, phenols, toluene, xylene, guaiacol, organic acids, resins, phytoncides were found in it.

Properties of tar from birch bark

Due to its unique composition, birch tar has long been famous for its various beneficial properties. It is used in medicine as an insecticidal, antimicrobial, antiseptic drug.

In cosmetology, it is used to strengthen hair, shampoos and various masks are made from it. In the chemical industry - as a raw material for further processing, in horticulture and horticulture - to protect against pests.

Principle of action on the Colorado potato beetle

Gardeners and gardeners are in constant search of such means to save the harvest and not get poisoned themselves. Most of them intersect and act in the same way on various insect pests. In particular, the tar extract proved to be effective against the Colorado potato beetle.

The action of tar is based on the fact that it does not kill the insect, but repels it with its pungent smell. The pest flies to the aroma of a potato leaf or other plant, but if the smell of tops is interrupted by birch tar, then the beetle will not want to sit there.

How do they get tar?

It is extracted from birch bark - birch bark. At the beginning of summer, during the period of sap flow, the birch bark well departs from the main layer of the bark. During this period, you can get tar with better properties. For this, the dry distillation method is used. With this method, the birch bark is heated to 600 degrees without oxygen. In industrial production, special equipment is used to extract tar.

At home, you can also carry out the procedure for its extraction. But this process is long, and the output will be a small amount of the required liquid.The procedure is performed only in the open air in order to avoid fire and poisoning with resin vapors. A fire is made, metal dishes with holes are being prepared and a pallet where the finished product will flow out.

However, you can save your time and effort by purchasing a ready-made drug from birch tar extract at the pharmacy.

How to prepare the remedy?

Preparing a regular solution is difficult due to the fact that tar does not dissolve well in water. After mixing the ingredients, it is necessary to process immediately, without waiting for the stratification of substances.

Second way:

• tar mixed with laundry soap;
• then mix everything in water;
• quickly coat the plants with it.

Processing

The resulting liquid is oily, so the holes in the atomizer will clog, and further processing will be impossible.Therefore, you need to use a broom. Dip it in the solution and lubricate the plant. In this case, the liquid is constantly stirred to prevent stratification. If it does start, you will have to prepare the remedy again.

Before boarding

To obtain a good harvest, potato tubers are treated with a solution of birch tar. They are dipped in a product that includes 1 tbsp. spoon of this product and 1 bucket of water.

When planting, grooves are also processed. This provides additional protection of potato tubers from the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm.

After landing

Emulsion from the Colorado potato beetle is used at the stage of germination of sprouts, it is re-applied every 3 days. The gardeners themselves find the optimal proportion of ingredients, in most cases it is 30 ml of birch tar per 1 bucket of water.

Processing is carried out in sunny weather. Before the rain and directly during it, you should not process the plants. Water will wash away the emulsion and there will be no effect from previous manipulations.

Use in the garden

Birch tar copes with a large number of garden and garden pests without the use of chemicals.

Potatoes

Good for repelling the Colorado potato beetle on potato, eggplant and pepper plantations. A solution of tar or birch soap is used, which also effectively acts on pests. The advantage of the soap solution is that it does not clog the spray gun, which means that the processing of plants is faster.

Tomatoes

The Colorado potato beetle loves to eat the tender leaves and stems of the tomato. The spray emulsion is prepared similarly to the potato solution.The following remedy will be effective: add 10 mg of tar and 50 g of laundry soap to 1 bucket of water, after which it is all thoroughly mixed.

Sorrel

It would seem that sorrel is sour, and pests should not be interested in it. But no, the oxal leaf beetle loves him very much. This is a small green bug that gnaws holes as soon as the sorrel shows up on the surface of the soil.

The plant must be processed immediately, otherwise the gardener may be left without this green crop. It is necessary to spray with the same solution as the tomatoes.

Garden use

Birch tar is used not only for processing the garden, but also for fruit and berry crops in the garden, and with the same efficiency relieves gardeners of problems with pests.

Apple tree

Codling moth and hawthorn butterfly love to eat this tree. The caterpillars hibernate under the bark of the apple tree, and in the spring they turn into butterflies and lay their eggs in the lower part of the leaves. Codling moths hatch and eat the apples, reducing the yield by up to 30%.

The method of struggle is as follows: in late winter or early spring, the tree is sprayed with a solution prepared from 1 tbsp. fly in the ointment, 40 g of laundry soap and 10 liters of water. Treat the soil under the apple tree with the prepared liquid.

The hawthorn acts in much the same way as the codling moth. It is located in the leaves, which are wrapped in cobwebs. These nests are removed, then the apple tree and the ground under it are treated in the same way.

Pear

Only hawthorn loves this tree. Measures for the destruction of the pest are similar to those described above. If the tree is affected by scab, it is sprayed at the first appearance of leaves. After a week, the procedure must be repeated.

Plum

She is loved by the same codling moths and hawthorns. The fighting methods are the same as above.

Cherry

In addition to the codling moth and hawthorn, the bird cherry weevil likes to feast on plums. This is a gray beetle, 5 mm long. He eats not only leaves, but also ovaries, inflorescences, buds, fruits. As soon as the first leaves sprout, the tree is treated similarly to other trees.

Repeatedly sprayed after flowering, when the first fruits are set.

Raspberries

Bushes can be harmed by strawberry-raspberry weevil and spider mites. They hibernate under fallen leaves. Raspberries are processed until the ovaries appear.

Control other pests

In addition to the above pests of horticultural crops, plants can also damage some other types of insects, as well as rodents.

Cabbage fly

To protect against this pest, sawdust is processed, which is then used to mulch the soil. Composition of the product: 1 tbsp. fly in the ointment for 1 bucket of water. Infuse for 2 hours.

Onion fly

To prevent fly attacks on onion sets, they are processed before planting. Place 1 kg of onions in a plastic bag and add 1 tbsp. fly in the ointment.

If the onion is already planted, it is processed from above when sprouts appear. To do this, prepare a solution of 1 tbsp. fly in the ointment, 30 g of laundry soap, 10 liters of water. After 2 weeks, the procedure is repeated.

Cabbage

Damages cabbage beds. If you place pegs with rags treated with tar solution along the cabbage rows, this will scare away cabbage butterflies.

Wireworm

Harms root crops.Removing it is not difficult. Tubers before planting are processed in an emulsion solution: for 1 bucket of water 1 spoonful of tar. Soak in the solution for about 1 hour. If potatoes are sown, then the land is cultivated with the prepared product.

Various rodents

Trees suffer not only from insect pests, but also from various rodents. To protect against them, sawdust is processed with a solution of tar, which are used as mulch. The procedure is carried out until autumn.

Means for protection against hares - whitewashing trees. For the solution is taken: 1 kg of slaked lime, 10 kg of mullein, 50 mg of tar. Water is brought to the consistency necessary for whitewashing.

The use of birch tar from the Colorado potato beetle and other pests is safe for humans and animals. The solution with its unpleasant odor drives pests away from green spaces, and prevents them from settling there again.

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