Bug, bugs,

[None4U]

Hello, Id like some suggestions for bug control. I got bugs holes in my eggplant leaves already . Two days ago it was 1/8 inch holes. Tonight there's sections missing. And I see a chew spot in one of my lettuces. In the past I used to just buy seven or bug spray. Diazinion ,Pyrithon, And spray everything. I had some 70% neem oil from my old hydro setup I put on them for tonight. As I have to go to work. The bug are very small black and some white bugs. I'm guessing aphids or something similar. I'm also thinking the neem oil will drop them. But I foresee more problems as it warms up. I have some books with common bug pictures in them. So identification isn't a problem.

I've just grown a bit smarter about chemicals on my food . And I'm not sure what to do. I saw some grubs when I was putting my onion sets in last week. Which isn't the problem now. I just saw them. And my old mode of operation would be to get a big bag of Grub x and do my whole lawns and garden. Kill everything for miles.

But if I want pesticides in my food I will go to the supermarket.

I will get Japanese beetles in my grape vines later on too. I have earwigs in the lawn. Last year I sprayed beetle spray everywhere because earwigs got in my tent. And the spray wiped everything out. I was pleased with that stuff. But I had no garden then.

I found a bottle of vegy and fruit spray. Some of that diamatous dirt .

I guess I've just started the wheels turning .

Ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

Diesel.

[Billy]

Last year Bill suggested "Milky Spore" but I guess it was too late in the season. For some other ideas around integrated pest management (IPM) see and

Good luck,

[balvenieman]

Well, then, why didn't you tell us what kinds of "bugs" they are? Sharing is a good thing. If you establish a well-balanced community garden with a variety of interplanted and succession planted veggies (as opposed to a communal garden in which a few active gardeners provide their deadweight neighbors with food for no good reason), with a few exceptions, you will find that insect "pests" will not decimate your produce as they do when large areas are planted with the same thing. Down here, it never gets cold enough to reduce the insect population significantly and I've gardened for many years without the use of synthetic or manufactured pesticides. My most reliable natural insecticides are insectivorous semi-social and solitary wasps that I encourage to nest in my low-tillage garden, Bt, Octagon brand soap (although, those premium priced high-fat "insecticidal" soaps might work as well), water stream, hands/digits. I am using neem oil for the first time ever this year and have found it, so far, to be completely useless for any purpose. I don't suppose the targeted insects have read the literature. It remains to be seen whether neem oil will protect against downy mildew and/or powdery mildew, both of which are serious problems in Florida's humid climate and against which copper-based fungicides have little effect. I adhere to highly intensive garden practices. My garden is _never_ without something growing in it. The necessity of allowing ones garden to lie "fallow" and non-productive for any significant period (longer than a few days) is a myth. I learned long ago that the most important thing a gardener can do to ensure healthy veggies with minimal insect damage is to keep the soil well-stocked with organic matter and micro-organisms, even if you have to buy them, and to monitor soil pH closely. You can judge your garden soil's health by its smell, its taste, and the relative density of earthworm population. You may not be able to define it but healthy earth smells and tastes "good". Don't make the amateur's mistake of buying adult predatory insects thinking that they will protect your garden. They won't. They will leave. If you must buy insects, buy only pre-adult instars so that adults emerge amidst their food supply; buy only species that occur naturally in your habitat and introduce them only when they would emerge naturally. If you are going to depend on so-called "beneficial" insects to help control pests, you must bear in mind the basic law of nature that predator species, on their own, do not exhaust their food sources and you must be willing to accept some residual level of "pestiferous" species and the damage that they do in order to keep the good guys around to keep the bad boys within bounds.

[phorbin]

If the leaves are shot through with lots of tiny holes, that would be flea beetle.

Look up predatory nematodes and their application. They are a control for flea beetle and other larvae including IIRC, lawn grubs.

Earwigs are relatively harmless. -- Wiping everything out, if you are serious about this is not good. Wiping everything out means that you are creating more problems than you solve by destroying your predators.

Aphids can be knocked down with stream of water from a hose but be aware that a water stream can shred some tender plants

are your friend. They clean up on caterpillars including cabbageworms.

Our nearly quarter acre garden/lot takes care of itself for the most part. We lose a little to bugs and the predators kill off most of the bugs. Our only occasional real critter problem is Marmota monax (groundhog).

[None4U]

Thanks, Further observation confirms They are flea beetles. Is rotonone still legal??