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This year there are so many beetles on the potatoes that I think I have never seen anything like it in a single season. We picked them like crazy, but the next evening there were just as many, if not more. Neighbors complained too, who also didn’t spray their potatoes with chemicals. I stick to the motto that if I’m growing for myself, I don’t want any unhealthy sprays. In one issue of the magazine Zahrádkář my eyes fell on a picture of the hated Colorado potato beetle, so I read it with interest and this advice really helped me.
How to get rid of the Colorado potato beetle naturally?
A vegetable you wouldn’t expect will help you! It’s tomatoes – I immediately thought that if the beetle loves potatoes, it certainly won’t shun tomatoes either; I tried it and it works. The key is that in the green tissue of tomatoes there is a substance that strongly repels the beetles. So, when you pinch out and thin the tomatoes, put the green parts into a bucket and try this simple spray.
We need:
- 1 kg of stems and leaves
- 2.5 l of cold water
- 10 g of soap
Method:
Let it sit covered for an hour and then put it on the heat – simmer slowly for 30 minutes. Then let it cool and strain. Dilute the solution with water 1:1, add 10 g of ordinary soap, and spray. The spray works mainly on the pest’s early stages, so we first picked off the adult beauties and then sprayed, but I think it even affects older beetles, because we only picked them briefly and the next day they were almost gone. The spray is also excellent as a preventative!
