Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

johnp 7/3/2016, 5:02 pm

Will try posting pictures later after my sling can be removed and I can use two hands again. THE grasshoppers are so bad this year that most gardens in the area are gone. Tomatilla's completely stripped, raspberries look like skeleton's, rhubarb leaves gone, kale and chard stripped, garlic and onion's eaten down to about 2 inches, no beets or lettuce left, eggplant gone, squash stripped, cilantro and basil eaten. Not pretty, still have tomatoes, peppers and cuc's. Garlic is OK as I normally pick it this weekend so it was saved and it looks like the onion's are growing on the stalk so we will see. The seed producer (farmdirect seeds) sent an email last week saying that even with using everything they could, they have lost many crops. They say that this is the worst infestation since 1990. Sad

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/3/2016, 5:15 pm

That's horrible. I'm sorry to hear they ate it all! Sad

I've only had a few, and even my covers didn't keep them out (just too tiny when they start), so I can only imagine what a whole army would do.

Watch out for blister beetles next year. They eat grasshopper eggs, so you might have an outbreak of them next year. My understanding is that they can cause blisters if your crush them, so make sure you know what they look like before squashing any beetles in the garden next year.

**Scorpio Rising** 7/3/2016, 6:28 pm

Oh, John, I am so sorry! You have some food yet, dang them!

CapeCoddess 7/3/2016, 7:56 pm

Oh that's just heart-wrenching! No fair! Wonder if Jimmy's net covering would work to keep out grasshoppers? You could always try it , or something similar, now for fall crops.

CC

**AtlantaMarie** 7/4/2016, 7:01 am

Oh, John, I'm so sorry! That's horrible!!

countrynaturals 7/4/2016, 10:47 am

So frustrating to work that hard and have the $@%$^ bugs get most of it.

We all feel your pain. Garden almost gone - grasshoppers 671790

johnp 7/4/2016, 3:35 pm

We have gone ballistic in the last two days. I found some spray that is probably banned now in the deep dark back of my shed. WE bought 10 lbs. of something that you broadcast and then wet and I found some similar stuff in the shed. We put it all out over most of the area around the garden, in the front with the flowers and everywhere we could. It is killing good bugs I know but this is awful. I walked the garden this morning and it is about 80% better. I carry the spray and when I find a cluster I shoot. Going to replant kale, lettuce and beets this afternoon. I can't do anything about the rest of the yard and back fields etc. but I will keep on patrol in the garden. I think I could have saved most of the lost crops had I not gone to Newport RI to see the grand kids and then surgery the day after we got home but we will press on Garden almost gone - grasshoppers 3170584802

Garden almost gone - grasshoppers 3170584802

countrynaturals 7/4/2016, 11:11 pm

Good luck! sunny

Do you have time for a 2nd season? I've made so many mistakes this year. The only reason I'm still sane is that I still have time to make it all right, due to our long growing season. Here it is the 4th of July and all I've harvested is 1 pepper, 5 beans, 2 small cukes, and 2 small zukes. Pitiful! Embarassed

**sanderson** 7/5/2016, 2:18 am

John, 1990? Sounds like a cycle of 16 years? I certainly don't blame you for throwing the book at them. I've done 2 sprayings of Neem oil which will affect the young but not the adults. Some reduction in number but still have enough to do damage. I don't know what will kill the adults as they are so well armored. The adults will just lay eggs to overwinter in the soil. You might try rototilling to destroy or bury them. ??? Quote from Wiki: "largest recorded locust [grasshopper] swarm was one of the now-extinct Rocky Mountain locust in 1875"

My thought are with you on this.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 7/5/2016, 2:30 am

Milk - spray it diluted 2 or 3 to 1 on all your plant leaves that are targets of the grasshoppers. They are soft bodied insect and thus do not have a pancreas to digest the milk sugars and it kills them.

