How to get rid of mole crickets in your garden forever: tips and recommendations

The mole cricket is a gardener's worst and most dangerous enemy in areas where vegetables and other plants grow. Not only is this insect visually unsightly and intimidating, but it can also cause severe damage to crops and even completely destroy a garden. This is because the mole cricket destroys plants deep in the soil, digging tunnels and burrowing down to the roots of crops, which serve as the insects' primary food source.

Gardeners are racking their brains over how to get rid of mole crickets in their gardens for good, reading forum reviews and searching for folk remedies. But is it possible to destroy the pest once and for all, and does such a miracle cure exist? Read about how beautiful Decorate your garden beds at your dacha with your own hands.

A little about the insect

To defeat your enemy, you must know it by sight. The mole cricket is quite repulsive in appearance due to its large body, which can reach 5 centimeters in length. Its coloration is not very distinctive from that of its peers: in most cases, the mole cricket is dark brown with reddish highlights.

The insect's body is protected by a thick shell, which has earned it the nickname "earth crayfish." The mole cricket also has legs that somewhat resemble pincers; it is this "tool" that the insect uses to dig underground tunnels and passages.

Pest control is complicated by the insect's ability to crawl, fly, and dig, and it primarily lives deep in the soil, where it mates, sleeps, eats, and even hibernates. A female mole cricket can lay up to 500 eggs, which hatch into new pest offspring. Even winter cold doesn't hinder mole cricket eggs, so you can't count on a harsh winter killing the insects without having to deal with them yourself. About the methods getting rid of ants in the garden.

This pest is especially troubling if you grow cabbage, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and tomatoes in your garden, as these vegetables are the mole cricket's most delicious treat. Potatoes are the most affected: the insect chews holes in the potato tubers, which immediately destroys the entire crop.

The sooner you learn how to get rid of mole crickets in your garden for good, the better your chances of saving your crop. After all, mole crickets gnaw through the root system, depriving plants of essential nutrients, which leads to their wilting and death.

Folk methods of struggle

There are several options for getting rid of mole crickets in your garden for good using folk remedies. Everything depends on the soil type and the region where the plot is located. Mole crickets thrive best in humus-rich soil, but even this can be turned against them. Before resorting to harsh chemicals, which can harm not only the insect but also the plants themselves, you can try eco-friendly pest control methods.

Digging up the garden

Yes, digging up an entire garden is a labor-intensive task that simply knocks a gardener off his feet once the work is done, but it also knocks down the mole cricket. This folk remedy for getting rid of mole crickets in the garden for good helps destroy their nests and tunnels, preventing the insects from continuing their life cycle and laying eggs. The soil should be dug twice a year: in spring and fall. In summer, simply loosening the soil with a pitchfork is sufficient.

Trap for mole crickets

There are three options for getting rid of mole crickets in your garden for good using traps. You can choose any of the suggested methods for making your own mole cricket trap, depending on your availability of the necessary tools, as each trap is effective.

Dung trap

As mentioned earlier, mole crickets absolutely adore manure-filled habitats, but this can also be used against them. In the last months of autumn, when frost approaches, dig 0.5-meter-deep holes in the garden and completely fill them with horse or cow manure. The mole cricket will take the bait and begin to build nests there for the winter. When the first frost arrives, dig up these manure holes and spread the manure around the plot (don't bury it, just scatter it). The insects will die in the frost on the surface.

Beer Trap

It remains a mystery why mole crickets react to beer and even enjoy it, but this is a boon to gardeners, as a beer trap makes it easy to catch and kill the insects. Pour 300 grams of beer into a one-liter jar. Bury the beer jar in the soil where the mole crickets live. Cover the mouth of the jar with a board, leaving a gap no more than a few millimeters wide. The mole crickets will quickly react to the smell of beer and crawl into the trap, unable to escape.

Water trap

The principle of using this trap is the same as the beer trap. However, in this case, as you might guess, the jar is filled with water rather than beer. Be sure to coat the neck of the jar with honey to attract the mole cricket.

Chemical control

If the mole cricket has already "occupied" the entire area and its infestations recur year after year, folk remedies for getting rid of mole crickets in the garden permanently are unlikely to be effective. In such cases, drastic measures are necessary, including chemical-based products. These are produced in granules, and when the mole cricket eats these granules, it soon dies, as it is simply poisoned.

The most popular and widespread chemical preparations for mole crickets include:

• Thunder;
• Prestige;
• Medvegon;
• Grizzly;
• Phenoxin plus;
• Medvedoks.

Attention! Before using such drugs, carefully read the instructions for use!

Eat Various methods for getting rid of mole crickets in your garden forever, but one rule applies to all of them: you need to begin fighting the insect as soon as possible, even if the mole crickets haven't had time to breed. It's also best not to neglect preventative measures against mole crickets in the garden, especially if this problem has already existed in the past.