Jiang Yimian asked casually, "What are Gousheng and Uncle Dayong doing in the field?"
Wang Fengqin didn't even look up and casually said, "Catching bugs, there are a lot of bugs on those vegetables, we catch them every day."
Farm vegetables are prone to getting infested with insects, and the farmers are used to it. They catch the insects themselves every time, and after catching them for several days, the problem is solved.
Jiang Yimian paused, then quickly said, "I'll go take a look."
After saying that, he walked towards the small vegetable garden.
Wang Fengqin said helplessly, "We haven't finished taking the measurements yet!"
As Jiang Yimian approached, she indeed saw many insects on the vegetable leaves, all kinds, mostly small green caterpillars, clinging to the leaves and nibbling on them.
I haven't been to the vegetable garden for quite some time, and I was surprised to find so many bugs.
With no pesticides available right now, dealing with pests on crops is really difficult; we can only rely on people to catch them.
When Liu Dayong saw her, he just smiled and said, "Yimian, you don't need to come and help. Gousheng and I can catch them. There aren't many left."
Gou Sheng nodded repeatedly, deftly picking off the insects and stomping them on the ground to kill them, while curiously saying, "Sister Yi Mian, the snails Xiao Ye brought this morning are really delicious, they smell so good! How come you can cook everything?"
Jiang Yimian found it amusing to watch the other person ruthlessly crush the insects while still thinking about food. After a few casual remarks, she asked, "Do you usually catch the insects in your vegetable garden by hand?"
Liu Dayong looked at her strangely before nodding and saying, "That's right. When the crops in the fields are infested with insects, the whole family has to go out to catch them, just in case the insects eat the crops. It's not so bad in the vegetable garden, but it's really troublesome if the rice in the paddy fields is infested with insects."
Jiang Yimian was taken aback. She remembered that she hadn't found any signs of insects in the paddy field yesterday, so she breathed a sigh of relief before carefully examining the insects in the vegetable garden.
Seeing that most of them were cabbage caterpillars, and some snails and slugs, he said, "No need to catch them. Just sprinkle some wood ash and they'll all die."
Liu Dayong paused, somewhat puzzled, "Will this even work? Isn't wood ash supposed to be used as fertilizer?"
He had just sprinkled some wood ash when he planted the seeds, but recently, seeing that the vegetables were growing well, he stopped sprinkling it. He never expected that this stuff could also kill insects.
Gou Sheng was also a little skeptical. For so many years, his family had caught insects by hand in their fields, and this was the first time he had ever heard of wood ash being able to kill insects.
Seeing that neither of them believed her, Jiang Yimian had no choice but to bring up her grandfather, "My grandfather told me this, it should work. Let's give it a try. If it really works, we won't have to catch bugs every day anymore."
Upon hearing that it was her maternal grandfather who had suggested it, Liu Dayong hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Alright, let's give it a try."
Yi Mian's maternal grandfather was skilled in medicine and knew a lot about herbs and various foods. Since the other party said that wood ash could kill insects, it must be true.
The two hurriedly went home, shoveled out the ashes from the stove, and sprinkled them evenly on the vegetable leaves in the field.
I thought Jiang Yimian was joking, but after a few days, there were indeed fewer insects in the vegetable garden, and I also found a lot of dead insects on the wood ash.
Liu Dayong was quite pleased. "Grandpa Yimian is really amazing. How did he even know that wood ash can kill insects? Now that's great, we don't have to catch them every day anymore."
He had been catching bugs for days, and now he felt like everything he saw was a bug, and he couldn't even eat properly. Now, thankfully, he no longer had to catch bugs.
The others nodded in agreement, feeling that they had discovered something valuable.
Zhao Xing'er also said, "Then I'll go back and shovel some more wood ash; there'll be a pile under the stove."
I originally intended to keep it as fertilizer, but now I can use it to kill insects.
Jiang Yimian quickly stopped her, explaining, "No need, the insects are already dead, and too much wood ash is bad for the soil and will affect the growth of the vegetables."
While wood ash has many uses, adding too much to the soil can increase its alkalinity and, in severe cases, kill the plants.
Upon hearing that it would affect the growth of the vegetables, Zhao Xing'er quickly put down the spatula in her hand.
As the group was talking, they saw Old Liu emerge from the woods, looking resentful. Upon seeing the group gathered together, he quickly called out, "Come with me to the fields to catch the insects; the rice seedlings are infested with bugs."
He went to the field this morning and was so angry when he saw the insects on the rice seedlings that he almost died of anger.
He had been looking forward to harvesting rice in a few days and was happily estimating how much he could get. But to his dismay, the field was full of insects, which made him so angry that his heart ached.
The crops have suddenly become infested with insects. With these insects, the harvest will be reduced by half.
That's all pure white rice!
Everyone was startled, but then they remembered something and became happy again.
Liu Dayong smiled and said, "It's alright, Dad. Yi Mian said that wood ash can kill insects. Let's go to the field and spread some wood ash. After a few days, the insects should all be dead."
Zhao Xing'er also laughed and said, "That's right, look at our vegetable garden, almost all the bugs are dead. In a few days, there should be no bugs left."
Old Liu was a little skeptical; he didn't know that wood ash could kill insects.
I peered into the ground with a mixture of disbelief and hope, and sure enough, the insects that had once clung to the lush green leaves had disappeared, leaving only a few struggling in the ashes.
He was somewhat surprised, but still hesitated and said, "The insects in the field are quite different from those in this field."
He had never seen anyone use wood ash to kill insects; it was probably just a lucky coincidence.
Liu Dayong laughed and said, "Dad, let's try it on a small plot of land, and we can catch the rest ourselves."
His father was just too cautious, wanting to do everything himself. Otherwise, he would definitely not have agreed to scattering wood ash on all the fields.
Let's give it a try, and see the effect of wood ash.
Old Liu nodded, "Then let's try a small piece. Don't just stand there, come with me to catch the bugs, and the little ones too."
After saying that, I should leave first.
The others quickly filled their containers with wood ash and followed, but instead of looking worried, they all seemed relaxed.
Jiang Yimian was a little worried. She had just heard Old Liu say that the insects in the field were different, so she felt that the wood ash probably wouldn't be very effective.
When everyone arrived at the edge of the field, she frowned as she looked at the insects growing there.
The insect in front of me can't be killed with wood ash; it can only be prevented, but the effect is not significant. It looks like a brown planthopper.
Rice planthoppers, also known as fireflies, include common varieties such as white-backed planthoppers, brown planthoppers, and gray planthoppers. They feed on plant sap and damage rice.
The most damaging plants are the brown planthopper and the white-backed planthopper. In the early stage of early rice, the white-backed planthopper is the main pest, while in the later stage, the brown planthopper is the main pest; in the middle and late rice, the brown planthopper is the main pest.
Gray planthoppers rarely cause direct crop failures, but they can transmit viruses to crops such as rice, wheat, and corn. (Source: Internet)
Jiang Yimian looked at the brown planthoppers and felt a little worried.
Seeing Liu Dayong being directed by Old Man Liu to sprinkle wood ash in a small patch of land, he was then chased away to catch insects.
Jiang Yimian had no choice but to help catch the insects, but she was thinking of a solution. Catching so many insects every day was not a solution, and they couldn't catch them all anyway.
These insects live extremely fast; catching them isn't enough, you also have to scare them.
What are insects afraid of?
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