Get Rid of Grasshoppers
Does it seem like the grasshoppers are so plentiful that they're turning your summer into a bad horror movie? While they are good grub for our feathered friends, they destroy your plants and are just plain annoying. We'll show you a few ways to get rid of the little buggers.
Steps
The Natural Way
- Get some chickens. They love the tasty little hoppers, and have prodigious appetites. They eat loads of grasshoppers and will save your garden from destruction. Many cities and towns allow keeping these birds with permits.
- Not only do you get pest control, you get fresh eggs, and an occasional pot pie!
- Make it spicy. Hot pepper wax insect repellent is the key. It's in all the garden catalogs, and soon it could be on all your plants. Insects can't stand the taste, and therefore do not eat the leaves!
- Squish them. Head to the grasshopper hangouts at dusk or dawn, and move more slowly as the air cools down. Knock them off the leaves into a bucket of soapy water where they'll drown, or just knock them on the ground and step on them.
Pesticide
- Do it soon. Pesticides become less effective as grasshoppers get older—plus, they've likely reproduced by then.
- Look for Neem. Natural insecticides with Neem as the active ingredient will kill grasshoppers. Neem trees are common in the Indian subcontinent and are prized in the villages where they occur. The leaves are a natural disinfectant and insecticide. Toothpaste made with Neem extract is available in the U.S. and is effective against mouth sores, plus it keeps grasshoppers out of your mouth.
- Try Ecobran. There's a product called "Ecobran" that only affects grasshoppers and their close relatives. It doesn't affect other insects or birds. Go to ecobran.com.
- Ecobran uses carbaryl, an organophosphate. It is a good product for small landowners fighting grasshoppers, easy to use, and has minimal impact on beneficial insects compared to other formulations of carbaryl.
Tips
- Chickens also give you hours of entertainment. There's something very comical about the sight of a hen in hot pursuit of a startled grasshopper!
- About 4 chickens will get rid your grasshopper problem in a couple of weeks.
Warnings
- Chickens may scratch at the garden beds and you may have to tidy up more often, but it's worth it to get rid of the grasshoppers.
Related Articles
- Protect Chickens from Feral Animals
- Fight Insects
- Cook Grasshoppers
- Control Pests
- Keep Chickens in a City
