Flea beetle & DE

[GrannyjackParticipant]

My red pepper plants in the greenhouse have flea beetle. I have spent some time on the internet this morning &, as well as the usual sprays (not keen, I have come across something called diatomaceous earth – food grade. Are other gardeners using this & if so how effective is it?

Any information on controlling these hoppity pests would be welcome.

[bluebellParticipant]

I cannot be much help except to say that I have had dreadful problems with flea beatle this year and the only way I reduced damage was to remove covers so the birds could get at them.

A fellow allotment holder did suggest walking down the row flapping about a bit of sticky paper as you tap the plant but we dedided that this was probably as much therapy for the grower as cure for the flea beetle.

[diggernotdreamerMember]

I use DE, you don’t need to use food grade, just the poultry one. I use it in my hen house to control red mite. It is a very fine powder and quite tricky to puff on the plants. I tried it out on some aphids in the tunnel and then rinsed it off a few hours later, I am a bit concerned about harming rove beetles and ladybirds so did not want to leave it on too long. It did seem to work. The flea beetle thing is a well known way to deal with them, brushing along the tops of the plants with a bit of cardboard with vaseline on captures them as they jump up and you can go over them a couple of times a day until you have reduced the numbers, guess if you catch a few makes you feel better:)

[Author]

Posts