Everyone knows the yellow boards that catch insects. We show what you should consider when using it and how you can make yellow boards yourself.

Yellow panels help identify and monitor an insect infestation

Many of you have probably seen these sticky yellow boards and wondered what they are all about. Yellow boards are an effective means of detecting a pest infestation at an early stage and thus being able to act quickly. The yellow glue traps can be used both in greenhouses and indoors to monitor pest infestation. They are even used outdoors, for example in orchards. There, however, there is a greater danger that, in addition to the vermin, many a useful animal will also be trapped. But how exactly should yellow boards be used and against which pests do they work? We address these questions below. But first, let's clarify how yellow panels actually work.

How do yellow boards work?

If you've ever been outside in the summer wearing a yellow t-shirt, you know that yellow is a very attractive color to insects. Yellow boards take advantage of this attraction and thus attract the little animals. The insects then stick to the glue layer of the panels and are thus trapped. Such exploitation of insect stimuli is part of biotechnical plant protection.

Yellow attracts and lures insects away from the infested plant

But how do the yellow boards work in particular and why are the insects magically attracted to them? Ultimately, this is just an instinct of the insects, because they need pollen and nectar for their nutrition. They often find this in yellow flowers. Therefore, some insects are attracted to the color yellow - this is exactly the mechanism that yellow panels use.

The available yellow boards are made of either plastic or cardboard and are covered with a layer of glue. However, neither pheromones nor insecticides are necessary to attract and catch the insects. They are only attracted to the color yellow and stick to the glued layerglue. However, some yellow tablets also add pheromones to increase potency and specificity. Because this can attract large numbers of insects in particular that react to the respective sex hormones.

Indoors, yellow panels are useful all year round

Use yellow plates correctly

You can either hang yellow boards near the plants or stick them in the ground attached to a stick. For example, if you decide to buy our Plantura yellow boards, you have both options. Because our yellow boards are supplied with ten reusable metal plugs as well as binding wire for hanging. Depending on the infestation situation, the yellow panels can be used as a whole or simply halved along a dividing line. Our yellow boards can be used indoors all year round. They can be distributed in the greenhouse or outdoors from the end of March, because the first pests are already on their way at this point. However, one must always bear in mind that beneficial insects can also stick to the traps outdoors.

Pest Control Yellow Plates

With yellow traps like our Plantura yellow boards, it is possible to monitor an infestation and sometimes also to reduce the number of insects. For example, you can catch the following insects:

  • Winged Aphids (Aphidoidea)
  • Whitefly or Greenhouse Whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)
  • Sciaridae (Sciaridae)
  • Thrips (Thysanoptera) - especially the vine thrips

Yellow panels also attract fruit flies (Drosophila), leaf miners (Agromyzidae) and leafhoppers ( Empoasca vitis).

For example, yellow tablets have a strong effect on the whitefly

Of course you can also use the yellow boards indoors for indoor plants and not only in greenhouses and outdoors. Fungus gnats in particular often cause us problems in living spaces. You can find more information on fighting fungus gnats here.

Yellow charts help to identify an infestation very early on. This allows them to start fighting right away and contain the infestation before it becomes a real problem. In addition, the sticky panels indicate the success of the fight. However, the sticky panels are not a means of controlling insects. A few animals always escape the traps and can move onreproduce, and the actual damage is often done by the insect larvae that live underground.

Yellow boards give a good overview of the development of pest numbers

Use yellow plates correctly:

  • Basically, one yellow board per flower bench or one board per square meter is sufficient to monitor pest infestation.
  • Be sure to distribute the yellow panels evenly over the infested area.
  • The traps are usually effective for a very long time, so they rarely need to be replaced. For example, our Plantura yellow tablets are effective for at least six months.

Tip: If the pest pressure is very high and the yellow board is full of insects after a short time, it is advisable to place more boards between your crops and them for a successful operation to be replaced earlier.

Yellow panels as a danger for beneficial insects?

Bees, ladybugs and the like rarely get lost in the house or greenhouse, so the risk of accidentally catching beneficial insects is relatively low. When it comes to outdoor application, however, the situation is different. You should therefore think twice about using it here. After all, it is inevitable that some useful insects or even small birds will also be caught.

Tip: The use of yellow plates is one of the few methods that can be used to discourage drosophila from laying eggs in cherries. When using it, it is important to really only leave the panels in the tree for the short flight period of the flies between May and June and then to remove them immediately. In this way you prevent too many unwanted animals from sticking to the traps. We have summarized more on this topic for you in a separate article on the spotted-wing drosophila.

If used outdoors, there is a high risk that beneficial insects will also be trapped

Make yellow boards yourself

Yellow Boards are commercially available, but you can also make them yourself. Simply take yellow construction paper and laminate it. Using a stapler punch, punch two holes in the panels through which a chopstick or wire will be threaded for hanging. The surfaces of the yellow panels are coated with a sticky mass. There are several ways to do this:

  1. Insect glue: This can be bought ready-made in tubes and can also be used for self-made glue rings. OneTube makes about 200 standard size yellow boards if the glue is applied thinly enough.
  2. Sugar Glue: Dissolve about 3 parts sugar in 2 parts water and bring this mixture to a boil. Once the liquid has started to boil, stop stirring - otherwise the sugar will crystallize later and will not stick. Preserving requires some practice: the sugar mass should be boiled until it has reached a temperature of 105 to a maximum of 115 °C. Once this temperature is reached, the cooking process must be stopped immediately by placing the pot in a bath of cold water. Again, the mass must not be stirred until it has completely cooled down.
  3. Insect glue according to great-grandma's recipe: 200 g lard and 200 g colophony are heated in a water bath and stirred until they have mixed well. Then 200 g of brown soft soap are stirred in, everything is poured over with 2500 g of rapeseed oil and stirred until the liquid has cooled down.

Tip: The glue according to great grandma's recipe does not always work because the materials differ in quality and the correct temperatures during the mixing are very important. So this recipe is more for hobby gardeners who enjoy such experiments.

Sugar and water are enough to make your own yellow board glue

You can easily make your own yellow tablets with one of these three recipes - in the quantity and size you want. To reuse the yellow boards, scrape the trapped insects off the surface and apply a new layer of glue. Of course you can also try other colors and color compositions. You can find out more about the different types of glue boards here. The blue panel represents a special form, which attracts different types of insects than the yellow variant.

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Hedgehog, Squirrel & Co.