Tiny Green Grasshoppers

Hi Bruggy Experts!

I have a new brug growing, my first, and it's just about to flower (yay!). Last night I was out with my flashlight patrolling, and found a couple of these teeny tiny green grasshoppers on the leaves. They were too tiny to tell if they were feasting, but I'm assuming that's why there were there and I've seen some holes on the leaves. I know the holes aren't due to snails and slugs since I've been using snail bait which has been totally successful, evident by the ring of carnage around the base of my plant. haha, die snails die! (evil laugh) So what do you think about the hoppers? Should I worry about them and find something to rid my precious brug of them? What do you think?

Thanks a bunch! Christina :)

PS: I've been trying to research the little guys, and this was the closest photo I could find.

I have no clue Christina but i wanted to say WELCOME ot the brug forum. That little thing looks too cute to be bad. LOL. Look at his shoes.

Hi Kell, Thank you for the welcome! Where in northern california are you? (I grew up in Pacifica) You are correct that he's a cute little thing - I've noticed them jumping off my morning glories too. Too funny that he has 'shoes'.

Welcome Christina to DG's.

Here is some information on what to treat hoppers with....hope this helps...I'm sure there are other methods to kill them but this one just seemed to work.

Hope to talk to you soon :-)

Julie

* Neem Oil: A controversial topic among organic gardeners: neem oil is not to be dismissed lightly. It is our personal experience that neem (when needed) is a fine, relatively safe botanical pesticide. Made from the seed of the Neem (azadirachta indica) tree, a shade tree native to India. The active compound azadractin is extracted using water, alcohol or petroleum ether. Neem has been used for centuries in India to protect stored grains. Neem does have a tremendous potential as a broad spectrum pesticide with a systemic action of several weeks.

Neem has many different effects on insects. It acts as an insect antifeedant and repellant. It can stop or disrupt insect growth (IGR = insect growth regulator) and sterilizes some species. Also of interest Neem has now been classified as an ovicide, mildewcide and miticide. It has now been approved for use on food crops. We have had no adverse effect on any plant material we have used Neem on. For the record we have been using Neem for 4 years now.

For grasshoppers it should work as an IGR on the nymph stages of hoppers however you must be judicious in your spray program to get good control. As far as the adult stage we have consistently found that any plant sprayed with neem was not eaten by the hoppers. They actually land on the plants, but have not been observed to eat them at all. No, we have not been very judicious about our spray program.

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Fall cultivating will help expose buried egg pods to the weather and helps to discourage laying.
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Black Strap Molasses: combine 4 ounces of this with one quart of water. Spray directly on hoppers. This will clog their pores so they cannot breath resulting in their death.
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Henbit: A tea made from this weed and used as a spray may have some possibilities to repel hoppers.
* Leaving areas of tall grass uncut can help by giving hoppers food and a refuge. You can then use the treatment of your choice to get at them in the contained area.

Hello, thank you for your wonderful advice and the welcome! I have actually been using neem on other things like spider mites, and am finding that it's reccommended for nearly everything. I'm about ready to just spray my entire garden periodically for preventative maintenence. I'll add my brug to my spray regimen. I'll try that this weekend. :)

There ya go! :-)

The pleasure is all mine Christina, I love that name too!

Hugs
Julie

Julie, where did you get that info?

I love Neem, Christina. And the bugs do not get resistent to it which is a big plus. I just pulled off all my big leaves off 2 brugs and sprayed them with it for mites. First sign and I spray!!! The trouble with it is you have to get all the nooks and crannies.

If you are not organic: Along with it, I use a dose of the Bayer Rose systemic with food. They are granules and it is the old1 -2 punch. I also will treat the surrounding brugs with the rose systemic just in case a few mites are seeing if they prefer them. I hope to make them taste icky. I also spray the new growth on all the surrounding brugs with Neem.

Word of caution: some people report that the Neem burns their leaves. I have never had a problem no matter what time I spray but it does not get that hot here. So you may want to do it early in the morning or late in the day. Also I always make sure my plants are not real thirsty before I use the Bayer systemic, for I have burned mine a few times with it. I am not sure if it is the food or the insecticide but it is strong stuff on potted brugs.

GOOD LUCK!!

Kell
Sure, this is where I got it...basically surfing the worldwide web lol

http://www.ghorganics.com/page12.html

Julie

Christina,
Especially on your brugs. Neem is really good. And what Kell said too. :-)

Great info Julie. I learned a lot!!!

This is good Kell :-)

I like the idea of a 1-2 punch a lot! I also have some of the bayer, but have been too lazy to read the directions and try it. Will get off the ole whazoo and get to it! Boy, I'll be sad if I burn them. I hope that doesn't happen. I'll probably start off with just a conservative amount. And no, I'm not overly concerned with organics (I know, shame on me). I'm hobbled enough with my limited gardening luck to throw that into the mix. Thanks again you two!

Christina,

You are right about going light on the Bayer, real, real light. You can always add a little more in a week if the bugs are still eating, but you can't take it away if you put on too much because you won't know until your leaves start turning yellow and dying.

Welcome, Good Luck and please post pictures of your blooms.

Judy

PS Please post the name of the slug bait you used.

Judy, good advice thankyou! I would seriously cry my eyes out if I burned them with my systemic. I will go very lightly and step it up as needed. I really have no clue what I'm doing in the garden, but am learning and learning from all the great posts and having a great time thus far. I will definitely post photos of the blooms. They are now busted out of the 'shell' and are still closed and green. This is supposed to be a bright pink brug (I gave the landscape architect a photo of one I liked) so hopefully it will bloom pink. Right now I can't see any color. I'm really excited about it!

As for the slug bait, I've been using something called 'deadline'. You pour a thin line in a ring around the base and they are not supposed to be able to cross it. It has attractants in it too that makes them want to eat the poison and die. It seems to be really effective. My Mom reccommended it. She has snails so it's even easier to see the dead ones since the empty shell will remain - mine is often just a blob of goo that remains. Slugs are so gross!

Hello again,

I was rereading some old posts, and thought I'd send a follow-up note. The neem did the trick is seems. I've seen other baby grasshoppers, but no one seems to be munching luckily (I'm still knocking on wood). I also used the bayer systemic, and so far everything seems ok. There are a couple leaves that are yellow around the rim, but other than that it looks healthy. Would that be caused by the furtilizer/pesticide? Here are some photos of the blooms. They weren't as pink as I hoped, but still very pretty and they smelled wonderful! I may have to plant a few more of these as I'm fast becoming a big fan! :) Thanks again for the help.

Here is another view.

They look like such big blooms, Christina. Lucky you!! Thee are pinker ones around. I bet suttings will be foffered as people cut theirs back. I see Kathy Ann is sharing some good ones. Rosamond is a real beauty!!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/534695/ Quick email her!

I just pick off weird leaves myself. I don't know what caused that rimming.

Hi Christina,

At last, I've got a neighbor into brugs! I live in Poway. If you decide you want more I'll have a couple cuttings in the fall, as long as you like pink. I'm slightly addicted to the pink ones myself. We're lucky we can leave them out year round. Maybe throw a blanket over them if we get a frost warning.

Welcome to the forum.

Mary

Oh wow, hi neighbor! I'm in Scripps Ranch so you really are fairly close to me. Thanks for the offer of cuttings, I may take you up on them. I'm really new to gardening, so I'm just learning and hoping that the plants from the nursery live and thrive. Cuttings sound a little more advanced, I may have to work up to them! :D