I wonder if you have experiences with one crop, that usually has insect problems, but doesn't. Another, which seldom has problems, but does. I had thought that the pest was one and the same.
Flea beetles. They like brassicas. One they particularly like is the radish. Flea beetles can tear up radishes so badly that they never produce a good root. Oh, and by the way, the beetle larva are eating the roots of the host plants.
Tomato plants sometimes have fairly serious problems with flea beetles. They kind of set the plants back. I've sprayed the tomatoes maybe, one year out of 3 or 4. They have kale and cabbage neighbors and those would be nearly overwhelmed by the pests without spraying, every year.
My potatoes are not grown in the same garden as the tomatoes but are miles away . . . with a lot of brassicas and salad greens. They seem to have dodged the flea beetles until this year.
The brassica neighbors to the potatoes have mostly escaped damage from the flea beetles. That's kind of new and a relief but, just a few feet away, the dang bugs have punched holes all thru the potato leaves! What? Is there a flea beetle species specific to potatoes?
Steve
They seem to prefer the young and the weak. And they come in off of the surrounding vegetation, so location could be a factor. I let radishes go to seed and grow wild and that takes care of the early season beetles, but they move over to the taters when I hill up and destroy the volunteer radishes.
I sprayed once and knocked them back. They have not touched the new growth for some reason, but the tater seedlings I transplanted nearby are getting killed now.
I sprayed once and knocked them back. They have not touched the new growth for some reason, but the tater seedlings I transplanted nearby are getting killed now.
I have been at battle with with these things from forever. They will eat almost anything green here. If it will
sprout watch out. Anything from arugula to lettuce to radish to turnips it does not matter. They come in more than one kind. The little solid black ones and the bigger black ones with a yellow stripe. If they really get on my last nerve I use a garden dust with copper sulfate and rotenone. It is a mild insecticide - fungicide that allows harvest the next day, but I usually wait a few days. That has always done the trick. Or you can always plant enough for the bugs too.
sprout watch out. Anything from arugula to lettuce to radish to turnips it does not matter. They come in more than one kind. The little solid black ones and the bigger black ones with a yellow stripe. If they really get on my last nerve I use a garden dust with copper sulfate and rotenone. It is a mild insecticide - fungicide that allows harvest the next day, but I usually wait a few days. That has always done the trick. Or you can always plant enough for the bugs too.
You know, flea beetles aren't even thought of as an important agricultural pest in some parts of the country.
These guys were all over the potatoes during the late afternoon a couple of days ago. When I had checked the plants earlier in the day, they weren't there. They got a shot of spinosad. That has worked for the other plants in recent years.
Three, I'm a little surprised that rotenone is still available to you. I guess the story is that it has been banned in some locations because of concern for the fish. Yep, it is what I used to use in combination with pyrethrum. If the flea beetles were hiding when I sprayed, the pyrethrum would kill them. If they dodged that and showed up later to chew on the plants, the rotenone did them in. I cannot remember ever having to spray the potatoes for flea beetles, however. Afraid I wasn't going to get much of a crop if I did nothing this year.
Steve
These guys were all over the potatoes during the late afternoon a couple of days ago. When I had checked the plants earlier in the day, they weren't there. They got a shot of spinosad. That has worked for the other plants in recent years.
Three, I'm a little surprised that rotenone is still available to you. I guess the story is that it has been banned in some locations because of concern for the fish. Yep, it is what I used to use in combination with pyrethrum. If the flea beetles were hiding when I sprayed, the pyrethrum would kill them. If they dodged that and showed up later to chew on the plants, the rotenone did them in. I cannot remember ever having to spray the potatoes for flea beetles, however. Afraid I wasn't going to get much of a crop if I did nothing this year.
Steve
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jal_ut
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Rotenone powder works for me. I had to order a whole case of it from a farm supply store. Can't find it on the shelf anywhere. I find it acceptable as it is a naturally occurring plant substance and pretty non toxic in low levels. It will fend off the darned flea beetles. Some years they get really bad and the radishes don't have a chance. They love all things in the cabbage family, and also go after the potatoes. If I don't treat cabbage soon after emergence, they will kill it. This year for some reason they are not nearly as numerous. Perhaps it was because we didn't have much snow cover and the ground froze deeper killing the eggs?
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jal_ut
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Yes, Rotenone is what the Fish and Game folks use to kill fish when they find it desirable to clean up a water. What little I use and as far as I am away from a stream it is not likely I will ever hurt a fish.
This may be the reason it was taken off the shelves at markets though.
I have seen it used on some of the rivers around here to clean up trash fish. It kills them quickly.
This may be the reason it was taken off the shelves at markets though.
I have seen it used on some of the rivers around here to clean up trash fish. It kills them quickly.
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Northernfox
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