Posted by Chris in MO on May 31, 2008 at 21:26:15 from (72.161.30.197):
In Reply to: ot- potatoe bug... posted by jose bagge on May 31, 2008 at 15:41:59:
Here is a little experience we have had here in the last year.
Over a period of several years we had a gradual increase in the numbers of 'white butterflies' around our gardens. It got so bad that it was almost impossible to grow any cabbage family crops in the springtime.
Last spring, we planted about 3k square feet of rape. When it was fully grown early in the summer, you should have seen the white butterflies all over that patch. There must have been up to 30 or 40 at any one time. When I was sure that they had committed their eggs almost exclusively to that plot, I dusted it twice with dipel dust, one week between each dusting. After that we grazed sheep through there. When there had been some regrowth, we fenced 600 chickens in there with some electric net fencing. After four days, all that was left of the rape was short stumps.
This was completely an experiment and I didn't know at all what might happen. Well, this spring we had MUCH less trouble with these pests. I have seen a few white butterflies, but never two together. There has been some damage to some of our cabbage family crops, but nothing serious. By the way, we have an acre of market garden, and right now we have several hundred individual cabbage family plants growing, so something really has changed.
My point is, perhaps setting up a trap crop will help to control these potato beetles. If they are resistant to sprays, this could be a problem. Perhaps plowing them UNDER when there are enough there might help. I don't know very much about their life cycle to say where their weak points are. We have quite a few of these bugs and we hand pick them every few days. It is a nasty job, but then I've had much worse jobs and it is a good education for my children, who are expected to pull their own weight. So far no serious damage except to a few potato plants which might have had other problems anyway. We are already selling new potatoes and the crop looks like it could be our best in several years (I knew I would eventually see the bright side of all the rain this spring.)
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