Right now I'm battling aphids, stink bugs, squash borer, pickleworm moth, and slugs. I've gotten most the aphids and stink bugs under control. The slugs and I are just about even. The pickleworm and squash borer have the upper hand for now. But I haven't had to deal with grasshoppers before. Drats.
I searched the entire garden and didn't spot another grasshopper. But I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. Grasshoppers can do a lot of damage.
This year has been wet and warm. As a result the grass and weeds have grown like they're on steroids. The fields around my farm are quite overgrown. And I'm across the street from acres upon acres of old grass pasture in the national park. If the grasshopper population explodes in those pastures, I'm in for trouble.
Now my job will be to research how to control grasshoppers. Suggestions are welcome!
Auwe! My wise-crack advice vanished, but it was about using chickens in portable fence pens, or setting out trap crop materials, then spray with Bt, or, more aggressively, torching them with a big propane weedburner.
ReplyDeleteOops, I had also commented about the 3-inch long buggahs we had in upcountry Maui - somehow, they got taken out by birds, I think.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen anymore large ones, though there are smaller ones around. Recently I'm seeing more mynah birds in the area, so perchance they are feasting on the hoppers?
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