Instructions for using birch tar in the garden against diseases and pests

Birch tar has long been used in gardens and vegetable gardens as an effective remedy for pests, ranging from insects to rodents. The product is inexpensive and accessible, which is why gardeners continue to be interested in it. Let's consider the use of birch tar in the garden against pests, the advantages of its use, the effect on various types of insects, on pathogens of viral and bacterial diseases, and the disadvantages of this natural insecticide.

The benefits and benefits of using tar in the garden

What advantages of birch tar can be noted:

• as a natural substance, tar is harmless to humans and animals, it does not destroy insects, but acts as a powerful repellent, repelling them with a strong and persistent smell;
• tar is not washed off for a long time, does not erode, therefore it has a prolonged effect;
• pests do not get used to it;
• acts against completely different pests - slugs, insects, rodents and moles;
• no special equipment is needed to work with it;
• No negative effects from its use on plants were noted.

Once applied, birch tar can protect plants for 3-4 weeks, just like chemicals. But, at the same time, it is completely harmless and does not contain toxic chemical compounds that are found in agrochemicals. For this reason, it can be recommended for those gardeners who want to receive environmentally friendly products from their beds and gardens.

With regular use of tar, plants do not suffer from fungal, bacterial diseases and viruses; infections do not develop on their leaves, stems and fruits. They have the opportunity to develop normally throughout the growing season, the fruits are clean, put into storage, stored for a long time, do not rot or spoil. Storage losses are minimal.

Mechanism of action

Birch tar has a strong repellent effect on moles, hares, voles, insect pests from different classes, slugs and soil pests - mole crickets and wireworms. As you can see, the spectrum of action of the product covers almost all known pests. This makes it universal; tar can replace chemicals; its effect on pests is almost identical to agrochemicals.

Tar does not kill, but repels pests, forcing them to leave the area temporarily or permanently. The number of pests is reduced, which makes it possible to reduce the number of treatments with synthetic insecticides.

How to prepare it and where you can buy it

Purified tar can be bought at a pharmacy, but it is sold in small 100 ml bottles, which is not enough for use in the garden. You can buy it in gardening stores and on online sites selling agricultural products. In this case, it is sold in small plastic buckets of 1-2 kg. The long shelf life of tar allows it to be used for several years.

If you have problems purchasing tar, to use it as an insecticide it is best to prepare it yourself from birch bark. For preparation, you can take not only fresh bark, but also from old fallen trees. The quality of the product will not deteriorate from this.

How to prepare: you will need two old pans, one of a smaller size, you need to dig it into the ground, do not cover it with a lid. Place a larger pan or tank on it. There should be holes in the bottom for tar to drain. Fill the top container with pieces of bark and close with a lid. Line the pan with wood and set it on fire. When the wood burns, there will be birch coals in the upper container, and tar in the lower container.For storage, the viscous liquid must be poured into a container that can be tightly closed so that air does not penetrate into it.

Rules of application

Birch tar can be used on private farms against various pests of garden and vegetable crops. Each case has its own characteristics.

From the Colorado potato beetle

Preparation of the solution: pour 30 ml of tar into 10 liters of warm water and add 30 g of soap shavings for adhesion. Tomatoes and potatoes are sprayed with this solution against the beetle. The frequency of spraying is every 2 weeks until the insects are completely exterminated.

From the bear

In areas where these pests occur, you need to prepare the soil before planting seedlings - spill it with a solution of 20 ml of tar per 10 liters of water. Repeat after a week, when the plants are stronger, you can water the soil less often - after 2 weeks.

From moles (hamsters, marmots)

To drive these animals away from the site, you need to find their holes and close the passages with a piece of cloth dipped in a mixture of tar and vegetable oil (3 to 1). If new moves appear, you need to repeat everything.

From hares (mice, voles)

Hares and mice can damage tree bark in winter. To prevent them from doing this, you need to moisten the sawdust with a tar solution (1 tablespoon per bucket) and cover the tree trunk circles with them. Whitewashing with a mixture of 1 kg of chalk and manure, 3 tbsp. l. tar per 8 liters of water. The solution should have a creamy consistency. Whitewashing should be done in the fall, when preparing trees for winter.

From onion fly

To protect against this pest, before planting, the seedlings should be soaked in a tar solution prepared from 1 tsp. tar per 1 liter of warm water.When the shoots appear, 2 weeks later you need to water the soil with a weak solution of the product: dissolve 1 tbsp in 10 liters. l. tar. The treatment should be repeated again after 1.5-2 weeks.

From cabbage fly

The pest can affect not only cabbage itself, but also related crops - radish, radish, turnip, daikon. To repel insects, the soil in the beds with cruciferous vegetables is mulched with sawdust soaked in the product (10 liters per 1 tablespoon). During the season, sawdust is laid 2 times - in spring and in mid-summer.

From sea buckthorn fly

Trees are treated for 2 months - from mid-June to mid-August. At this time, butterflies fly and lay eggs on the fruits. Trees are sprayed with a solution of 2 tbsp. l. tar on a bucket of water. The strong smell of the product repels insects.

From carrot fly and psyllid

Carrot beds are watered with a solution of the same concentration. A whole season before harvesting root crops, you need to do 4 waterings, 2 should be done in June and 2 in August, so that there is an interval of 1.5-2 weeks between them.

From sprout fly

You can process seedlings of all vegetable crops. The beds are spilled with liquid from 1 tbsp. l. funds for a bucket of water.

