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| Ping Tung eggplant |
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| Aswad eggplant |
Ugh, how I hate flea beetles. I've sprayed with Spinosad and dusted with diatomaceous earth. The eggplants are still suffering. The Spinosad label says it needs 12-24 hours without rain after applying. We haven't had a full 24 hours without rain in awhile.
The bigger Aswad eggplants aren't doing as badly as the others. I'm going to try dusting with diatomaceous earth and then putting clear cups over the smaller plants, maybe give them a reprieve against the voracious little bugs. But really the flea beetles are everywhere.
5 comments:
I'm with you in hating flea beetles. If the eggplants can get big enough before they are attacked, they have a chance. You have to cover the plants when you first set them out and continue until they start to flower and need pollinators. If spraying, I alternate Spinosad and pyrethrin so they don't build up tolerance. But if it never stops raining, that's not going to work. Another messy technique the pros use is to coat the leaves in Surround kaolin clay. It's a special ultra-fine clay from Georgia. You mix up a muddy solution and dip the plants in it before setting them out. Going to try this for cucumbers as well to repel the cucumber beetles.
I really should have covered the eggplants with agribon row cover this year. I covered them in 2013 because I had set them out really early and they did amazingly well. The kaolin clay sounds very interesting.
I have to look up flea beetle. I am not sure what that is. If we have them I don't guess I have had them. Thank goodness! Now aphids, those I get in spades and they love my eggplants every year! Luckily aphids are not super hard to get rid of. Hope you can get rid of these flea beetles and save your eggplants!
I looked up flea beetle and we do in fact have them here. I read on a site several people said they used ..used coffee grounds... and that they worked. They sprinkled the coffee grounds over the plant and around on the ground under them. Its worth a try! :O)
Hi Texan,
I'll try the coffee grounds tomorrow, It will be wonderful if it works.
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