Wireworms have infested the garden — how to save the harvest.

Wireworms are the larvae of click beetles that hide in the soil and damage plant harvests from within, so they must be destroyed. Experienced gardeners shared simple and effective methods for repelling these pests in the garden.

The list of mechanical methods to eliminate wireworms without chemicals includes:

• Deep tilling - late in autumn or early in spring, till the garden to a depth of 25-30 centimeters to destroy the winter shelters of the larvae and expose them to the cold surface
• Creating traps with baits - bury pieces of potato, carrot, or beet at a depth of 10-15 centimeters and check the traps after a few days, removing the wireworms around them
• Maintaining proper crop rotation - alternating planting potatoes with cabbage or legumes that do not attract wireworms

Folk methods

For supporters of folk methods, there are ways such as:

• Celery - infusion of crushed fresh celery that should be watered in the interrows of the garden
• Eggshells - scattering crushed eggshells around the garden bed
• Mustard powder - watering the soil with a solution of mustard powder and water

Biological methods

Effective biological methods for combating wireworms include:

• Planting wireworm-repelling plants - marigold, mustard, nasturtium, peas, and beans
• Attracting predators - starlings, titmice, hedgehogs, and frogs, which should be provided with feeders or ponds
• Using nematodes - preparations based on nematodes that should be applied to moist soil according to the instructions

We remind you that we described how to safely get rid of pests on raspberries.

Earlier, we told how to save cabbage in the garden from whiteflies.