Wireworms are the larvae of the Elateridae beetles. They are covered with a hard shell, which makes them resemble a piece of copper wire. Wireworms feed in the soil, damaging underground parts of plants, roots, bulbs, rhizomes and tubers, cutting corridors in them, cutting and biting into the lower parts of the stems.Damaged tissues are attacked by bacteria and fungi, which almost always results in the death of plants.
Bitten bulbs, rhizomes and tubers cannot be stored and used for plant propagation.The presence of wireworms is favored by the proximity of wastelands, meadows and pastures, parks and the acidic pH of the soil. Problems with these pests may also appear in newly established beds after many years of non-use.
Currently, chemicals against wireworms have disappeared from the hobby market, so in small areas their population can be reduced by using various types of traps.One of the most effective is the use of a plastic drink bottle with a capacity of up to ½ liter.Make holes in the upper part of the bottle and pour a handful of wheat grains and a handful of barley grains, which were previously left in the water for 12 hours, inside. The seeds swell to give off a scent that attracts wireworms.
The trap prepared in this way should be buried in a place where we will grow plants that are eagerly eaten by pests, about 10-14 days before sowing or planting them. The wireworms, attracted by the smell, will enter the bottle through the holes.There should be about 10 such traps in an area of up to 500 m².A simpler way to determine the presence of wireworms in the soil is to bury the cut potato tubers to a shallow depth. the symptoms of pest feeding.
