When it comes to our homestead, we do many things together as a family. But, we each definitely have our own areas we focus our attention on. Warren enjoys his machinery repairs, welding, and other greasy endeavors. The kitchen and garden tend to fall under my domain. Potatoes happen to be the main exception to this. Warren would happily eat potatoes with every meal, so he has a vested interest in our potato crop. And, it became very obvious that we needed to know how to get rid of potato beetles naturally.
We had one year that was a particularly awful year for the Colorado Potato Beetle in our area. One of the common gardening mistakes is not catching a pest issue in the earliest stages. And, during that year, we fell victim to this mistake. We engaged the invading Potato Beetles hordes in an all-out war. But, they were too well established at that point. The potato plants ended up being mostly bare stalks by the end of the season, with undersized potatoes. Since we did not want to repeat this experience, we experimented with various ways to control potato beetles. We finally were able to figure out how to get rid of potato beetles naturally.
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Yes, I Have Tried Many Ways to Get Rid of Potato Beetles Naturally
When my Potato Beetle issues reached epic proportions, I was pretty desperate to get rid of them. I tried many different methods, including Diatomaceous Earth and Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Dust. These organic substances definitely helped, and I still recommend them for severe infestations or as a backup. But, I find my garden does so much better if I never even get to the point of needing insecticides (even the organic ones). Plus, insecticides can get expensive to use consistently on a large garden.
So, What is the Best Way to Get Rid of Potato Beetles Naturally?
I am so glad you asked, because it is simple, quick, totally free, and works like a charm.
Start the process as soon as your potato plants are poking through the ground. Fill a jar full of soapy water (dawn dish soap works the best). You can use any medium to large sized jar. I have an old plastic peanut butter jar that I use. I do not usually use much plastic, but I like that it cannot accidentally get kicked over and broken in the garden. My toddler loves to help by carrying the “bug jar” while I work.
While carrying your jar with you, walk along each row scanning the top and sides of the plants for any obvious beetles or larvae. If you find them, pick them off the plant and drop them in your jar. The soapy water prevents them from climbing out again and they drown in a few quick seconds. Try to be very gentle while doing this, because the Potato Beetles and Larvae can detect even small vibrations along the plant foliage. If the detect an abnormal vibration, they will let themselves fall off the plant onto the ground. And, it is much harder to find them then.
But, What About the Potato Beetle Eggs?
While it is definitely essential to eliminate the adult beetles and the larvae, there is another step. You need to destroy any eggs before they hatch.
Once you have quickly scanned the plants for beetles and larvae, then check for the eggs. The beetles almost always lay their eggs in little clusters stuck to the underside of the potato plant leaves. Occasionally, they will lay them on the stems. The eggs are orange, soft, fluid filled little sacs.
You can do this next step in one of two ways. You can check one side of the row, and then check the second side of the row. Or, when the plants are small, you can stand straddling the row and do the whole plant before moving on.
Reach underneath the plants foliage and flip the branches up so that you can see the stems and the underside of the leaves. Look for any beetles or larvae that you missed before, and look for any tell-tale flashes of orange. When you find a cluster of eggs, “pinch” the eggs between the leaf and your thumb. The fluid in the eggs will pop, and the eggs will go flat. You have successfully destroyed that batch of eggs. Make sure that you get every one of them though. Even one larvae can do a decent amount of damage in a short period of time.
If you are queasy, and don’t want the egg fluid on your skin, there are a couple other options. You can wear gloves. Or, you can fold the leaf over on the eggs and squish the eggs between the folded leaf. The only downside to this is that the bruised leaf will usually die.
How to Judge if You are Successful at Getting Rid of Potato Beetles Naturally
If you keep up with these steps on a regular basis, you should only find adult beetles and eggs. Because, ideally, you will be finding and destroying the eggs before they can ever turn into larvae. This year, the only larvae I found was on the row that I let my kids search for me on a few days. And, I only found them on 3 plants. So, most likely, they missed 3 little bunches of eggs.
Also, on a more long-term note, your potato plants will be bushy and gorgeous instead of ugly bare stems.
Check out the Youtube Video on How to Get Rid of Potato Beetles Naturally.
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Bonide Captin Jack’s Dead Bug Flower and Vegetable Garden Dust