flee beatle

[veg mad]

just like to sat hello to you all,i have brought my first copy of grow you own and i found it a very good read indeed,,,i have had a veg plot for fours years now and have had a good year,,,one question please how can you kill flee beatle i have been trying to cabbages for four years now and no luck...

[Bex]

Just wanted to say hello and welcome to the vine. I can't answer your question I'm afraid as I've only had my allotment for a couple of weeks but I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to answer your question.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi veg mad - and welcome to the Vine! The only thing I know (well, just looked up really! ) about flea beetle is that infested plants wilt and die. cut open the stem of one of the plants if you suspect cabbage stem flea bettle - the tell-tale sign is the presence of small, cream coloured grubs. attacks occur between august and october. treatment: lift and burn infested plants. prevention: do not grow brassicas on land affected by cabbage stem flea beetle in the previous season. (aka dr hessayon - the veg & herb expert). Hope this helps. DDL

[Alison]

Don't know anything about the flea beetle but the thought of it has made my head itch!

[Waffler]

Derris dust!
Had them on Kale one year - totally desimated. Treated them too late.
This year, had them on the nasturtiums, which I thought was a little odd. Treated them a couple of times and they are now gone and the nasturtiums are going great guns; a lovely splash of colour in the garden for nearly November (tomorrow! )

[kirsty b]

Don't know anything about the flea beetle but the thought of it has made my head itch!

Me too! Must be the f word

[Earthbabe]

Hi veg mad and welcome to the vine (aka the madhouse). My only experience of flea beetle is the stuff that nibbles holes in the leaves of my radishes which never seems to cause too much of a problem so I haven't really tried to get rid of them. Agree about the ones you get in the stem. Only thing to do with those is prevention which means collars and nice tight planting (which you need for heading brassicas anyway).

[Protea]

hi Veg mad and welcome

Flea beetle are a pain, they are small black beetles (some species have a yellow stripe down each wing case), they will jump when disturbed but you will seldom see them unless you look for them. THe first symptoms you are likely to notice are the small holes they puncture in the leaves of brassicas (cabbage,broccoli,calabrese, rocket etc), some ornamentals can also be afected (e.g. wallflowers which i learnt the other day are also members of the brassica family - every day's a school day!)

Seedlings are most vunerable to flea beetle attack - covering them with enviromesh immediately you plant out or sow is the best defence, to control them once damage has occured use either derris or pyrethrum.

[roitelet]

Hello All,

I get Flea Beetle and I manage to control it like this. Take a length of string the length of the row and soak it in neat ***** Fluid and with the aid of sticks suspend it over the row once you have sown the seed of any brassicas. The smell seems to confuse the little b*****s and they go away. Its worked for me for the last 3 years You don't need to top up the *****, one good soaking will do.

[Nicos]

I shall be trying this method next year ..thanks for the tip!!