Help! Grasshoppers are eating all my hard work.

[Belle]

How do I get rid of grasshoppers?

We just moved into this house in the springtime and we were warned that there were bugs that ate the plants here so we bought some lady bugs to combat them. We were thinking aphids and not the gigantic grasshoppers that are eating all our vegetables that we've worked so hard on to survive the heat. I don't want to spray pesticides over all our vegetables and getting chickens is out of the question with us being in the city limits and our large dog. What do I do to get rid of these things?

[FarmerCathy]

Here is what my book says:

Organic Remedies:

• repeated fall cultivation
• use row covers
• encourage natural predators like birds, cats, chickens, field mice, skunks, snakes, spiders, squirrels, and toads. Also, blister beetle larvae prey on grasshopper eggs, so unless they're a pest themselves, leave these alone. If numerous, the larvae can eat up to 40-60% of the area's grasshopper eggs
• fill a jar with a mixture of molasses and water. Bury it up to its mouth in soil, clean and refresh as needed
• spray insecticidal soap, mixed with beneficial nematodes, directly on the grasshopper. Apply in evening hours. soap alone is not very effective against hard bodied insects- you can also try mixing in hot peppers

Biological Controls:

• Preying mantis, often sold as Grasshopper Attack, controls most grasshopper species. It must be applied in early spring- before grasshoppers grow to more than 3/4" or they won't eat enough for it to be effective. It lasts several years, and its affects are greatest the summer following its application

Botanical Controls:

• Neem

[Close2Me]

We use a product called 'Captain Jack's Bug Off' about $10.00 retail. BT for everything else dilluted in a water bottle. I have used every other product which failed including predator bugs and the birds just ate my berries and cats all pooped in my bark.

[Belle]

I bought some praying mantis egg sacs the other day, but I don't think they'll help much for this year. Too late in the season. I'll have to try the hot sauce and see if that works. Thanks.

[FarmerCathy]

Yes, let us know how it goes and if you can get the numbers down next year. I think you should be able to find a solution that works.

[Jenn_M]

We're having a big grasshopper problem this year too!! They especially seem to love my tomatoes.

[Belle]

Originally Posted by Jenn_M

We're having a big grasshopper problem this year too!! They especially seem to love my tomatoes.

For some reason my tomatoes are the only plants that are thriving. I must have a good variety of tomatoes. All my other plants are not faring well.

[richella]

Everyone probably already knows this, but I've found that high grass near the veg bed really encourages grasshoppers. I tend to let a space go to weeds if there's nothing in it currently growing, and the grasshoppers love that. Unfortunately, so do I, for the wild greens I get . . . but mowing frequently all around the bed seems to make a slightly less hospitable environment for them.

[boricuaqueen327]

The best control I have had this season has been a happy little toad that lives under my eggplants. He is out every day hunting down bugs. I have made sure that the rest of my family does not disturb him because I know we have grasshoppers and crickets around and he has been helping keep those under control.

[Belle]

Originally Posted by boricuaqueen327

The best control I have had this season has been a happy little toad that lives under my eggplants. He is out every day hunting down bugs. I have made sure that the rest of my family does not disturb him because I know we have grasshoppers and crickets around and he has been helping keep those under control.

I don't think a toad would survive in my yard with my dog busy keeping the squirrels away from my pear tree.

[Jehnavi24]

I have the same problem! I use a spray bottle with one small jar of hot sauce ( you can use the cheap stuff found at a dollar store) & fill the rest of the spray bottle with water.
I found spraying daily works the best.It doesn't seem to harm the plants & works well for other damaging bugs as well!
Hope this helps!

[justKate]

Spiders are the only thing that work for me. Giant ones, unfortunately.