From the sawfly

Prepare a mixture against this pest: pour 1 tbsp. l. ash 5 liters of warm water, infuse for 1 day. Then you need to strain it, add a third of a bar of soap and 2 tbsp. l. tar liquid. Stir the mixture until smooth. Spray the plants during the period of bud swelling, repeat after 1-1.5 weeks.

From the wireworm

First you need to prepare an infusion of 1 tbsp. l. tar in a bucket of water, leave to infuse for an hour.Spray or moisten potato tubers with this liquid before planting; pour furrows or holes in the beds in which the seeds will be sown.

From aphids

The tar solution will also help get rid of aphids. It is prepared like this: dissolve half a bar of soap in hot water and add 1 tbsp. l. tar. Spraying is carried out 2 times with a break of a week. Wet all plant leaves until completely wet on both sides.

From ants

To prevent insects from climbing up tree trunks from the ground, their trunks are smeared with tar in the spring. A thin layer applied once a year is sufficient. If an anthill is found in the garden, you can drip a few milliliters of the drug on top of it. Ants, like most insects, cannot tolerate the sharp and strong tar smell. Gradually they will leave the area.

From spider mites

To prepare a mixture against this pest, you need to take half the soap, grate it, and dissolve the shavings in hot water. When everything is dissolved, add 20 ml of the drug to the infusion. Stir and spray plants damaged by mites.

From cabbage whites

Sawdust soaked in a tar composition and laid out on beds with cabbage will help repel the pest butterflies from the plants.

From gooseberry moth

Pest larvae damage gooseberry ovaries. To prevent damage to the crop, the bushes are sprayed with a solution made from a bucket of water, 50 ml of product and a third of a bar of soap. Spray the bushes before they begin to bloom and after flowering.

From the codling moth

Trees are sprayed against codling moths with a solution prepared from 2 tbsp. l. product, a third of a bar of soap dissolved in a bucket of water.Spray the plants at the pink bud stage and a second time after flowering has completed. You can also hang plastic bottles with liquid poured into them in the crown (1 tsp per 5 l.)

From hawthorn

Solution concentration: dilute 20 ml of product and half a bar of soap in 10 liters. Spraying is carried out at the green cone stage, before flowering, then, if the caterpillars still appear on the trees, with a break of 2 weeks.

From raspberry-strawberry weevil

If the ovary on the bushes dries out, the flowers darken, this is most likely the result of the activity of weevils. Plants are sprayed 2 times with a break of a week, when they throw out buds. The liquid is prepared from 10 liters of water, 2 tbsp. l. products and 30 g of soap shavings.

For prevention, neighboring blackberry bushes and other fruit bushes should be treated with this drug if they are located next to raspberries or strawberry beds.

From cherry weevil

Treatment of cherries and cherries from weevils is carried out before the buds open, during the period when they bloom and before flowering. Concentration per bucket: 1 tbsp. l. and a third of a bar of soap.

Against scab and other bacterial and viral diseases

In addition to various pests, birch tar can destroy pathogens - bacteria and viruses. The solution is prepared from 2 tbsp. l. drug per 10 liters of water. You can add 1 tbsp to the infusion. ash. Trees are treated with a universal product in spring, autumn and throughout the season if they show signs of infection.

Disadvantages of use

Despite the fact that this natural remedy has many advantages, it also has disadvantages. For example, it repels not only harmful, but also beneficial insects, including bees, so it is not used during flowering.You cannot spray trees, bushes and vegetables when their fruits are ripe. The product will remain on their surface for a long time and will not have time to dissipate before collection. The tar is difficult to wash off and you can smell it when you use it.

It is not recommended to use tar preparations for treating indoor flowers - for the same reason - a persistent smell will be felt in the room. It does not always disappear after airing. Tar is not compatible with pesticides and other agrochemicals, so you need to maintain a gap between their use.

Birch tar is almost insoluble in cold water, only in hot water, so the preparation of preparations based on it is possible only in heated water. They cannot be stored for a long time; they should be used within 1-2 hours, after which the infusion will begin to separate. In itself, this property does not worsen the characteristics of the product, but requires immediate use, which is not always convenient.

Pure tar liquid is concentrated and therefore toxic and can cause irritation and allergies. You need to work with it wearing gloves to protect your hands, goggles and a respirator. Tar almost never comes off from clothes, so you need to wear old clothes that you don’t mind.

You cannot use conventional sprayers, because the liquid sticks strongly to the nozzle and covers the holes. It is difficult to wash it off. To spray the solution, it is best to use homemade spray bottles made from plastic bottles. The solution itself does not stick to plants very well; to improve adhesion, it is necessary to add soap to the solution.

Birch tar is still used in households, including as a plant treatment.Perfectly protects them from a variety of pests and infectious diseases. It can be used to treat crops against pests of almost all common types. Tar is stored for a long time and is used sparingly. As for the number of sprays, there is no exact recipe. If the insects have just appeared and have not had time to reproduce, then perhaps 1 spraying will be enough. If it was not possible to get rid of them in one go, you need to carry out repeated treatments until the pests completely disappear.

Tar, diluted in the correct proportion, is not toxic to plants, does not cause burns, and does not have a negative effect on growth processes, flowering, development and ripening of fruits. Does not cause addiction among pests, even after frequent and constant use. It has a long-lasting and sustainable effect and can protect plants for 3-4 weeks. Tar is also harmless to humans and does not cause poisoning, but when it comes into contact with the skin, it sticks to it and is almost not washed off.