Post by macmex on Jul 26, 2016 8:34:09 GMT -6
Hey folks,
I thought I’d dedicate a thread to blister beetles. Everywhere I’ve lived and gardened, I’ve seen blister beetles. But I’ve never worried about them before arriving in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Here, they arrive in swarms of thousands and can wipe out an entire tomato plant in less than two hours. They regularly attack beans, tomatoes and pepper plants.
For years I would try to deal with them by hand picking. But that was overwhelming. Then, in my haste to kill as many as I could reach, as quickly as I could, I figured out how to hand pick and crush their heads between thumb and forefinger. That works better than hand picking and dropping them into soapy water or water with vegetable oil on top. Still, there have been times when I have despaired. I could not kill them rapidly enough to overtake them in their rampage.
Over the years my garden has built up a nice population of predatory insects. I HATE the idea of hurting them. So I steadfastly resist spraying or dusting with anything which would kill them. But last year I had purchased some NEEM oil and, when I found thousands of blister beetles defoliating my bush beans, I mixed up a batch of NEEM and went in spraying. I soaked leaves, stems and litter around the plants, hitting every beetle I could. Amazingly, the attack stopped. I had no more trouble with blister beetles in 2015. But, I tend to be a skeptic. What if it wasn’t the NEEM? After all, we had a lot more precipitation in 2015, and, I had only one attack of blister beetles. Maybe they went somewhere else where I wouldn’t notice them.
A bit over a week ago I noticed that my Sioux tomato plants were looking ragged. I also spotted and killed one striped blister beetle. I was busy and didn’t get to really look hard again, until last weekend. Saturday I went into the main garden and discovered that three out of four tomato plantings were almost 75% defoliated. I found thousands of blister beetles hanging in the plants and scurrying in the mulch. I knew I couldn’t kill them all by hand. It seemed improbable that I could stop them. But I mixed up some NEEM and meticulously soaked every beetle I could find and every inch of every plant, where I had observed them. By the time I finished and went back to where I had started, I was dismayed to find that the beetles had climbed back up in the plants and appeared ready to chow down. But I was out of time. There was little more I could afford to do, and … I was getting overheated. I needed to go inside and drink something.
While inside I looked up NEEM on the Internet and found that the manufacturer informs consumers that NEEM probably isn’t an instant fix. Unless mixed in a very high concentration, it won’t simply kill and insect. But for chewing insects it has a complex affect which causes them to lose their appetite. They feel full, and simply stop eating. They usually die within days.
I went back out and looked at my poor tomatoes, that evening, as the sun went down. I still found some blister beetles partying on a couple spoiled tomatoes. But I didn’t see hordes running through the mulch or climbing on the plants. Sunday evening I went and looked again. Wow! I didn’t see any beetles. Monday afternoon I looked again, and … I didn’t see any beetles! There were way too many blister beetles for me to be mistake. It appears that NEEM is the way to go with blister beetles.
Monday morning , when I went out to milk at 4:15 AM, I discovered that someone had left our porch light on. The back porch is about 100’ from the main garden. The screen door and part of the siding were covered in over 100 blister beetles. They were so thick that some came into the house when I opened the door. I took time from my hurried morning routine to crush heads of every beetle I could find by our back door. I was not happy and thought that it bode evil for my garden. But, in the afternoon I discovered that there were no visible beetles or beetle damage in our tomatoes or peppers.
After killing the blister beetles by the back door I was very careful to wash my hands, and not to touch my face. I knew by experience that this could be very bad. But, by the time I got home from work, that afternoon, I had a dime sized water blister on my left forearm. It rose up and filled more and more as the afternoon went on. Finally, at bed time I broke it. Today (Tuesday) it is still weeping. But it doesn’t hurt. This is why it is so important not to crush blister beetles other than their little heads, and why it’s important to avoid getting any of their juices on the skin.
Hopefully this will help others, especially in Northeast Oklahoma. If one has only a few, it would be better to leave them be. They do help in the control of grasshoppers, by eating their larva. A few would be no problem. But thousands, now that’s another story!
