You can deal with Colorado potato beetles. A homemade spray is all you need

Are you already looking forward to potatoes from your own garden? And why wouldn’t you? After all, they’re by far the tastiest and simply can’t be compared to shop-bought ones. Growing potatoes is very simple and anyone can do it. You do, however, need to watch out for pests. The Colorado potato beetle is by far the worst of them all. It can destroy a crop quite quickly and effectively. There are plenty of sprays available to combat it, but not everyone wants to use chemicals on their plants, and besides, sprays cost money. We made our own using household ingredients. It wasn’t complicated at all, as we’ll show you.

All we needed were a few household ingredients

To make the potato beetle repellent, we needed:

– 1 kg of potato peelings and leaves,

– 2.5 l of cold water,

– 15 g of soap.

We mixed all the ingredients together, except for the soap, and then simmered them gently for about 30 minutes. Then we simply let the mixture cool, strained it, added the 15 grams of soap and let it dissolve. We then diluted the solution with water in a 1:1 ratio and sprayed all the potato plants in the bed. By the next day, there were very few Colorado potato beetles left, and they gradually disappeared completely.

Photo: Pixabay

Garlic and onions as ideal neighbours for potatoes

If you want to repel Colorado potato beetles naturally, plant onions or garlic alongside your potatoes. Both plants are unpalatable to the beetles. You can easily plant onions or garlic between the rows as well. They’ll help repel the beetles, and you’ll also get some excellent home-grown vegetables for the kitchen.

Tip: The destructive power of the Colorado potato beetle. It lays up to 700 eggs on a single leaf.

Other homemade sprays for Colorado potato beetles

A wormwood decoction works a treat. Simply pour hot water over the wormwood and then spray the potato foliage with the decoction. You can also make an infusion using garlic. A spray made from it can even eliminate other pests. We mustn’t forget the simple soapy water spray either. The soap forms a film on the Colorado potato beetle’s body, making it difficult for it to breathe.

Sources: Author, Meta

Photo: Pixabay