Managing grasshoppers, vegetables, Australia

March 2013. A member complained about grasshoppers decimating bele (Abelmoschus manihot) plants, swiss chard and other leafy vegetables.

In Solomon Island people say that ash is useful. Could you sprinkle some over the plants and let us know. The trouble with a lot of these kinds of suggestions is that there’s little proof that they work. And often not much detail on methods. I have collected a few and made a fact sheet of them and they can be found here: http://issuu.com/terracircle/docs/extensionfs

Go to no. 56.

Of course, you could also try neem and derris.

It would be great if members could send in examples of PDPs (plant derived products) that they have personal experience using against particular problems, so i can add them to the list. But I need exact recipes, and methodologies, not just “use soap against scale insects”.

The Praying mantis were also suggested, although how to entice them into the vegetable patch with the grasshoppers was not mentioned. Handpicking was another idea.