Most Effective Measure Against Potato Bug - FIREWALL !

[curt]

No joke now, this is true, useful and ecologically safe without the use of pesticides. If you know someone who has a garden and is at war with these very destructive critters, call them up or visit them and relay the following tested measure.

The common black and yellow-striped "potato bug", a very familiar insect to home gardeners, is the most serious insect pest of potatoes. Both the striped beetle and the black-spotted, red larva feed on potato leaves. Their damage can greatly reduce yield and even kill plants. In addition to potato, Colorado potato beetle can be a serious pest of tomato, eggplant, and pepper. The Colorado potato beetle is notorious for its ability to rapidly develop resistance to insecticides that are used repeatedly for control. This has been a serious problem on the east coast for some time, and is becoming more of a problem in Kentucky. With a limited number of insecticides available, some homeowners feel they have exhausted their control options when it becomes resistant to one or more insecticides.


The larvae are humpbacked with two rows of black spots on each side. They usually feed in groups and damage can be severe. The larval stage lasts two to three weeks.

Biology

Colorado potato beetles overwinter in the soil as adults. They become active in the spring as temperatures rise and begin to feed on weeds and volunteer or early planted potatoes, even entering the soil to attack emerging foliage. Female beetles lay orange-yellow eggs in batches of about two dozen or so on the underside of the leaves. Each female can lay 500 or more eggs over a four to five week period. Eggs hatch in four to nine days and the larvae begin to feed on potato foliage.

Full grown larvae burrow in the ground to pupate. In five to 10 days, the adult beetle emerges. This insect can go from egg to adult in as little as 21 days. The newly emerged adult female feeds for a few days before egg laying begins. There are two full and occasionally a partial third generation each year. If foliar sprays are used, an effort should be made to treat just after most eggs have hatched but before serious plant damage occurs.

So what's your first reaction?

KILL!

Of course, the best, most effective method of combating these creatures is to collect them by hand. Collect them in a tin or can or tin can or bucket or whatever with a little water in it. Add a small amount of dish washing detergent to the water...just enough to create bubbles. The bugs go south once they hit the water.

Now here the trick. There is no replacement for scanning your plants for the bugs. You'll have to continue doing this no matter what. But if you think about it, all the bugs are after is something to eat. Why not give it to them?

First, determine the source of the bugs. In my case, it's my neighbour's garden. I guess this is why the firewall method is proving to be so successful. Our gardens are head to head, separated only by a fence that would keep a small dog out but not bugs, not mice and not a cat. The bugs come marching through the fence along the earthy patch, avoiding the grassy part where they have a harder time going forward.

Potato bugs like tomato plant leaves, potato plants, bell pepper plants, salads and a few more tasty things we also like to eat. Pinch off a few branches and leaves from these plants and don't worry about your plants, they can handle it. You can pinch off the less attractive parts without feeling bad about it.

Take this and build a wall to separate the garden from the path the bugs are taking. I call it the potato bug firewall.

If you've ever engaged in collecting these bugs by hand in your garden, you'll see the difference within hours of building your firewall. First go to the firewall and collect all the bugs there, and there will be many, and then go around the garden as usual and collect the rest.

Spread the word and give me feedback. I'd like to know if this works for anyone else as well as it's working for me. And remember, you read it on here first. Or didya?

curt

[Rady Ananda]

lol, hello Curt - I hope this is true... might have to post it at Food Freedom if you don't mind.

[curt]

Rady, by all means, please do spread the word against this critter. All of my stuff is copyleft. Mark made an interesting comment a while back, saying the gardener would have to take special care to burn the remains of the firewall once the war is over. Otherwise the bugs' eggs would live on into the next year. By the way, it does work!

[curt]

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/

cool! Please alert me as soon as you've posted. And you don't have to credit me. Anything to keep our food clean. My firewall worked wonders. I had a wall because the critters were coming from my neighbor's garden. In other gardens, small piles of greenery the bugs like to chew on will work the same...as a collecting point. You have to keep your firewall fresh so the bugs keep interest in it. This means you have to pluck a few branches off the potato plants while scouting for bugs on them. Not a problem as you'll find enough branches to pluck each day as you make your rounds, and you must police your garden regularly to be effective.