A Beetle on a Tomato Plant

Picked a Beetle off a Tomato Plant at dusk last night...I don't see any insect damage but I dont have a trained eye....do I garlic cayenne(or NEEM) immediately as a preventative measure?

A photo?? Not all beetles are bad but it is difficult to tell what you have.

Jr, you don't give enough info for us to help you. One beetle should not be a reason to bust out insecticide. It could have simply been taking a rest. For positive I'D and some pertinent advice a photo is ideal for us to see what the trouble may be. Please include the insect and the plant in pics.

Will do next time....beetle was brownish....this sfg thing mighta been a bad idea for an ocd!:-P

looked alot like this

jrfrommd wrote:Will do next time....beetle was brownish....this sfg thing mighta been a bad idea for an ocd!:-P

naw it's perfect. But you do have a lot to learn. Take a look in the pests thread and check out bugguide.net .

got it..thanks for the poke in the right direction 

Hi, Jr.

It's easy to get freaked out about stuff when you're just starting.  I get those beetles in my garden too, but they've never been a problem.  If I see that a particular type of bug is helping itself to a little too much of my garden, then I go on a search & destroy mission, hand-picking and disposing of them into a jar of HOT soapy water...

...AFTER I've positively ID'd them and know them to be a pest.   It's the quickest and hopefully most humane way of doing them in. 

Some beneficial insects look alot like their prey (the bad bugs) so you want to make sure you're doing away with the right bad guy.

I actually have never used any type of insecticide in my garden other than my jar of soap and some beneficial nematodes applied judiciously in the early Spring/Summer and then Fall.  And I have a lush, productive, beautiful garden (if I do say so myself).  I'm not saying that the day won't come when I may have to, but it will definitely be a last, LAST resort.

Oh, and P.S. even if an insecticide is labelled as "green", "organic" or whatever, doesn't mean that it's not going to also kill other beneficial insects/creatures.  Ask questions, read labels, do your own research and ask here before you apply insecticides/poisons into your garden.  Even something as innocent as a homemade pepper spray can be damaging if they get into your pets' (or your own) eyes, or if some luckless bird happens to think he just got some nice bug snack, and the pepper gets into its eyes or if they bug is poisoned, the bird is likely to get sick or poisoned, too.  See what I mean?

Just ask before you do anything drastic.  We're here to help.   

camprn wrote:

jrfrommd wrote:this sfg thing mighta been a bad idea for an ocd!:-P

naw it's perfect.

JRFrommd - you'll find a lot of us are at least a "BIT" ocd.  We've even talked about starting a 12-step support group, lol!

I agree w/ camprn - it's perfect!  Gives us something close to home to obsess about AND feed ourselves/families/friends/everyone else very well.