kygirl, I took a chance that your screen name gave away your state and came up with a link you might find useful:

http://attra.ncat.org/new_pubs/attra-pub/fleabeetle.html?id=Kentucky

This seems to be a site that specializes in sustainable agriculture and organic pest control. I hope you find this helpful.

thanks, mgpaquin. that's actually a page I bookmarked after I did my google search. it mentioned growing trap crops, such as chinese mustard, and then mentioned pesticides. I guess I'm confused. I didn't think any pesticide was organic.

There are organic pesticides such as neem oil, rotenone and pyrethrins.

In my experience 20 beetles per plant means big trouble and trap cops are out of the question at this stage.

In your case I would suggest a pyrethrin based spray which should be available at your local garden center. Look at the list of ingredients to determine which has it. It is short lived (hours to days), but it provides strong knock down control.

I had to use it on my brassica greens this year as an infestation came seemlingly out of nowhere and seedlings cannot take their damage in high numbers which more mature plants usually can. Don't delay get the spray now or in the morning and use it right away.

Just as an informational tidbit, pyrethrins are commonly used in mosquito foggers and are among the safest to humans/animals/mammals while deadly to insects.

Too late for row covers. Some more organic info linked below. They say treatment required if more than 2-5 found and found the best results were with Spinosad. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Flea Beetle

I have them everyear and have found (at least in my experience) that the NEEM works better than the pyrithrin sprays but you should try the pyrithrin.

kendra

That's good to know Kendra, I will try Neem next time I do battle with the flea beetles. I am a neem fan, but figured the pyrethrins would be more effective for a rapid elimination of the threat to seedlings.

Last year, the flea beetles never touched my potatoes, but they swarmed over my broccoli in the same bed. I tried everything, even went a little crazy and sprayed Bug-B-Gone on them once. (Decidedly UNorganic.) Nothing seemed to help much, but then there were hundreds of them.

Then suddenly one day they were gone. Not a flea beetle in sight. The broccoli actually survived the encounter, but their growth was so retarded that I never did get broccoli heads out of them before a freeze froze them solid in late October.

Spinosad just wiped out the flea beetles on my bok choi and tatsoi crops. It's also good for Colorado potato beetle larva and several other pests. It is organic and some products are OMRI listed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spinosad

Kygirl, even tho' you see the beetles on your plants, there are probably plenty hiding on or just below the soil surface. Remember to spray the soil around the plants. That's a fairly easy process when the plants are small.

Pyrethrins are derived from the flowers of a chrysanthemum. This insecticide is non-persistent since it degrades on exposure to light. It is toxic, however, and there are a number of synthetic and synthetic-enhanced types. Read your label. As Justaguy points out, there are other uses for this bug-killer. For instance, I use it on aphids in the greenhouse since soap doesn't work too well in there.

Flea beetles can come back quickly so you'll probably need to spray again in a few days.

Steve

you were right, steve! every 4-5 days those suckers reappear so I respray. now they've mostly settled onto my chinese cabbage, which is bolting, so I should probably let them stay there since they prefer that to anything else in my garden at this point.

I put out a canteloupe seedling yesterday and covered it with a hot hat. Today I went out to look at it, and it was partially skeletonized. :-(

Flea beetles! I sprayed it with Neem oil. Will that do the trick? Last year, NOTHING worked. That's why I moved my brassica across the yard and planted melons in this bed.

I have garlic about five feet down in the same bed. Nothing's touched the garlic so far.

I also just direct sowed some lettuce and carrots in the same bed. Sigh.

Is it okay to plant garlic in that bed year after year and not rotate? It looks like that might be the only thing that survives in that particular place.

And I just ordered a ton more seed garlic for this fall.

This might help.

Integrated Pest Management
This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist.

Education:
B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis
Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley

Appointment:
100% Cooperative Extension

Research Interests:
Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information.

Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture:

* IPM references and resources
* Preventing pest problems
* Natural common enemies
* Making less toxic pesticide choices
* Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects.

You can watch the programs now online:

Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free.

Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes

Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes

You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on:
Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons

I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals.

;)