What you will need:
- eggshell;
- masher;
- bucket;
- shovel.
The process of fighting the mole cricket
At the first sign of a mole cricket, you need to start collecting eggshells. It is dumped into a separate container until there is enough of it to process the existing area inhabited by mole crickets.
After this, you need to grind the shell into dust, but not into flour. It should produce small fragments that the pest can swallow. Old shells are best for grinding. Fresh ones are more difficult to break due to the elasticity of the inner film. It is convenient to pound the shells in a mortar or potato masher.You can simply crush it in a bucket with the handle of a shovel, but the particle fraction will be less suitable.
The affected area is then dug into the line. A little shell is poured onto the turned out soil. It needs to be grown over the entire surface. Then the second row is dug up. Thus, the previously scattered shells end up in the ground. If the processing is carried out in the summer, when the crop has not yet been harvested, and it is impossible to dig up the entire area, then it is enough to lay the shells in the free areas. It can be buried between rows of plants, or where they have already been harvested. It is advisable to place the shells closer to crops that are interesting for mole crickets. These are carrots, potatoes, etc.
The mole cricket has a weakness for eggshells, reacting to it no less actively than cats do to valerian. By digging tunnels through areas with such lines with shells, she will definitely find it and eat it. The sharp edges of the shell damage the mole cricket's digestive tract, causing the pest's death.
The method works 100%. Of course, to get rid of the pest in this way, you will have to work with a shovel, but you do not need to use an insecticide. To prevent the mole cricket from appearing again, it is advisable to do this treatment every year. It is optimal to scatter the shells on the plowed ground in the spring before cultivating it.
