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#1
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Potato bugs taking over
I'm having a lot more trouble than usual this
year with potato bugs. They showed up earlier than usual, and even though I hand-picked them as soon as I saw them, their offspring have now begun to take over my potato patch, which is just starting to bloom. I've tried spraying the potato leaves with BT, but it doesn't seem to phase them in the slightest. There are too many to hand-pick, and some are too small to get a grip on anyway. Any words of wisdom of some alternative methods for getting rid of these critters? Nyssa, who is having mixed luck with her garden so far this spring |
#2
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Potato bugs taking over
On Fri, 29 May 2009 16:39:11 -0400, Nyssa
wrote: I'm having a lot more trouble than usual this year with potato bugs. They showed up earlier than usual, and even though I hand-picked them as soon as I saw them, their offspring have now begun to take over my potato patch, which is just starting to bloom. I've tried spraying the potato leaves with BT, but it doesn't seem to phase them in the slightest. It is a specific strain of Bt (B. thuringiensis ssp. san diego) that's required for control of Colorado Potato Beetle. Other strains will have little or no effect. Even then, the san diego species works best only on newly the hatched. There are too many to hand-pick, and some are too small to get a grip on anyway. Any words of wisdom of some alternative methods for getting rid of these critters? We mix up a soapy water solution in coffee cans and then equip one or more of our grandchildren with a can of soapy water and a little piece of wood dowel. They go up and down the rows, knocking the adults and larvae into the can where they drown. Also, since the CPB lays its eggs on the underside of the leaves, I made up a short length of wooden dowel with a small mirror attached. With it they can easily scan the underside of the leaves and, when they find those little orange clusters, they squash 'em. OK, it's child labour but, until they realize it's no longer fun, it works ;-). Don't know how much longer this will work. Ross. |
#3
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Potato bugs taking over
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