It's your Secret Santa.

It was a "PHANTASM".

You know, the same thing that causes interstate highway blockages and extreme slowdowns, except when you finally get up to the point where the blockage should be, there's nothing there.

Ted

Periodically we have serious problems with grasshoppers and the thing that I have found most effective is Semaspore bait which contains live Nosema Locustae. It is organic and affects nothing but the grasshoppers and will affect them for several generations.

Bets

Here is a link that might be useful: Nosema Locustae

Not sure what your local insects are, but my hero this year was the hoverfly. They ate up tons of aphids on my plants - and they are also rumored to eat whiteflies - although I've not had any problem with them yet.

Thanks bets, but you just don't know my grasshoppers.

homegardenpa, I think you called it. I'd never heard of hover flies before, but I googled some images and sure enough I've been seeing them quite a bit on that side of the house. I thought they might be a pest, or at least a nuisance fly. I hate flies. Well, I used to. ;)

I have had something similar--I kept finding what looked like sucking damage and then it just stopped. The only thing I seem to have is bazillions of these tiny metallic fly majiggers (highly technical term), not sure what they are but could they be a predator? I had some ladybirds visit but it was brief, I was suspcious of them, would they be here if there was no food? The yard outside of the veg patch is a mess, I was expecting that there was lots of nasties being harbored.

Maybe there is something to laissez-faire pest control, it all works itself out in the end? Or am I rationalizing being just plain lazy.

"Maybe there is something to laissez-faire pest control, it all works itself out in the end? Or am I rationalizing being just plain lazy."

I don't know, I really do think there is something to be said about letting things work themselves out. I originally had an aphid problem and leaving them alone let their population increase... Once their population got high, things that eat aphids said "Hey, get over here! It's a free lunch!". Now I have very few aphids.

It's a bit hit or miss, obviously, but usually when nature sees an imbalance, it generally works itself out... Sometimes it needs a little help, but not much where I'm at, apparently.