February 20, 2017

Grasshoppers and squash bugs used to be insects that would cause my spine to cringe. I have learned how to control them.

It is still vivid in my mind both years that we got the huge infestation of grasshoppers and when squash bugs destroyed my butternut crop.

My biggest mistake for both of these pests was to delay action.

The best time to control grasshoppers is when you notice there is a very small movement of the ground but you do not readily see anything until you look very close at the movement. It is very small grasshoppers in their first growth stage. You are looking for something that might be the size of a pencil lead. Usually there are a lot of them and this is what gives the impression that the ground is moving.

The usual controls include Nolo bait, covering the crops, impenetrable barrier, 10 foot wide cleared area around the garden, fowl and hand picking at very early morning. Of all these controls, fowl is what worked best for us.

Squash bugs are bit bigger of a problem and probably If you do not have very many cucurbits (squash , cucumbers, melons...) control might be obtained but not likely. I have seen the chickens and guineas not even try to eat them. They really do stink, just crush one!

With grasshoppers when we had our huge outbreak, we worked our way through all of the controls, when we decided to give guineas a try. They were very young keets and still two months out before we could safely release them so that they not become prey themselves. It also took time to train them to coop, they prefer to roost in trees and hoot owls like to cruise trees at night. Once the guineas were of size (we had eight at the time), The grasshoppers became a non problem within only a few weeks. It was only after we had to fence them and the chickens out of the garden that a grasshopper problem within the garden occurred.

Squash bugs became a real problem a year or two after the 2011 drought. The drought had also decimated a lot of beneficial insect. This allowed the squash bugs to explode. I tried hand control and traps and they overwhelmed me. There were 8 inch pumpkins that you could not see the pumpkin for the bugs. I was for a loss as to what to do.

I am not for sure how I came across Cold Pressed Neem Oil but this control changed everything. Cold pressed neem is native to India and they have used it for a very long time. Much longer than what Monsanto has been around. By all appearances India is doing fine .

Cold pressed neem for the most part does not kill the insects on contact (there is a little bit due to the oily property of neem oil). The knock down comes from the hormones with in the oil. These hormones cause the insects to stop eating and stop molting, death soon follows. With three spraying s 7 days apart both the grasshoppers and squash bugs were controlled. After the second spraying, grasshoppers could be caught at high noon!!!

Because of the oily nature of neem oil there are a number of things that need to be addressed. The oil does not readily mix with water and this oily nature can wreak havoc on beneficial insects. The oil is also photo toxic to plants. If it is sprayed during the day it will burn the plants and most likely kill them.

An interesting thing about neem oil is that it completely brakes down in 8 hours of daylight. Crops can be harvested the same day, washed and eaten.

How to deal with these issues. Spray of an evening when beneficial insects are less active. This also gives all night and 8 hours of sunlight for insects to feed . Once the spray has dried I have not seen any photo toxic reactions.

Now how to mix the spray. Neem oil is what is refereed to as hydrophobic, it repels water. This is easily over come. A 1/2 % solution is 1 1/3 teaspoons per gallon of water ( it is HIGHLY suggested to NOT go over a 2% solution) For each 1 1/3 teaspoons of neem a 1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap is added (I use ivory and works well). Combine these into a pint jar with a lid and add about a cup of water. Shake profusely until the water and oil have mixed. This can be added to the spray bottle along with the remaining water. It is a good idea to continually agitate the spray bottle as you spray.

Cold pressed neem oil will control over 100 different insects. Because it is the contact property of the oil and the hormones within the oil, insects cannot develop an immunity to cold pressed neem oil.

Now for one more Major note. There is another neem oil that is very available. This is not the one to use.

It is clarified hydrophobic neem oil. It has had ALL the hormones removed. THIS IS ONLY A CONTACT SPRAY. It is very easy to distinguish these two oils. If the bottle DOES NOT expressly say COLD PRESSED NEEM OIL. Then it is the clarified hydrophobic neem oil. No exceptions!!!

I mentioned that the neem oil breaks down in 8 hours, it is for this reason only mix what you will be spraying at that time . If you have some spray left over go ahead and pore it around a plant. Neem oil is also systemic and will not hurt the plant.