Squash bugs and grasshoppers!

[DWSmith]

How would you reduce the numbers of these little critters?

Thanks!

[mothhawk]

I don't think in the UK we have squash bugs in enough numbers to worry about. And our grasshoppers are small and stay in rough grassland and meadows. Not really a problem for gardeners here, I think. Someone else may be along to correct me though.

[veggiechicken]

^^^^ What Mothhawk says. Not a problem here - in fact I love seeing grasshoppers!

[Penellype]

Here is a bit of info about squash bugs for those who don't know what they are:
How to Get Rid of Squash Bugs Organically | Planet Natural

A bit like cabbage worm (cabbage white caterpillars) probably the best solution is to cover your crops with veggiemesh or debris netting which should keep them out. I'd be wary of diatomaceous earth - yes its organic, but it kills insects, including those you want to keep. I use it in the house, under large items of furniture, to control carpet moth and woodlice, which seem to like crawling around my floors.

[Two_Sheds]

I love seeing grasshoppers!

They're not as prevalent as they used to be when we were lads. Himself said he never sees them these days: a) he never goes outside b) the council mow all the grass until it's brown & dead. They like long grass

[kathyd]

What harm do grasshoppers do? We have loads of them and I love them... I didn't realise they might be damaging my veg?!

[Penellype]

Adult grasshoppers eat grass, unless they turn into locusts, when they eat any edible plant material, and can strip the land bare from their sheer numbers. We don't get plagues of locusts in this country, I'm not sure why, because they are the same species as the much more benign grasshopper (individual grasshoppers literally become locusts under the correct conditions).

Where they could be a problem for gardeners is when they are young. The youngsters don't have such strong jaws as the adults, and therefore eat young shoots of various plants in preference to grass, which is quite tough.

[kathyd]

How interesting Penellype! It all sounds a bit biblical somehow... I'm going to go find out what the 'correct conditions' are!

[Nicos]

For a couple of years we had an enormous grasshopper ( I seriously thought it was a single locust blown over with the Saharan sands)

It was easily 10cm long .

We noticed something had been chewing at our climbing French beans- had a good look for caterpillars and walked away none the wiser.
2 days later we went to see if there were any beans ready to pick, only to see that all the frame of beans had been stripped of their leaves ( we're talking about 60 plus 6ft plants here)

On closer inspection, it wasn't hard to miss the one and only enormous 'grasshopper/locust' finishing off the last few leaves.

OH picked it up to take a closer look at it and it bit him!!

Needless to say the chooks were fighting over it within seconds


The following year- yep, one more again- which instantly became 'chook treat of the day'

Not seen any more now for the past couple of years.


Thank goodness ( but how strange) there was only a solitary one each time....It must be more than heartbreaking to see you family's/villages/business crops being devoured by a swarm in a matter of minutes.

[kathyd]

How bizaare! Everything I read about it online suggested 'solitary' grasshoppers only transform into 'gregarious' locusts if there's not enough food about and they tend to group together to go off scavenging - and something to do with tickling each others' back legs came into it somewhere.... Presumably your lone 'hopper had been seriously tickled to see all those beans, and transmogrified spontaneously to take advantage of the situation! I didn't know they bit either - scary thought!

[Nicos]

...ha!.... I seriously think it was testing to see if he was edible too!

[Nicos]

Frustrating isn't it?

Bush beans = dwarf french beans yeh??
Perhaps next year you could try growing climbing French beans and bunny proof their bases ?