With reference to Colorado beetles, in my experience the best approach is to scout the plants for beetles every two or three days and squish them. Start early because the adults emerge first and they're not too bad, but they produce lots of young which do the worst damage. I don't use a pesticide because the beetles are cleverer than I am; potatoes and their predecessor species have been developing pesticides for, say, 500,000 years. The beetles have overcome these pesticides one by one in a sort of arms race. Where potatoes are grown in bulk, including parts of Michigan, Colorado beetles have overcome every pesticide tried on them; the more they are challenged, the more they develop resistance. It's not surprising that the beetles can overcome artificial pesticides developed these last 50 years. So I don't bother with pesticides and I squish 'em. For more species of insect pests, the most useful are the umpteen species of minute wasps, ranging from 1/10 inch to 1/50 inch long. You never see them but they do great work parasitizing pest insect eggs and larvae. The best way to encourage them is to grow the small-flower plants they like most. #1 is boneset, #2 is sweet alyssum, and somewhere in the top ten is Riddell's goldenrod. This is a slow solution. Similarly, doing ones best not to harm those black ground beetles is the slow-but-sure answer to slugs. Flee beetles on eggplant and brassicas, however, can only be stopped by using row covers on immature plants, which doesn't get rid of the beetles of course. So my advice is to think long term and hold off on the pesticides which, after all, kill as many beneficial insects as they do pests. Regards, Peter.

SVB are really a bugger to control. The adult looks like a wasp and is easily overlooked. She comes around during the day a little before the flowers bloom so covers do work. I suspect they find your plants by sight. Uncover at night, during blooming, and the pollinators (bees) will be there early in the morning. It is said that nasturtiums help if planted around the squash hills. I've tried it last year and it seemed to work but I've no real proof yet. Looks pretty though. SVB is the only pest that has tempted me to stray from strictly organic practices. It's very discouraging to see squash plants fail just when they really start to produce. I've found that planting them in a half whiskey barrel allows me to examine the plants easier. It keeps the leaves off the ground too. You can also wrap aluminum foil around the base of the stem with some of it buried by piling dirt up around it. Gotta do this early though. Last year, along with the nasturtiums, I built a four foot square mezzanine around the top of the whiskey barrel out of furring strips. Then screened it. It gave a flat platform for the vine to rest on. No vine borers last year even though I saw a couple lurking around. Eventually powdery mildew got 'em. But what a harvest! Best of luck.

"Insecticidal Soap sprayed directly on a beneficial such as a bee, Lady Beetle and its larva, etc. can be as harmful to them as it is to any other insect. Insecticidal Soaps can be used to aid in control of Japanese Beetles, if sprayed in the morning before they become active." Sorry, but that is simply not true. Insecticidal soaps are not considered broad spectrum insecticides because they only target soft bodied insects. They have a well-established reputation for being virtually harmless to beneficial insects. They have no impact on anything with an exoskeleton. From CO State: "Insecticidal soaps are considered selective insecticides because of their minimal adverse effects on other organisms. Lady beetles, green lacewings, pollinating bees and most other beneficial insects are not very susceptible to soap sprays." From an organic gardening site: "The insects must come into direct contact with the spray droplets for the material to be effective. Good coverage is essential. It does not kill beneficial insects such as ladybugs, praying mantis and others. Note: Some entomologists have concerns about impact of soaps on soft-bodied immature predators, such as lady beetle and lacewing larvae. No real data has turned up that substantiates these fears, however, until such data surfaces, perhaps refraining from using soaps where there are numbers of these beneficial larvae (until they mature) would be advisable." From WSU extension service: "Many of the beneficial insects in gardens are not harmed by soaps. Bees, wasps and adult beetles are not affected. Sometimes, however, the larval stage of beneficial insects may be killed." And from Clemson University: " Insecticidal soaps have many advantages when compared to other insecticides. They are inexpensive to use, are among the safest pesticides, leave no harsh residue, are natural products that are virtually non-toxic to animals and birds, and can be used on vegetables up to harvest. Most beneficial insects are not harmed by soap sprays."

I have a hodgepodge of organic fertilizers (rock phosphate, fish emulsion, rotenone, etc.). Everything's been opened and they are a little bit old (3 or 4 years) but they have been in storage. There are about 10 products total. I live in downtown Raleigh about a half mile north of Krispy Kreme on Peace Street. With the items, you can have the two square buckets with lids that they are stored in. Please e-mail me off list at ncgardenshare@mindspring.com. Priority given to quickest pickup. Carla