Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Need help with destructive beetle problem., 1 by TexasPuddyPrint

TexasPuddyPrint wrote:
Don't know if your Apple Flea Beetle is like our Passion Vine Flea Beetle...but I had those beetles all over my passifloras one year. Since I raise and release butterflies I did not want to put out any chemicals - I was in a fix. No fritillaries or longwings had started laying eggs on them so I was able to spray the vines with soapy water. I used one of those plastic jars attached to a water hose - added a good dose of dishsoap and sprayed the vines every day for about a week. I left the soapy water on the vines for about an hour then rinsed them off thoroughly each time. It got rid of the flea beetles. I haven't noticed any explosion of them this year - but I have found a couple here and there which I quickly squish.

Look around your plants for the eggs they lay. The Passion Vine Flea Beetle lays them in a cluster as seen in the photo. I clip off the leaves I find with eggs and squish them too.

~ Cat