Return to the Integrated Pest Management Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Planning ahead: leafhoppers on eggplant
| | |
Posted by karenrei 4b/5a (My Page) on Fri, Apr 10, 09 at 3:40
| So, overall, my garden stays pretty well in balance. I've seen slugs from time to time, but they're never really a problem. Squash vine borers haven't found my garden yet, thank god. Japanese beetles have, but all they ever seem to eat is smartweed (woohoo!). Leafminers are present, but all *they* ever seem to eat is velvetleaf (another weed). I saw squash bugs for the first time last year, but they didn't seem to do much damage (we'll have to see if they're in more force this coming year or not). I've never found any signs of aphid damage.
However, there is one bug that has done damage for the past couple years that I want to be ready for: leafhoppers. They love my eggplants, feeding on the undersides of the leaves, and I credit their predation for significantly diminished yields. What all your experiences with them, and what's the most mild way to control them? I usually have a pretty healthy spider population in the garden in general (as evidenced by the webs), but I've never seen any signs of any sort of predators prowling around my eggplants. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Planning ahead: leafhoppers on eggplant
| | |
| Keep in mind that most spiders are pretty passive beneficials in the garden, most simply wait for something to fly into the web. Making sure that there are alternate food sources for the beneficials, many flowers, and "weeds" will help hold them near, while the populations of the baddies build up to levels that will support the beneficials helps. Often Floating Row Covers can be used to keep the flying around egg layers from many plants, although those that depend on pollinators will need to be left exposed at some point. Companion planting, mixing different plants, flowers with vegetables etc., can so confuse the baddies that they cannot find the target plants, which means the big garden and row cropping are not good things to do since you have a lot of one plant, usually, in one place for the baddies to easily find. |
RE: Planning ahead: leafhoppers on eggplant
| | |
| I usually have quite a diverse garden, with volunteer poppies, violets, dandelions, etc, and I'm not an obsessively neat weeder, either. I think I'm going to try introducing lacewings and see how that goes. |
|
|
|
|
