I don't use pesticides, but rowcover is cheap and reusable and works great and is probably less work than applying the pesticide. I've also had lesser success (meaning I wouldn't rely on it when it's a leaf crop, but it's great for young brassicas) planting cheap radish seed which distracts the flea beetles because they love it so much.

How far away from the brassicas do you plant the radishes, and do you just let them eat them, or try to "trap" them (those things are fast!)?

This post was edited by ajsmama on Thu, May 23, 13 at 16:50

Row cover works for me but if the FB's get really bad I will use sticky traps made from water filled bottles and Tangle foot. Place the traps about every 3' in the row and over night around 90% of the FB's will be gone and by the 2nd morning your will have 100% control

boulderbelt, that's great to know, I'm sure I'll end up giving that a try one of these days!

ajsmama, I'll transplant a double row of broccoli or brussel sprouts or cauliflower (you know, the stuff that takes longer)at whatever final spacing I want, and then I'll just zip down the middle with the earthway and cheap radish seeds. I don't leave any extra space for them. They sprout fast enough to divert the flea beetles and I just let them munch away. I don't trap them but I'd be tempted to try boulderbelt's way. I hoe or pull them out as stuff gets growing and definitely before they start crowding or bolting. It works especially good for the fall brassicas as the flea beetles are in full swing in late June/early July when I'm putting them out. The radishes are also a good distraction crop for symphlans which are a big problem here west of the Cascades but I've never heard of them in other parts of the country.

So you don't really pull the radishes except to make room for bigger "real" crop?

What's Tanglefoot?

Oh, and on a related note, any idea how to get rid of tiny "sugar" ants eating my raspberry leaves? They may be starting on the blueberries next.

If you leave the radishes in, they will bloom pretty blossom. Also the radish blossom will deter several different pests.

Deterring sugar ants, either boric acid or baking soda.

I second the question of "what is tanglefoot"? I googled it and saw a paste substance that is used with trees?

With that sticky trap method, how often do you change it?

Also, I have too many rows and too many flea beetles to use row covers.
Thanks!!

I've never tried the sticky trap idea but it sounds promising.
In my experience, if you can't isolate the greens with row cover, your best option is the pyganic. The insecticidal soap and neem only slow them down and while bt works wonders on caterpillars, I don't know of a strain targeted for flea beetles. Keep in mind that Pyganic will kill everything, so use it carefully.

For me, row cover works best. I'll cover many, many 200' beds with it and my greens have no problems staying covered even on hot days. It's best to cover the seedling just at emergence or just after a pyganic spray.

I've found that early tilling which leaves chunky soil is the best habitat for flea beetles. If you can create a nice seedbed with fine particles they seem to be less of a problem.

-Mark

This post was edited by madroneb on Thu, May 23, 13 at 22:25

Ruthe I love it when people say they have too many rows to use row covers-we usually have around 50 beds covered at any point in time, more in spring and winter than other times a year. We go through about 5K feet of the stuff annually.

And we used to have a lot of flea beetles until the combo of sticky traps and row covers pretty much stopped most problems. They hardly bother the uncovered stuff any more as their numbers are manageable. I think also because we don't use any insecticides either so have a lot of beneficial critters to do most of the work controlling the pests, that we have rather low FB numbers/damage

and like I said you get 100% control of these pests and perfect arugula, mizuna, mustards, eggplant, etc.. It was due to losing most eggplant seedlings to FB's I learned to do this and later found it could save an arugula crop when I found ma bed of arugula shot full of holes, placed sticky traps and a week later was harvesting perfect blemish free leaves.

Fill a water bottle with water, cap it, spread a thin layer if tangle foot (which can be removed with vegetable oil) over the bottle and place in planted bed covered with row cover. When it gets covered with bugs either clean it off or replace it with a new bottle sticky trap (if needed). You can also use in fruit trees by covering croquet balls with tanglefoot. and hanging in the trees after flowering.

If I remember tanglefoot is either a attractor for the insects, like a trap crop. You can put it and the insects will 'run' to it. The sticky trap will 'trap' them. when the sticky traps are pretty full, replace them.

You can use sticky traps for almost anything smaller than the trap. There are traps even for mice and rats.

ajsmama, Right, I just leave them there unless/until I think they're causing trouble. At some point those big brassicas aren't as appetizing to the flea beetles and then it's ok to neaten up..but who has time?! :)

I want to thank everyone for such thoughtful advice, i appreciate all the time taken to share your knowledge!

Hi, I've been lurking here for a while, newly incarnated as a food grower. I just want to thank you all for so much useful information.
I've been using row cover this year and love it, and this idea of sticky traps sounds great! Definitely giving it a try, as the beetles are on everything brassica that isn't covered.
Not to hijack too much, but I was wondering where Boulderbelt sources his row cover? It looks like it will be an integral part of my growing thing - all the brassicas started under it this spring have been pretty pristine, but at a significant cost too.

I source my row covers from Johnnys. I like the fact they also offer 30' wide versions of the AG-19 (the second lightest type).

I got mine from Johnnie's too. I like it, but think I could have better options shipping/cost wise. I just realized that this question is probably location specific because of shipping costs, so I'll go ahead and google around some more - I have a tendency to impulse post without researching first :)

Here's a link to a small company in AZ that beats most prices on row cover, etc. You really have to do some math to find the best deal because shipping adds up for large items like row cover.
Johnny's sometimes offers free shipping.
-Mark

Here is a link that might be useful: GM ag supply

Farmtek also carries row covers.

I'll start a thread...