A new enemy in the garden
15May 27, 2013 by Buffy
I have been babying my potatoes since February. They are mounded and growing strong, at least they were last week.
Then Farmer Rick and I noticed these cool new ladybugs around the garden.
I should mention it has been a very busy rodeo and horse show weekend. So JQ and I have been gone most of the weekend. Of course no need to worry about my beautiful garden because Farmer Rick has spent a couple of hours each day working in the garden. Imagine my surprise when I go out to the garden today and find my potatoes covered with strange bugs. Half of the foliage on my potatoes had been stripped.
I have spent the afternoon reading about the dreaded Colorado potato beetle! I don’t live in Colorado! Why me? I’m not very encouraged by anything I read. I did find two organic garden friendly solutions I could try today:
1. Apply corn meal to the plants. Supposedly, the bugs eat it, then drink and pop?.?.? Sounds a little iffy, but remember I am desperate!
2. Hand pick the bugs off the plants and drown them in soapy water!
These beetles won’t be eating my potatoes!
Yes, after reading and worrying for a couple of hours I decided corn meal was not going to solve this. So I convinced Farmer Rick to spend his holiday helping me pick hundreds of bugs off of the potato plants. Of course it was the least he could do since they infested on his watch.
Blog friends I need your help. How do I get rid of these pests? I fear they will invade the rest of the garden. Any suggestions?
Mucking Moms 
We had potato bugs BAD last year! I hand picked them for a while, then let the chickens in briefly, which helped. It will be a constant battle keeping those little devils at bay!
That is what it sounded like by what I read. Today we will be trying nematodes. These were recommended to us to control all unwanted bugs by one of Farmer Rick’s coworkers. Farmer Rick is going to stop at Good Earth Nursery and get some hopefully. I will continue to hand pick and drown them. The battle is on!
Hope the nematodes work! Your poor potatoes!
Have never seen a ladybug like the one in your photo. Very cool! And, that WAS a ladybug, right?
NO! If you see a bug like that in your garden, KILL IT. Those guys will take down your veggies in a heartbeat.
🙂
Ok, that’s what I thought. So far, so good. Probably because we have no veggies!
Just so you know- they will eat other plants too. For me, I used neem spray and compost tea, hand picked and then got some ducks! The ducks loved the bugs and grubbed the larvae out of the ground so there was none to over-winter in the soil. Cornmeal is a very good tool to use and it is also a fertilizer. I recommend it. With organic gardening, you just try to shift the odds in your favor.
Thanks Holly! I’ll have Farmer Rick look for Neem spray too. Are the nematodes safe for an organic garden?
Yes, nematodes are great. That said, they won’t help you much RIGHT now. But you should definitely use them, just use some other things too.
Farmer Rick has consulted his fellow farmers at the office. The recommendation there is spinosad! One of the farmers used it last year and killed all his potato beetles in one dose! It is new and considered to be organic! Now to find some!
The corn meal could help, perhaps – you never know. I haven’t met any American bugs. Must agree wholeheartedly on the organic, though. All pesticides are poison – literally and figuratively!
I agree pesticides are evil! But pesticides won’t work on these little devils! They have become immune.
Seems that the spiny sad stuff is the way to go until they figure that one out, too!
Sprayed them today! Fingers crossed that they will be gone in the morning!
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/potato-beetle-control
Or try: Use a vacuum to remove beetles, larvae, and eggs. There are special “bug vacs” for garden use, but honestly, a handheld “Duster Buster” type vacuum
Good bug removal
I sprayed the Colorado potatoe beetles with Spinosad yesterday! I am very pleased to say 90% of the beetles were dead today! I won’t be happy till they are all gone, but at least a nice start!