Dorothy,

There are many species of flea beetles and different species eat different things. Some of them are general feeders and will eat anything with leaves and others only eat specific types of plants. In general, in terms of the vegetable garden, the kinds of flea beetles I see here feed on the foliage of eggplant, tomato, peppers, eggplant, petunias and all the brassicas. When those plants aren't actively growing, they eat weeds. I've noticed flea beetle type damage on the wild solanum plants like horse nettle even in the middle of summer, although I've never gotten down on my hands and knees in the pasture to see if it is, in fact, flea beetles causing the damage to the plants.

There are many organic methods of dealing with them, everything from botanical pesticides to beneficial insects to trap plants or companion plants to merely covering the eggplants with floating row covers to keep the flea beetles off of them for as long as possible. Of course, you have to remove the row covers in order for pollination to occur, but hopefully by that time the plants will be large enough to withstand any possible damage.

Since some species of flea beetles are believed to overwinter in soil (or in yard and garden 'debris' like mulch), I think it might be worthwhile to treat garden soil with beneficial nematodes in early spring as the beneficial nematodes are reputed to help control flea beetles. In our climate, beneficial nematodes are best used only in mid to late-autumn and in spring because they don't work as well in hot conditions or during cold weather.

I often plant radishes as a trap crop around eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers because the radishes can be planted early---before everything else except the potatoes---but even then, the radishes are up and growing before the potato foliage breaks through the soil. The flea beatles flock to the radishes and then I spray the radishes with something like neem or insecticidal soap to kill them. Most botanical pesticides are reasonably good at reducing their numbers but I've never seen anything completely wipe them out. I think in a rural area there's just too many of them for us to ever achieve great control. Rotenone is one of the most effective botanical pesticides for flea beetle control, technically speaking, but you know that I don't use it and wouldn't recommend it, and I know you feel exactly the same way. I believe I'd use a chemical pesticide like Sevin before I'd ever use Rotenone. In fact, I would never use it. (It is an example of a very dangerous organic pesticide that I think shouldn't even be allowed in organic gardening.)

Mustard greens are a great trap crop for flea beetles, but if I was using them I wouldn't plant them in the main garden because they are flea beetle magnets and when I've grown them in the garden, I seem to have more flea beetles all over the garden than ever before. I'd plant mustard greens in a row near the garden but several feet away from it to draw the flea beetles away from the garden. (You can use sunflowers in the same way to draw stinkbugs away from the veggie garden.)

I'm going to go to the ATTRA website and link their pages on Flea Beetle control, which are wonderful and very detailed. ATTRA publications are my 'go to' resource when I'm looking for an organic method for anything. They only include well-researched organic rememdies, and avoid the 'home remedies' many people resort to that are generally unproven.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Flea Beetle Control From ATTRA

Flea beatles attack my tomato transplants every spring for the last few years, I even thought I'd bought infested plants 3 years ago but now know they overwinter in the soil since starting from seed the last couple of years. They usually leave tomatoes alone after they start blooming although I have seen some flea beatle damage on one of the 4th of July's recently. A shot of Sevin just after transplanting is all I usually have to do to control them.

Thanks, Dawn and jcheckers. I was hoping that their next favorite plant was a weed that I could eliminate around the garden. I don't usually notice them except on eggplant and they can be so numerous as to make lace out of the leaves.

And no I won't use rotenone, although we used it heavy in the past. It's surely not the only thing responsible for DH's Parkinson's, but its use has been linked to that disease. (20 years of diesel fumes may have played a part.)I did go out twice this year and sprinkle DE on the plants. That seemed to help but rain washed the first batch off and I didn't get it replaced fast enough.