George
Here's a picture of the blister I received from handling beetles the other day.
I thought I’d dedicate a thread to blister beetles. Everywhere I’ve lived and gardened, I’ve seen blister beetles. But I’ve never worried about them before arriving in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Here, they arrive in swarms of thousands and can wipe out an entire tomato plant in less than two hours. They regularly attack beans, tomatoes and pepper plants.
For years I would try to deal with them by hand picking. But that was overwhelming. Then, in my haste to kill as many as I could reach, as quickly as I could, I figured out how to hand pick and crush their heads between thumb and forefinger. That works better than hand picking and dropping them into soapy water or water with vegetable oil on top. Still, there have been times when I have despaired. I could not kill them rapidly enough to overtake them in their rampage.
Over the years my garden has built up a nice population of predatory insects. I HATE the idea of hurting them. So I steadfastly resist spraying or dusting with anything which would kill them. But last year I had purchased some NEEM oil and, when I found thousands of blister beetles defoliating my bush beans, I mixed up a batch of NEEM and went in spraying. I soaked leaves, stems and litter around the plants, hitting every beetle I could. Amazingly, the attack stopped. I had no more trouble with blister beetles in 2015. But, I tend to be a skeptic. What if it wasn’t the NEEM? After all, we had a lot more precipitation in 2015, and, I had only one attack of blister beetles. Maybe they went somewhere else where I wouldn’t notice them.
A bit over a week ago I noticed that my Sioux tomato plants were looking ragged. I also spotted and killed one striped blister beetle. I was busy and didn’t get to really look hard again, until last weekend. Saturday I went into the main garden and discovered that three out of four tomato plantings were almost 75% defoliated. I found thousands of blister beetles hanging in the plants and scurrying in the mulch. I knew I couldn’t kill them all by hand. It seemed improbable that I could stop them. But I mixed up some NEEM and meticulously soaked every beetle I could find and every inch of every plant, where I had observed them. By the time I finished and went back to where I had started, I was dismayed to find that the beetles had climbed back up in the plants and appeared ready to chow down. But I was out of time. There was little more I could afford to do, and … I was getting overheated. I needed to go inside and drink something.
While inside I looked up NEEM on the Internet and found that the manufacturer informs consumers that NEEM probably isn’t an instant fix. Unless mixed in a very high concentration, it won’t simply kill and insect. But for chewing insects it has a complex affect which causes them to lose their appetite. They feel full, and simply stop eating. They usually die within days.
I went back out and looked at my poor tomatoes, that evening, as the sun went down. I still found some blister beetles partying on a couple spoiled tomatoes. But I didn’t see hordes running through the mulch or climbing on the plants. Sunday evening I went and looked again. Wow! I didn’t see any beetles. Monday afternoon I looked again, and … I didn’t see any beetles! There were way too many blister beetles for me to be mistake. It appears that NEEM is the way to go with blister beetles.
Monday morning , when I went out to milk at 4:15 AM, I discovered that someone had left our porch light on. The back porch is about 100’ from the main garden. The screen door and part of the siding were covered in over 100 blister beetles. They were so thick that some came into the house when I opened the door. I took time from my hurried morning routine to crush heads of every beetle I could find by our back door. I was not happy and thought that it bode evil for my garden. But, in the afternoon I discovered that there were no visible beetles or beetle damage in our tomatoes or peppers.
After killing the blister beetles by the back door I was very careful to wash my hands, and not to touch my face. I knew by experience that this could be very bad. But, by the time I got home from work, that afternoon, I had a dime sized water blister on my left forearm. It rose up and filled more and more as the afternoon went on. Finally, at bed time I broke it. Today (Tuesday) it is still weeping. But it doesn’t hurt. This is why it is so important not to crush blister beetles other than their little heads, and why it’s important to avoid getting any of their juices on the skin.
Hopefully this will help others, especially in Northeast Oklahoma. If one has only a few, it would be better to leave them be. They do help in the control of grasshoppers, by eating their larva. A few would be no problem. But thousands, now that’s another story!
George
Here's a picture of the blister I received from handling beetles the other day.