Not sure when you have that massive of an infestation that your plants would still make it through but at least those that eat them would DIE!!!

johnp 7/5/2016, 12:31 pm

Audrey I will try thE milk, had not heard of that before. I would like to take some pictures but my camera is right handed and i can't use that hand for a few more weeks. I might try with my phone and send them to me and then try to figure out how to post them. Did replant kale, lettuce and beets, to late to replant the tomatillo's. I might try replanting carrots. SO far, other than eating a couple the tomatoes are OK as are the cucumber vines (still no flowers).

johnp 7/6/2016, 2:21 pm

I posted monday that I had made real progress and the grasshoppers were reduced. I went up to the garden an hour ago and it was worse than before. I don't know how to explain it other than pretending to be a young kid with rubber boots on playing outside after a rain. He sees a puddle and goes stomping thru making large splashes at every step. This what every step is like,tens of hoppers spray out all around every step. Hundreds on the cuc's that were not there two days ago, hoppers completely covering the squash plants (first squash bugs also). Got my tule out and will try to cover some and will forget the rest. I will also put old knee highs on the tomatoes in hopes of getting a few. We have lost the battle for this year it looks. Sad

**trolleydriver** 7/6/2016, 3:00 pm

johnp that sounds horrible. It's like a critter plague of Biblical proportions. Sad

**sanderson** 7/6/2016, 3:20 pm

I'm so, so sorry. What a Face

**AtlantaMarie** 7/6/2016, 4:33 pm

Oh, John, I am so sorry...

**Turan** 7/6/2016, 6:35 pm

This is awful. So sorry, John.
Time to prepare for next year. What I read is that if one year is bad the next year will be too and it will only slowly improve. So now is the time to think of preventives/obstacles to save the next few years gardens.

I have heard good things about Semaspore bait starting in the spring but I am sure your extension agent can advice you better than I.

**Scorpio Rising** 7/6/2016, 6:48 pm

Again, so heartbreaking. Sad

I would try AJR's milk spray suggestion....can't hurt.

littlejo 7/6/2016, 8:06 pm

Johnp
Sorry to hear of the bugs and your garden. I went searching locust, and supposedly they are extinct in N. America? So, you might want to kill a few and bag and take to your extension office. Grasshoppers don't fly? Sounds like locust to me if they are getting lots of gardens!

Here is a link to a couple things that might work. I thought the plain flour was interesting! Jo

http://www.organiclesson.com/best-ways-of-getting-rid-of-grasshoppers-in-the-garden/

**Kelejan** 7/6/2016, 8:50 pm

You must be devastated John. I would feel like giving up. Just imagine if you had to survive on what you produce in your garden. No wonder starvation hits people around the world.

I know some of these insects have a lifetime cycle of appearing, I know there is one of 17 years. Cicadas? If you know the timeline, then you could make sure to grow the minimum having stocked up with food and seeds in the precious years. I hope it would never be as bad as that story of Joseph and the Pharoe where he advises him to store grain from the seven years of abundance to carry them through the seven lean years. That means you have to grow twice as much as you need each year and learn to store it.

johnp 7/7/2016, 8:05 am

The whole area is inundated with the hoppers. The seed company that has lost crops is about 30 miles East of my place and my friend Judy lives south of Canon City about 15 miles to the West. Every night 100's of hoppers accumulate on her horseraddish plant which she says is unkillable. Her husband fires up his blow torch and fries them every day. Everyone I talk to has the same problem. Went to the dollar store yesterday and bought 4 packages of knee highs so this morning will cover the tom's. Going to spray Sevin over the whole area to see if that helps some.

**sanderson** 7/8/2016, 1:07 am

John, Did you try milk? or Neem? Sprayed late evening. Are the grasshoppers still juveniles,that is still have some molts? Green stage, or just turning brown? I was researching Sevin and grasshoppers and found this.

http://fs1.agrian.com/pdfs/Sevin_5_Bait_Label5b.pdf

Sponsored content

Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

grasshoppers or locust?

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers

Re: Garden almost gone - grasshoppers


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.